Edwin Starr
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Edwin Starr
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Having seen Edwin three times already, though admittedly nearly twenty years ago I knew exactly what to expect. There was no way that I was going to miss him and was up at the box office the morning after the advert first appeared in the paper. I bought the first two tickets. The worrying thing was that when I asked people at work if they were planning to go, the reaction was "Edwin Starr, who's he?" It's at times like this that you realise how great the cultural divide between Jersey and the North of England really is. As I entered Fort Regent's massive auditorium, my worst suspicions were realised with only a few hardy souls rattling around its vast expanse. The doorman informed me that only 124 tickets had been sold which was very disappointing. 'This is embarrassing' said my wife but I wasn't embarrassed in the slightest. I've seen Edwin perform to thousands, I've also seen him perform to dozens and in both cases he gave his absolute best as the ultimate professional. A local group called 'Wavelength', acted as Edwin's warm up act, and in all honesty were pretty good. I certainly enjoyed them better than I did Shawaddywaddy when they came to the Fort. They played a wide range of music, but for me their highlights were their covers of Dusty's 'Son of A Preacher Man' and their mean version on Trammps 'Disco Inferno'. By the time Edwin took to the stage the numbers had swelled to a couple of hundred with late interest probably having been aroused by the interview he had done with Radio Jersey earlier in the day. After a quick medley of his hits, SOS, War, Headline News and Twenty-Five Miles he convinced those in the audience still sitting to get out onto the dancefloor. After all he pointed out, "If you're friends are going to talk about your dancing, they're probably going to talk about you anyway". Inhibitions gone, the majority left their seats and got up on their feet. From there on it was party time to the very last note, with everyone getting into the groove. Edwin played tribute to his Northern Roots by announcing he was going to give them some 'Northern' soul. Whether a Jersey audience knew what he was on about I do not know but the remark certainly got a big cheer. The Soul and Motown hits just kept on coming. Great renditions of his own numbers, 'Time', 'I Have Faith In You', 'Back Streets', 'Agent Double 0 Soul', fantastic covers of the Four Tops 'Reach Out' and Jackie Wilson's 'Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher'. The only number which seemed a bit odd was the Pop song, 'Babe I Love You So', which seemed incongruous amongst such a soulful set. To be honest I didn't care, the man could sing anything and to me it would still be wonderful. We were already way past time when Edwin left the stage, but the audience just kept on baying for more. He came back and sang 'Celebration Time', shook hands with his fans and gratefully accepted a pair of knickers from one very excited lady in the audience. Wonderful performance which I really didn't want to end. I had known that the numbers would not affect the act in the slightest. My only concern was, that if the promoters lost money then it was unlikely they will bring him over again. Very sad if this were to be the case. Edwin must now be well into his fifties, but his voice is still as powerful and as flexible as it always was. He still retains the utmost professionalism and enthusiasm for his work. Credit must also go to his excellent ten piece multi-racial backing band, 'The Team', so young that most of them could have been his children. None the less they could play his songs note-perfect. The sax man in particular could really let it rip and throughout the course of the evening gave Edwin pause for breath with some excellent solo riffs. They can't have been cheap to hire, but full credit must go to the Jersey Arts festival team for having had the courage to do so. The two-hundred Jersey residents present can consider themselves privileged to have been there, great shame that the other eighty-thousand missed out.
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Why Not visit the Authors other Website, 'The Alternative Blackpool Website' at http://www.localdial.com/users/jsyedu133/bpool This Site Last Updated 18/05/05
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