Fans Moon
Over Cheeky Bassey
From Boston Herald, by Sarah Rodman, Mar 25 2000
The moon may have been obscured outside, but it was a bold half moon shining
from the stage at Symphony Hall last night. In the midst of a show stopping,
hip swivelling, pelvic thrusting, sassy sashaying romp through "Big
Spender," veteran belter Shirley Bassey showed more than a little bit of
cheek, in both senses of the word. In the process of playfully flashing the
enthusiastic crowd of 2,000 plus fans, Bassey distilled everything that is
fabulous about the Welsh-born Tigress of Tiger Bay.
In a vigorous 100-minute show, Bassey proved that at 63 she has not only
retained her figure - displayed in a sparkly form-fitting gown slit up to
there - but also her stunningly strong voice - which held notes high and long
for eras - and a devoted audience, which rose to its feet repeatedly. The
newly anointed Dame has held close her youthful vitality, making herself
seem 15 years younger as she strutted confidently across the stage belting
out her greatest hits and a few other people's.
It is that vim that was most likely for Bassey's unlikely comeback in 1999 as
disco queen, thanks to a tune called "History Repeating" - that became a
Jaguar commercial - sent to her by British electronica duo the
Propellerheads, which she almost turned down and told them to send to Tina Turner.
"I'm glad they didn't listen to me," Bassey cracked.
Indeed, the song resulted in a gold record for the woman most famous in this
country for her Bond anthems "Goldfinger" and "Diamonds Are Forever"
and turned this grandmother into some kind of disco queen.
It was soaring standards, however, not disco that were the order of the
evening. Bassey opened with the one-two punch of the keening melodrama of
"Goldfinger," followed by the defiant survivor's anthem "I'm Still Here."
She moulded others' songs to her bold voice bending Patsy Cline's "Crazy"
and relishing the Latin flourishes of Madonna's "You'll See" and throwing
herself into the Beatles' "Something." Bassey effortlessly moved to the
sweeping sounds of her 21-piece orchestra, who provided eloquent flute
trills, salty horn licks and cocktail lounge whimsy to the varied tunes.