Concert review — Gladys Knight

Gladys Knight — Cardiff International Arena

MOTOWN legend Gladys Knight brought her farewell tour to Cardiff on Saturday, proving why she's still around decades after first lighting up the charts.

But before she sang her 90 minute-plus set, Tito Jackson and his band provided support. But his set almost felt like a concert in itself.

Lasting a full hour, it saw him play blues songs along with some Jackson 5 classics, which had the audience on their feet. So while most support acts probably go unnoticed, Tito almost made you forget you were there to see someone else.

Gladys Knight appeared to rapturous applause from an audience who clearly adore her. Her regular asides between songs had them shouting answers back and waving throughout.

Not only is Gladys a bit of a comedian ("I was waiting for my knight in shining armour to arrive on a white horse — now I'd even be happy if he arrived in a truck!"), but she's also an old romantic.

And this gave some of her most famous hits extra significance as she took everyone back to the 1960s and 1970s.

She belted out a beautiful version of Wind Beneath My Wings, a song by her friend Bette Midler, and played well-known hits such as Baby Don't Change Your Mind, with the audience singing every word.

Halfway through, Gladys introduced an original Pip — her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight — who had the audience laughing a lot.

He said how great it was to be in England, which was met with a chorus of boos.

But he then added: "Only kidding, I was checking if you were listening — I know this is Tom Jones's country!"

He joined Gladys for a Motown medley, which made good use of the backing dancers, and had everyone on their feet, again.

This was followed soon after by a charming duet on Imagine. And before long this fantastic concert was drawing to a close, with her biggest hit Midnight Train to Georgia ensuring it will stay in everyone's mind for some time to come.

The lights went up, everyone began to leave and started talking. But a minute later Gladys was back on stage for what was the most unexpected encore I've ever seen. It's usually so predictable when the act has played their biggest hit and the lights don't go up — but Gladys is a smart one.

She might be 65, but Gladys still knows how to put on a fantastic performance.

In what was a very traditional and dignified concert, there was some true star quality on show.

Edward Gleave