Grace Jones at the Clyde Auditorium, Glasgow - review
A hypnotic 60-year-old Grace Jones performed new, fuller, rounder and richer songs at her comeback tour in Glasgow.
Grace Jones waited 19 years before releasing 2008's Hurricane. The recent ubiquity of single William's Blood shows she can still turn out a radio monster when she has to, but she now faces the sterner test of a major comeback tour.
The predominantly middle-aged Glasgow crowd had dressed pin-sharp for the style icon's return, but initially stayed quiet, and it looked as though the 60-year-old Jones had asked too much of herself.
She looked a diminished presence, but then in second song This Is she stepped down from her podium and strode the width of the stage, turning her face full to the crowd. Her eyes flashed a savage light and she sang the words through a tooth-baring grimace. Handfuls of multicoloured glitter gave angular, gritty glamour to her face as she glowered at the crowd.
The hall that had seemed so cavernous, cold and quiet a minute ago suddenly shrank in size. Grace Jones had declared her possession of the place and everyone in it.
It was a moment that showed the urgent power of a born performer, and there were more to come. Also to come was empty musical filler, but this was quickly forgotten in Jones's wild glare.
Each song brought a costume change, and the metallic red plate that stuck to her forehead for Demolition Man made a trinity with the two cymbals she smashed gleefully together, her statue-stance and the symmetry of the poses adding demonic weight to a funny, self-aware tirade.
Later she donned a spangly hat that became a glitter ball under a spotlight, then a hula hoop which she spun throughout an extended Slave To The Rhythm.
The new songs sounded fuller, rounder and richer than the old, but nothing sounded like William's Blood. Jones's strong, controlled voice gathered velvety gospel rasp in the snaking melodies of the song's verse, and the angelic pre-chorus soared.
The chorus, though, hit like a physical force. Guitars burst into distorted squawl and there stood Jones centre stage, her dominating presence reaching deep into the hall, her body grinding and bumping and stomping to the music's malicious thump. Then, as quickly as it had come, the moment floated away and the song dissolved into blissed-out rave. It was breath-shorteningly exciting.
This was not about the music, which periodically sagged, or the costumes, or the dancing, or her still-iconic posturing. It was about Jones's incredible alchemy, which delivered flashing moments of sensory delight: fleeting, powerful and unique.
It is so cool to see one of my favorite all time entertainers back bigtime. I have been a Grace Jones fan ever since I first heard "Pull Up To The Bumper" back in the day. Grace is one of those souls that is going to be her, like it or not. Too bad there are not more souls of that nature. I can't wait for her to come around this part of the world so I can check her live show out. In the meantime, I am posting two videos off the newest album. Enjoy!
"Thank YOU Queen Grace,
A hypnotic 60-year-old Grace Jones performed new, fuller, rounder and richer songs at her comeback tour in Glasgow.
Grace Jones waited 19 years before releasing 2008's Hurricane. The recent ubiquity of single William's Blood shows she can still turn out a radio monster when she has to, but she now faces the sterner test of a major comeback tour.
The predominantly middle-aged Glasgow crowd had dressed pin-sharp for the style icon's return, but initially stayed quiet, and it looked as though the 60-year-old Jones had asked too much of herself.
She looked a diminished presence, but then in second song This Is she stepped down from her podium and strode the width of the stage, turning her face full to the crowd. Her eyes flashed a savage light and she sang the words through a tooth-baring grimace. Handfuls of multicoloured glitter gave angular, gritty glamour to her face as she glowered at the crowd.
The hall that had seemed so cavernous, cold and quiet a minute ago suddenly shrank in size. Grace Jones had declared her possession of the place and everyone in it.
It was a moment that showed the urgent power of a born performer, and there were more to come. Also to come was empty musical filler, but this was quickly forgotten in Jones's wild glare.
Each song brought a costume change, and the metallic red plate that stuck to her forehead for Demolition Man made a trinity with the two cymbals she smashed gleefully together, her statue-stance and the symmetry of the poses adding demonic weight to a funny, self-aware tirade.
Later she donned a spangly hat that became a glitter ball under a spotlight, then a hula hoop which she spun throughout an extended Slave To The Rhythm.
The new songs sounded fuller, rounder and richer than the old, but nothing sounded like William's Blood. Jones's strong, controlled voice gathered velvety gospel rasp in the snaking melodies of the song's verse, and the angelic pre-chorus soared.
The chorus, though, hit like a physical force. Guitars burst into distorted squawl and there stood Jones centre stage, her dominating presence reaching deep into the hall, her body grinding and bumping and stomping to the music's malicious thump. Then, as quickly as it had come, the moment floated away and the song dissolved into blissed-out rave. It was breath-shorteningly exciting.
This was not about the music, which periodically sagged, or the costumes, or the dancing, or her still-iconic posturing. It was about Jones's incredible alchemy, which delivered flashing moments of sensory delight: fleeting, powerful and unique.
It is so cool to see one of my favorite all time entertainers back bigtime. I have been a Grace Jones fan ever since I first heard "Pull Up To The Bumper" back in the day. Grace is one of those souls that is going to be her, like it or not. Too bad there are not more souls of that nature. I can't wait for her to come around this part of the world so I can check her live show out. In the meantime, I am posting two videos off the newest album. Enjoy!
"Thank YOU Queen Grace,
