Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre
Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Few voices have come out of Britain as powerful and distinctive as Mica Paris, but for over 35 years she’s maintained her position as one of the UK’s leading artists on the global stage, with a genre-defying catalogue that speaks to her innate passion and commendable versatility.
Too often reduced to the ‘soul’ label, as the London-born star strutted onto the Queen Elizabeth Hall stage at the Southbank Centre as part of Chaka Khan’s Meltdown Festival, she came armed with a setlist that shone light on the diversity of her repertoire, backed by a tight band and framed within simple lights that positioned her voice as the star of the show.
Opening with Like Dreamers Do, the 1988 sophomore single from the star’s debut album, ‘So Good’, before segueing into Where Is the Love, Paris appeared in fine form, sporting a black sequined number and looking every inch the diva, with a powerhouse delivery to boot.
An initially reserved crowd soon got in on the action, rising to their feet for the epic climax of another hit, Breathe Life Into Me, with stirring renditions of Something Inside So Strong and I Put A Spell On You both being met with rapturous applause and cheers for a performer who could sing the alphabet into a transcendental, spiritual experience.
Alongside her original records, Paris took the opportunity to pay tribute to her personal idols, shouting out Michael Jackson and Prince before diving into a medley of The Purple One’s hits towards the end of the show, and praising her “sister” Chaka Khan – who she first met aged 19 when the two shared the bill at London’s Royal Albert Hall – ahead of a funked-up rendition of the Stevie Wonder-penned Rufus classic Tell Me Something Good.
Paired with her own 1998 hit Stay, she proved herself more than a match for the Queen of Funk, who curated the line-up for the 29th edition of the central London venue’s week-long engagement, while the lead single from her third album ‘Whisper A Prayer’ (1995), Never Felt Like This Before, served as a reminder of one of the star’s often-overlooked classics.
A soaring rendition of her iconic debut single My One Temptation – which built to an epic singalong with the now-energised crowd – signposted the end of the evening, but Paris had plans for more with a double encore delivering such classics as Should’ve Known Better and Contribution, before closing with a roof-raising rendition of Tom Browne’s Funkin’ For Jamaica.
It may be her early material that’s cemented in the public consciousness, but three-and-a-half decades later Paris has barely slowed down, continuing to deliver career-defining work that, for one night only in London, was a victory lap for a performer who rightfully earns her place in the history books one of the all-time greats.
Setlist: Mica Paris – Chaka Khan’s Meltdown Festival
1. Like Dreamers Do
2. Where Is The Love
3. Breathe Life
4. Something Inside So Strong
5. I Put A Spell On You
6. Move On My Heart
7. Stay
8. Tell Me Something Good
9. Never Felt Like This Before
10. Medley: I Wanna Hold On To You / South Of The River / Carefree
11. My One Temptation
Encore 1
12. Prince & Michael Jackson Medley: Let’s Go Crazy / 1999 / Remember The Time
Encore 2
13. Medley: Should’ve Known Better / Contribution / Funkin For Jamaica
