Monday 19 September 2011

A touch of class @ Hackney Empire ft Freddie Mcgregor

The show began with a touch of class warming up the crowd nicely...
After which Slim took the stage. Slim by name, slim by nature. A very funny man with some interesting tales of nosey neighbours and why he doesn’t like cats!

He was followed by Tippa Ire who entertained us with his 1980s hits of 'Hello darling and Ragamuffin'... plus a track from his new album 'stick to my roots'...a natural showman who has definetly not lost any of his cheeky charm over the years.

Felicity Ethnic had the crowd in the palm of her hand. Her sharp matter of fact delivery on why she’s looking for a man half her age was hilarious. All big belly men... sucked it in at that point I suspect.:))

Felix Dexter (a personal fav) had us laughing with his unique and truthful tales of slavery, racism, and the irony of it all... very cool dude, and very smart. When he reminded the crowd that only he now stood in the way of them seeing Freddie, ‘like a bad commercial’ I half expected jovial booing... but .. He was so funny the crowd lapped it up...

The Ruff Cutt Band took the stage and it was game on.
Nice to see some of my peeps doing their thing from the other side of the fence...
Bubblers and Bigger held the riddim tight on keys and Fish on Bass was cool and calm as ever.
Freddie walked on with a shy smile and the crowd went wild.
Hit after hit is how I’d describe it. He sang a wonderful acoustic version of Brandy whilst sitting on a monitor at the front of the stage.

Two great tributes to Dennis Brown, 'Here I come' & 'Revolution'...Made us remember that great man, and how we lost him so early.
I hoped he didn’t just do the commercial hits and longed for a more roots selection so I wasn’t disappointed when he sang 'Wine of Violence' & 'Africa here I come'...
A member of the crowd shouted out for 'Mr Fix it'... and he duly obliged...accapella style.
Freddie’s voice is beautiful... crystal clear and exactly as it is on record.

He introduced his daughter who was on backing vocals, and made us all laugh by humming a tune with her that turned out to be 'Eastenders', and then telling us how much he loved the show! ( nice touch)

For all reggae fans Freddie is a living legend
Despite his now white/grey hair, he moves like a man half his age or more..easily.
He sings from the heart, years of history with every note.
The star filled backdrop only served to remind us what a huge star Freddie actually, is, yet star or not, he’s one the most down to earth people you’re ever likely to meet
Freddie... we love you











He didn't sing this but it's another old classic for me..

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