Gladys Knight goes old school at Pabst
‘Empress of Soul’ puts on endearing show
“Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin may be retiring this year, according to recent news reports. But it doesn’t look like the “Empress of Soul,” Gladys Knight, is calling it a day anytime soon.
The 72-year-old, seven-time Grammy winner was eager to please at the Pabst Theater Friday. She has passionately taken on a vital purpose in the twilight years of her career: to rekindle the romance of old-school music from her ’60s and ’70s heyday.
She didn’t always do it with singing Friday. Knight was particularly chatty, likening herself, with a laugh, to a preacher who needed just “one minute” to make a point. She made dozens and dozens of them, from sage reflections on the ups and downs of life to warm memories of late greats like Ella Fitzgerald and Marvin Gaye. And there was the funny bit where she talked about how her drummer performs barefoot to keep a beat (prompting him to lift up his leg and wiggle his toes).
She told the crowd she wanted to create a “one-on-one” experience, and the endearing musings earned hearty applause, laughter and cheers throughout the night — although it also significantly padded the 100-minute concert.
Not all of Knight’s old-fashioned tendencies translated so well. When it comes to music, there’s a fine line between romance and schmaltz. On practically every song, the band, under the direction of keyboardist and pianist Leon Turner, crossed that line, with corny keyboards often overpowering the rest of the ensemble, sometimes even Knight herself.
And while it was a sweet gesture for Knight to let her four backing singers perform a medley they arranged in honor of Prince, the bloated result reflected the worst impulses of a Las Vegas lounge act. And that was before an awkward moment when the guitarist accidentally unplugged just as he was ready to jump into a big solo.
Knight herself could be plenty cheesy, too. During an impromptu “Landlord,” she urged people to put their arms around each other — or hold hands underneath the seats if they were embarrassed — and to look into each other’s eyes, “the windows of the soul,” and sing, “You’re the landlord and the keeper of our love.” But many in the crowd complied and against the odds, it proved to be an evening highlight, thanks to the sincerity and charisma of the “Empress” making the request.
Knight’s voice is still superb, an especially impressive feat given the decades of wear. She may not have been aiming for big-money notes like Patti LaBelle at the Riverside Theater last year, but her sweet vocals were at times even more expressive, from the haunting regret of Barbra Streisand’s “The Way We Were,” to the compelling confidence of “If I Were Your Woman.”
Interspersed between Knight’s Motown treasures with the Pips, like “Midnight Train to Georgia” and “Neither One of Us (Wants to be the First to Say Goodbye),” were snippets of newer ubiquitous ballads — including Adele’s “Hello” and Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me” — performed perhaps to prove that she’s still got it.
She definitely does. Smith liked a video of Knight’s cover on Twitter early Saturday morning, proving there’s still plenty of appreciation for the old school, especially when it’s represented so well.