Shirley Bassey, Arena, Manchester
From The Guardian, by Dave Simpson, Jun 10 2003
Some peculiar items have fallen at the feet of singers. Ozzy Osbourne was hurled
a live bat; Bonnie Tyler was once pelted with bags of urine. No such nonsense
for Shirley Bassey. There are the flowers and cards, then a Chanel bag. Moments
later, someone proffers an enormous bottle of champagne. "They've had it
printed," squeals the singing legend with childlike glee. "Thank you for the
years Shirley."
Bassey is celebrating her 50th anniversary in showbusiness with an album called
Thank You for the Years. "Where did they all go?" she sighs, which is a good
question. Bassey is 66 and makes jokes about her bus pass, but she looks
terrific. Perhaps the secret of eternal youth lies in absorbing the love of
young people, gay people, drunk people and many very, very old people, all who
find a special connection with a woman who wears waterfalls of diamonds and
outfits that may well have scuppered several generations of ostriches.
Bassey's James Bond work and dance collaboration with Propellerheads has ensured
her endurance, but her biggest secret weapon is the way she brings songs to
life. When she sings of betrayal, you want to storm the stage, banish the cads
and take her off to a castle in the sunset. The expression of disgust she adds
to the line "Impossible to live with you, impossible to live without you" could
be directed at someone in Row P. Diamonds Are Forever is brilliantly reinvented
as an eerie cry from someone who has lost everything but is driven to find
solace in materialism. The biggest surprise is her sexuality: not just the
expected nudge-wink of Hey Big Spender, but the stirring sexual volcano she
brings to the Doors' Light My Fire. It's alarming but exciting to discover a
66-year-old is sexier than Kylie.
For an hour and a half, the show rollercoasts through emotions, with an
orchestra drilled to perfection. She overdoes the camp for I Am What I Am,
riotously received by the gay contingent, but her emotional farewell is
heartfelt, and she departs to another flurry of gifts including, bizarrely, a
huge diamond ring.