Little Anthony - was he good?

[El Corol]

Anyone see him at Blackpool and if so willing to share what they thought about his performance?

[David Meikle]

I missed out on tickets for the show but spoke to some of the attendees later in the evening.

I was surprised that no one raved about him and that it was a general feeling that he was ok.

I'm sure that someone said he was only on for half an hour so that may not have helped.

On the other hand everyone raved about the Impressions.

Me, I raved about the venue which was stunning and that was helped by no less than three NS rooms.

A great weekend and I will certainly return next year to see 5 acts which include Patti Austin and NF Porter.

 

[El Corol]

2 hours ago, David Meikle said:

I missed out on tickets for the show but spoke to some of the attendees later in the evening.

I was surprised that no one raved about him and that it was a general feeling that he was ok.

I'm sure that someone said he was only on for half an hour so that may not have helped.

On the other hand everyone raved about the Impressions.

Me, I raved about the venue which was stunning and that was helped by no less than three NS rooms.

A great weekend and I will certainly return next year to see 5 acts which include Patti Austin and NF Porter.

 

Thanks for your reply David.

That might be why I haven't heard anything then if he was just ok.

I'm glad you had a good time though

Anyone else got a view?

[Soul Shrews]

It may have been difficult for him singing songs he doesn"t normally perform. I saw a video of him @ Blackpool doing "Better Use Your Head" where he seems to forget/fudge some lyrics. Glad I caught him and the Imperials some years ago Stateside where they were fantastic.

Cheers Paul

Edited June 21, 2017 by soul shrews

[Guest Max Morrison]

2 minutes ago, soul shrews said:

It may have been difficult for him singing songs he doesn"t normally perform. I saw a video of him @ Blackpool doing "Better Use Your Head" where he seems to forget/fudge some lyrics. Glad I caught him and the Imperials some years ago Stateside where they were fantastic.

Cheers Paul

I too saw the videos on FB and thought the same, nice to see him tho! Someone also said he had a bad cold over the weekend!

[Steve S 60]

It wasn't a great performance, he would have probably been a lot better with the Imperials by his side.  He seemed to struggle through Gonna Fix You Good, and when he came on to do Better Use Your Head as an encore, his mike was turned off for the first couple of bars, and he looked very uncomfortable.  Certainly wouldn't go out of my way to see him again based on that performance.

Edited June 21, 2017 by Steve S 60

[Hooker1951]

Little Anthony is 76 years of age first proper tour over here in 2017 came on David Guests soul tour in 2014 I might be wrong but I think it was maybe is first visit here in 2014 I saw him and to be truthful I thought he gave a pretty good account of himself on that tour although not singing his northern soul favourites such as ""Better use your head and gonna fix you good" he's probably never performed them for years I wasn't there but don't you think we should cut some of these ageing soul stars a bit of slack they have earned their stripes through the years

ML

[Peter99]

4 minutes ago, Hooker1951 said:

Little Anthony is 76 years of age first proper tour over here in 2017 came on David Guests soul tour in 2014 I might be wrong but I think it was maybe is first visit here in 2014 I saw him and to be truthful I thought he gave a pretty good account of himself on that tour although not singing his northern soul favourites such as ""Better use your head and gonna fix you good" he's probably never performed them for years I wasn't there but don't you think we should cut some of these ageing soul stars a bit of slack they have earned their stripes through the years

ML

I'm not sure that anyone has been mean or personal? Just some honest views on what people thought. 

Im sure everyone is in awe of any performance given the age of some of these artists. Often it is as much about seeing them in person as the actual performance.

[Chalky]

1 hour ago, Steve S 60 said:

It wasn't a great performance, he would have probably been a lot better with the Imperials by his side.  He seemed to struggle through Gonna Fix You Good, and when he came on to do Better Use Your Head as an encore, his mike was turned off for the first couple of bars, and he looked very uncomfortable.  Certainly wouldn't go out of my way to see him again based on that performance.

I thought his renditionnof Going Out Of My Head and Its Not The Same were great. The rest hit and miss.  He still has an incredible voice.  Tne sound system didn't help,  not where I was stood at the back.

[Hooker1951]

16 minutes ago, Peter99 said:

I'm not sure that anyone has been mean or personal? Just some honest views on what people thought. 

Im sure everyone is in awe of any performance given the age of some of these artists. Often it is as much about seeing them in person as the actual performance.

Totally agree with you Pete at least you can remember how good they were and say I've seen them for real my point is the expectations people have if they weren't so high they might be pleasantly surprised and if the artist is good that's an added bonus I'm lucky that I've seen most of these artists starting over 50 years ago so just to know they are still alive never mind performing gives me a buzz, Iwas just being honest with my opinion did not for one minute think that people were being personal or mean

ML

[Soul Shrews]

54 minutes ago, Hooker1951 said:

Little Anthony is 76 years of age first proper tour over here in 2017 came on David Guests soul tour in 2014 I might be wrong but I think it was maybe is first visit here in 2014 I saw him and to be truthful I thought he gave a pretty good account of himself on that tour although not singing his northern soul favourites such as ""Better use your head and gonna fix you good" he's probably never performed them for years I wasn't there but don't you think we should cut some of these ageing soul stars a bit of slack they have earned their stripes through the years

ML

 

1 hour ago, Steve S 60 said:

It wasn't a great performance, he would have probably been a lot better with the Imperials by his side.  He seemed to struggle through Gonna Fix You Good, and when he came on to do Better Use Your Head as an encore, his mike was turned off for the first couple of bars, and he looked very uncomfortable.  Certainly wouldn't go out of my way to see him again based on that performance.

 

1 hour ago, Steve S 60 said:

 

 

1 hour ago, Steve S 60 said:

 

 

54 minutes ago, Hooker1951 said:

 

These posts sum it up I guess.But Steve S if you get the chance to see one of his regular gigs you may change your mind

Cheers Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 21, 2017 by soul shrews

[Steve S 60]

22 minutes ago, chalky said:

I thought his renditionnof Going Out Of My Head and Its Not The Same were great. The rest hit and miss.  He still has an incredible voice.  Tne sound system didn't help,  not where I was stood at the back.

I was sat to the right of the stage and although the sound wasn't great, it was an improvement on Friday night when I watched the Impressions from the balcony.  Voices seemed very muffled, whoever did the sound check did a poor job.

[Davemac3]

I saw him on the David Guest tour and Going Out of my Head and Take Me Back were amazing

[Soul Shrews]

22 hours ago, Steve S 60 said:

I was sat to the right of the stage and although the sound wasn't great, it was an improvement on Friday night when I watched the Impressions from the balcony.  Voices seemed very muffled, whoever did the sound check did a poor job.

Thats a real shame. Its 2017 ffs the sound should be sorted

Cheers Paul

[Soundsokeh]

22 hours ago, davemac3 said:

I saw him on the David Guest tour and Going Out of my Head and Take Me Back were amazing

yep, I saw him in 2014 too at the STOCKPORT PLAZA and although he did not perform any of his northern soul anthems there he was superb with his various "soul oldies" so he clearly knew those songs a lot better, however I didnt see him last weekend so cannot comment on how he is 3 years later for any of them

 

[Eddie Hubbard]

I thought he was very good on the ballads ,I was stood at the front of stage .He did have to read the lyrics to his Northern biggies which makes for a more stilted performance IMO .Still great to see him live though .

[Souledtrafford]

Wasn't too impressed to be honest. He did use an autocue on a couple of tracks, one of which was Better Use Your Head, but I suppose not being used to singing them.....  Only half an hour, but probably didn't have the repertoire for longer. As for the Impressions, they were pure class and couldn't be faulted.  As mentioned elsewhere, the sound system in the main room, certainly on the Friday night was perhaps the worse I have heard anywhere.

[Grayman45]

I was amazed at how many people just talked ALL the way through the set. This made the experience near the back, where the volume was poor anyway, quite unenjoyable. One girl stood singing all the words, but never looked at the stage once!

[Souledtrafford]

I noticed similar reactions when the Impressions were on.

[Guest Mark Soul]

terrible sound system did not do him justice 

[Chris Turnbull]

What about the weekend itself - how was that?

[Grayman45]

1 hour ago, Chris Turnbull said:

What about the weekend itself - how was that?

Top notch for me!

[Souledtrafford]

Main room wasn't as good as the Tower weekenders, but the variety in the others makes it a good weekend. The venue is excellent. Next year will sell out well before the date.

[Yos Zoul]

On ‎22‎-‎6‎-‎2017 at 19:23, soul shrews said:

Thats a real shame. Its 2017 ffs the sound should be sorted

Cheers Paul

I was right in front of the stage and there the sound was just fine. As it was on Friday night. No complaints whatsoever.  Better Use Your Head hadnt been sung live by Little Anthony for 50 years so he had difficulties remembering the lyrics. And had to read them from a prompter, which he explained to the audience. So maybe a little bit of extra rehearsing could have helped with that song. And the soundengineer forgot to open the microphone fader for the encore. The rest sounded fine, he could still reach the high notes effortlessly and the people around me were in tears at hearing Going Out Of My head and the others. I was happy he autographed my copy of Better Use Your Head (of which I played the 1966 videoclip the next day in the Empress Ballroom).