It has been many years since I last saw Kiki Dee in concert. It must have been in the early to mid 1970s at Middlesbrough Town Hall around the time she had been in the charts with the lovely, haunting “Amoureuse”, “Star” and “I’ve Got the Music in Me”. All classic songs from a great artist.
So, it was about time I saw Kiki again. Especially as she was playing in a local venue 1719, named so because of the date it opened : “Holy Trinity Church (sometimes Church of the Holy Trinity or Sunderland Parish Church) is an Anglican church building in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear formerly the area’s parish church. It was opened in 1719 as the church for the newly created Parish of Sunderland, and served the local community until dwindling numbers forced its closure in 1988. It has since been in the ownership of the Churches Conservation Trust who have preserved the space and converted it into a community cultural hub.” (Wikipedia). It is now a lovely venue for many events including concerts such as this.
Kiki Dee is now performing with Carmelo Luggeri and has been doing so for several years. She has performed quite a few times in the region and I have been meaning to go and see her. Well tonight I finally did and I am glad I did so.
Kiki’s website explains the current duo thus: “It started out as just another studio day for producer and guitarist, Carmelo Luggeri – until pop legend Kiki Dee came in to put down a vocal …. He’d seen her many times on TV, but once she started singing, he was just blown away by the amazing tone of her unmistakeable voice. Little did he suspect that, from that day on, his musical career was to change for ever And now, 25 years on from that epiphany, the synergy between the two has blossomed, firmly establishing them as one of the UK’s great musical pairings. 2018 saw a year of musical consolidation for the popular duo – Bob Harris wanted them as opening act for the re-booted Whistle Test, and indeed this turned out to be a seminal moment, leading to long overdue recognition and critical acclaim.”
“A large and influential TV audience was delighted to see Kiki not only looking superbly fit, but her unique voice even better than they remembered. Both performers enjoy a heritage which stretches back through decades of fine musicianship, yet in all that time Kiki Carmelo concerts never became a museum piece, a go through-the-motions tribute act.”
1719 is a lovely venue with a great view of the stage. I would estimate that it holds around 100 or so people. Everyone was looking forward to seeing Kiki and Carmelo perform a wonderful set of Kiki hits and covers. They started off with a song that I was not familiar with, followed swiftly by a slowed down version of Kiki singing “Don’t Go Breaking my Heart”. This took me back to when I saw Kiki supporting Queen at the legendary band’s free concert in Hyde Park. Aha so Middlesbrough Town Hall was not actually the last time I saw her. My memory plays tricks on me again. There were lots of rumours flying around Hyde Park that day that Elton would join her on stage to duet with Kiki. However it was not to be. We had to remain satisfied with a cardboard cutout of Elton John (I kid you not).
A few songs on and the duo performed an excellent cover of Kate Bush’s “Running up that Hill”,” Every Kinda People” and a beautiful version of Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon”. A short interval followed before the duo returned to perform a lovely rendition of my favourite Kiki Dee song “Amoureuse”. But this is very much a duo. Carmelo is a very accomplished acoustic and electric guitarist and also adds a second vocal to the songs. Next a little surprise. Kiki performs a poignant version of Leonard Cohen’s “Dance Me To the End of Love” during which she comes down into the audience and waltzes with a lucky guy from the front of the audience. A few songs further on and the audience singalong to “Forward Motion” a tune which is less familiar to me. They conclude the evening with “I’ve Got the Music in Me”. No “Star”. A great performance by two great artists.
I bought a lovely print of the venue. I have also been listening a lot to Kiki Dee’s early material on Fontana records, particularly “Why Don’t I Run Away from You”. There is a wonderful video on YouTube of her performing it in 1965. Please do have a look at it. The lady has been performing since the 1960s and is now 77 years old. She still looks and sounds wonderful. I treated myself to a copy of her early album courtesy of eBay.
Many thanks to Jan for the photos and to Chris for manipulating the site.
Setlist: What You Wish For; Don’t Go Breaking My Heart; Small Mercies; Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God); Every Kinda People; Harvest Moon; The Long Ride Home; interval (30 minutes); Amoureuse; Dance Me to the End of Love; Amen and Goodbye / She’s Smiling Now (A Mother’s Song) ; Until We Meet Again; Forward Motion; I’ve Got the Music in Me
1976 was a big year for Kiki Dee. She stayed at the No 1 spot in the charts for several weeks, with her deut with Elton John: “Don’t go breaking my heart”. I guess it was that success that drew me and my mate Ian to this gig at Middlesbrough Town Hall. A group of us also saw her support Queen at their free concert in Hyde Park of the same year. She dueted with a cardboard cut-out of Elton at that gig! The Town Hall was sold out for this concert, and Kiki took us through her hit singles and a selection of album tracks. She was on Elton’s Rocket Records at the time, and enjoying great success, at a level that she had never reached during the 60s. Kiki is an artist with a massive musical track record, and their is a great depth to her career. From 60s Northern Soul classics such as “Why don’t I run away from you?” through the beautiful and soulful “Amoureuse”, via the pop delights of “Don’t go breaking my heart” to the more rocky “I’ve got the music in me”, this northern lass is some class act. 
Although I’m not familiar with her more recent material with Carmello Luggeri, their website suggests that their new music is equally eclectic and interesting. Anyway, back to the 1976 Middlesbrough gig. It is “Amoureuse” that sticks in my mind as a memory of that night. It was a beautiful song then, and remains so to this day. I haven’t seen Kiki in concert since that night. She is another act to add to my list of people I would like to see again. Vapour Trails were Kiki’s backing band at the time, and support for this tour came from Blue, who are not to be mistaken for the more recent boy band. This Blue were formed and fronted by ex-Marmalade guitarist Hugh Nicholson, and had a great debut single “Little Jody” and a chart hit with “Gonna Capture Your Heart”, and were pretty good. 
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