The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Lulu: All About The Music Tour
Rothes Halls, Glenrothes, November 12; Perth Concert Hall November 16
People often say that time seems to speed up as they get older, and for legendary Scots singer Lulu that is no exception.
However, as the gravelly-voiced Glaswegian brings the biggest ever tour in a career spanning almost 60 years, to Glenrothes and Perth, she says she has no problem keeping the magic alive.
“Six decades is amazing!” says the 69-year-old, who celebrates her birthday today.
“You know the weird thing is I have to say ‘it’s really been that long?’
“They say time passes really fast when you are having fun and I could apply that to me. It’s happened without me even blinking because this is what I live for, I live for music. It’s a blessing in my life.”
The All About The Music Tour saw the Grammy-nominated singer embark upon 43-dates across the UK last month with the tour due to end in Southend on November 25. Performing many of her hits and fan favourites, audiences can expect to hear tracks such as Shout, To Sir With Love, Relight My Fire and The Man Who Sold TheWorld, among many others.
After a 10-year period of relative inactivity on the live scene, Lulu performed at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games closing ceremony and the release of her most critically acclaimed album to-date, 2015’s self-penned Making Life Rhyme, sparked the most prolific touring period of her entire career, leading to sell-out tours in both 2015 and 2016. So how does she keep the excitement? “First of all I’ve only been with this band for around four years and that’s helped shake things up,” she says.
“They’re all younger than me, so there’s a young energy which I love.
“We keep it fresh and new and the great thing is these guys are influenced by the same music that I was and still am but they have a new slant.”
Lulu tells stories between songs. She has a set list and certain tracks evoke certain memories.
She remembers her first performance when she was very young and sang Smoke Gets in Your Eyes in a theatre or small hall – and she forgot the words!
“I just repeated the first verse and I wanted to die,” she laughs, “but nobody mentioned it afterwards. I thought it was the worst thing I had done in my whole life. I was probably about six.
“What I do remember is I had a stickyout frock and I think I was so pleased with myself that the excitement affected my memory!”
Nowadays, after all these years, she still has no shortage of energy – it’s all about pacing herself.
“I think if you are healthy you have a lot of energy,” she says. “It’s all about how you use your energy for the positive.”