Her career began at the age of 15 in 1964 with a Top Ten hit as Lulu & The Luvvers and their version of the Isley Brothers’ RnB stomper ‘Shout’. Fast forward 60 years and the Scottish firecracker is in Brighton with what’s been billed as her farewell tour.
She begins at the beginning with the aforementioned breakthrough hit, looking nowhere near her 76 years and thankfully that legendary roar of a voice is still a force of nature. It’s a slightly slower arrangement but, dressed in black with a cream hoodie and large black shades, she hits the high notes and instantly has the crowd in the palm of her hand.
She’s joined on backing vocals by younger sister Edwina Lawrie and a solid band that looks like a blend of bikers and truckers but prove themselves throughout the show. Neil Diamond’s ‘The Boat That I Row’ is a perfect fit for her with its slow build up teasing the chorus that kicks in with a bang. We are told that her Eurovision winner ‘Boom Bang A Bang’ was her least favourite of the six songs premiered on her BBC TV show but she can’t leave it out and delivers it with clips of her winning performance playing on the screen behind her.
The video screen is put to good use in both sets with Lulu ‘duetting’ with on-screen clips of ex-husband Maurice Gibb and on ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ with, what looked like, Bowie’s famous performance at Glastonbury. She prefaced this by recounting a conversation where Bowie told her ’the record companies don’t know what to do with you but we are going to make a fucking hit record”. There’s probably not another performer who has gone from being produced by David Bowie to singing a Bond theme in the same year and ‘The Man With The Golden Gun’ has a rocking arrangement with Lulu really letting rip on the long notes as a montage of all the James Bonds plays behind her.
The first set closes with the iconic ‘To Sir With Love’ which is dedicated to the late Sidney Poitier and became the US’s biggest-selling single of 1967. She’s accompanied by brushed drums, bass and electric piano and judging by her delivery you can tell the film and title song still mean a lot to her. She appears emotional (as did many of the crowd) as she silently exits the stage.
After the break, Lulu returns in a silver sequinned jacket for a rousing rendition of her 1993 housey dance hit ‘Independence’. She stumbles over the words to begin with but it transfers well to a live setting. The Grammy nominated ‘Who’s Foolin Who?’ is a rarely performed bluesy country rocker with both guitarists taking solos as Lulu grooved with Edwina. There’s a guest appearance from late 90s pop singer Kavana who joins Lulu on their mid-tempo ballad single ‘Heart Like The Sun’ before performing his hit cover of ‘I Can Make You Feel Good’ while Lulu exits for a short break.
She returns with ‘I Don’t Want To Fight’ which she wrote with brother Billy and which Tina Turner recorded. There’s a rare opportunity to see Lulu and Tina duet via the video screen and it’s quite a thing to see these two queens singing together with Lulu holding a long vibrato note at the end.
The band are introduced and perform short solos which culminate with the Lawrie sisters dancing along to a dash ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and she gives thanks to Elton John for his support and for suggesting Womack and Womack’s ‘Teardrops’ for their duet recording. This gets the crowd up with Lulu leading the dancing, covering the stage from end to end, with an energy that belies her age. The audience stayed up and dancing for ‘Relight My Fire’ as Lulu gave the disco banger her all which was followed by a very appropriate cover of Elton’s ‘I’m Still Standing’.
There’s a final speech where Lulu says that at the age of 76 this will be her final tour but she will continue to sing. Jackson Browne’s very fitting ‘life on the road’ ‘The Load Out’ segues into the Frankie Valli hit ‘Stay’ on which Lulu leads the swaying crowd’s singalong. The wholly deserved standing ovation is humbly received and she says “I know what you want, you only want me for one thing” before a final reprise of ‘Shout’, her voice every bit as strong as it was two hours ago.
There was no way she could cover everything she’s done in her incredible 60-year career but tonight was a carefully curated, expertly delivered show that highlighted just how much Lulu has achieved in her life and it was a pleasure to share these moments with her. Long may she continue.
Brighton Dome Concert Hall
Tuesday 12th November 2024
Photos by Francesca Moore.
