ireby festival - ireby
cumberland news - june 2011
There was a more glamorous end to the festival on Saturday thanks to Elkie Brooks. Backed by a fine band, she proved that her voice has lost none of it's power or range over her 50 years of singing.
The packed crowd wasted no time in giving full voice to Lilac Wine, Pearls a Singer, Sunshine After the Rain, Fool if you Think It's Over, Don't Cry Out Loud and Gasoline Alley. In between songs she chatted about her afternoon shopping in Keswick and how friendly everyone was. She was obviously having a really good time. Just like the rest of us.
- Paul Johnson
Copyright © 2011 Eventful Productions. All Rights Reserved
royal hall - harrogate
harrogate advertiser - july 2011
Somehow you just knew this was going to be one of those magical evenings, the buzz of excitement was in the air from the moment the doors opened at The Royal Hall and a near sell out crowd filled the corridors and sourced the merchandise. All of this for another legend of rock visiting town, Elkie Brooks.
Elkie Brooks may be celebrating well past 50 years on tour but here she is on the road again and with a brand new album titled Powerless. The audience takes its seats, the lights dim and the stage curtains open to a six piece band which strikes the opening chords and without any delay on strides Elkie, beaming with joy and ready to rock.
From the first chord Elkie had the audience hooked as she tore into an epic version of Gasoline Alley which set the tone for the evening and ensured she had the crowd with her all the way.
From the beautiful Fool If You Think It’s Over into Sunshine after the Rain and Nights in White Satin, Elkie could do no wrong.
Note perfect and radiant, singing with ease and then comes on of her biggest hits Lilac Wine, sung with passion and comedy with some asides to the audience Elkie proves she is still every bit the rock star.
After a short interval Elkie re-appears in a sleek tight back cocktail dress and high heels as the band cranks up the pace, from here on its toe tapping and foot stomping all the way to the ultimate that everyone has been hungry to hear, yes Pearl’s A Singer and that applies equally to the gem that is Elkie brooks.
Closing with a roaring version of the Doors Roadhouse Blues, the entire hall rises to its feet and demands an encore.
Not to be disappointed, Elkie performs the title track of the new album Powerless, a strong ballad written by legendary songwriter Don Black and the beautiful classic We’ve Got Tonight. Both of which make the album worth adding to any record collection.
- stuart rhodes
civic theatre - chelmsford
panic magazine - july 2011
It’s a very long time since I first saw Elkie Brooks… that was on a black and white TV, singing with the great, regrettably late, Robert Palmer, rocking the house with Vinegar Joe (“Where do we go from here” if my fading memory serves).
For me, Brooks is a local hero – not Chelmsford alas, but my home town of Salford (matchstick men and matchstick cats and dogs….and all that) – and she’s always been in my mind that you can do pretty much what you like if you put your mind to it. Oh yeah, and have a fabulous voice!
The first thing that struck me when I arrived at the gig was the amount of grey hair and balding pates, and quite a lot of blue rinse! I have to say that I thought they might turned up to the wrong gig, but then I remembered that beyond her rockin’ start to her career, Brooks had re-invented herself as balladeer extraordinaire in the 80s with the likes of Pearl’s a Singer and Lilac Wine – they were in the right place after all! And incredibly, Brooks reveals with fabulous aplomb, that she had been in the business for around 51 years!
I would never be so indelicate to reveal a lady’s age – but she did tell us herself that she had been born in 1945 – you do the maths.
There was a quiet start to the gig in terms of audience reaction, despite Brooks’ attempts to get the audience clapping along to Gasoline Alley, but that was just us being British. By the time Elkie (I just can’t call her Brooks – it seems rude) had got through Sunshine after the Rain and We Don’t Cry Out Loud, the audience was in her exquisitely capable palm.
One thing was clear – the voice was completely undiminished by her lengthy and illustrious career! The power, diction and rumbustious rasp were all there – and in spades! Elkie Brooks exudes music; it starts out in her heart, rumbles through her body, takes a trip around her mind and then exits via her larynx – and frankly, it’s a joy.
You might be thinking, “hang on, this guy’s not a journalist, he’s a fan.” Well I’m unashamedly both actually and frankly, I don’t care who knows it. Elkie Brooks deserves a special place in popular music. She even treated us to a Perry Como song – Till the end of time – which was nothing less than sumptuous.
But Elkie Brooks is not sitting on her laurels. There’s a new album out – Powerless – her 15th to date and let me assure you that the title couldn’t be further from the truth. The second half of the show opened with a couple of tracks from the new album and they were good, solid songs. There was one extraordinary moment in the long 12 bar blues that followed, Elkie picked out a single (very high) note, which was perfectly blended with the key – and held it for fully 24 bars… and audaciously took it up higher as she finished the piece – glorious!
There was a band on stage with her and they equally proficient with Andy Murray on keys (he’s just written the theme to the Rugby World Cup by the way), Mel Duffy on guitar (who really let rip on Nights in White Satin), Lee Noble on second keys and backing vocals, Mike Richardson on Drums, Stevie Jones on a superb sax. All were ably sound crafted by Trevor Jordon (Mr Brooks to you and me – lovely fella). I’ve left one guy to last – Brian Badams on bass – I was very impressed with his tasteful and inventive bass playing. A gentle touch with the clarity of crystal – bass playing at its very best.
If you get a chance to catch her on this tour, do! And the new album? Buy it.. I did.
- anver anderson
