Live Review: Dionne Warwick, Kylie Auldist

Kylie Auldist looks incredibly glamorous tonight in a simple black outfit and deep-red flower in her hair. Best known for making funk, soul and disco noise, tonight Auldist fronts a trio that puts a low key jazzy spin on her songs. The stripped-back arrangements revolve primarily around piano, bass and saxophone dealing icy cool jazz vibes while Auldist’s vocals sizzle in the mix. The usually block rocking You’re All Show cuts a little deeper slowed down. Sadly, in this support slot Auldist is only able to offer up just over 30 minutes of tunes.

Veteran pop singer Dionne Warwick has been in the business for over 50 years and when she shuffles onto the stage it looks like all those years are weighing down on her. The band are riffing on Walk On By as she shows us the high heels responsible for the shuffle and after blaming the man who designed them, she places the pumps on the piano swearing there’s no chance that she would exchange them for the slippers she has on tonight. Once ready, Warwick kicks off her greatest hits show with the breezy classic, Walk On By. Warwick has so many hits and so many great songs besides, it’s impossible for her to squeeze them all in into tonight’s 90-minute set. Recording a string of classic pop songs for Burt Bacharach and Hal David in the '60s and '70s, Warwick brought hints of Motown to Bacharach’s dapper British pop. The timeless appeal of tunes like Anyone Who Had A Heart and I’ll Never Fall In Love Again has the audience gently toe-tapping. 

Tending towards the middle-of-the-road, Warwick and her band deal these tunes in the loveliest way possible. It takes time for Warwick to warm up and you would be forgiven for thinking that she was perhaps well past her prime, but she is on fire for the genius of This Girl’s In Love With You. A light bossa nova is applied to a new interpretation of I Say A Little Prayer For You that doesn’t quite have the energy of the original. Of course, Warwick pays tribute to Aretha Franklin but it should be noted that she takes responsibility for recording the original. Interestingly, she duets with her eldest son and drummer David Elliott on the track.

An extended version of the iconic Do You Know The Way To San Jose comes with a salsa twist. The theme song from Alfie offers an introspective moment while I’ll Never Love This Way Again sees Warwick firing up for a powerhouse performance. Paying touching tribute to her cousin Whitney Houston, Warwick invites her granddaughter Cheyenne Elliott for the duet Love Will Find A Way. Music clearly runs in this family’s blood, Cheyenne Elliott sings up a storm on her single Let There Be Love. Revealing John Rob Shrock on piano is a very pleasant surprise. Shrock is a well-known player who has tickled the ivories for the likes of Frank Sinatra, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. Warwick’s seasoned band play it tight but the only thing missing is the restrained shimmer of live strings. The glossy and somewhat cliche What The World Needs Now and That’s What Friends Are For are presented with such heart-of-gold sincerity it’s impossible not to be swept away as Warwick serenades the audience. A delightful way to round off a set that comes with no encore.