Kelis

Russian standard vodka, held a private concert for popular r’n’b singer Kelis on Monday 29th November.

We were told to arrive at The HMV Forum in Kentish Town for 7pm, but little did we know the show began at 8.30pm. The night was opened by an up and coming indie/ electro band; that were unknown to the majority of the audience and whose band name I do not remember being told. However they brought the stage alive, with their catchy hooks, vibrant beats and eye catching set design/ lighting. After the band rocked the stage for over 45minutes, I was left on a musical high and my expectations of what Kelis was about to produce was heightened. However, the atmosphere began to dip as we waited for well over one hour for Kelis, with no information from the technical assistants and the hosts of how long she would be.

After roughly one hour and thirty minutes of waiting, Kelis finally shows up on stage. Even though we had waited so long for her; her presences made the audience forgive her as she was radiant and stylish. Her hair was golden blonde and curled under. She wore a see through net cat suit, which had black stars over it, and some killer six inch boots.

She opened the night with short snippets of tracks from her new album ‘Flesh Tone’. Midway she addressed the crowd saying “I have to admit something, I am here to satisfy myself and if you don’t want to dance then this isn’t the place for you”. This got the crowd wild and the energy within the room accelerated. After a couple of songs from her new album, she played some of her older hits such as ‘Young Fresh and New’ and ‘Milkshake’ which was sung to a backing track of Madonna’s ‘Holiday’, then with its original backing track. She then seamlessly worked her way back to her new work, with some quirky tracks filtering in such as Tinie Tempah ‘Pass out’. The night was ended with ‘Carefree American’ which she dedicated to her son.

Overall the night was amazing, we waited a lot, my back was hurting but all of that was forgotten when the headliner Kelis took the stage. I have a lot of respect and admiration for her, as she kept the crowd entertained for over an hour and thirty minutes and she did it purely with her music, as she didn’t have any fancy lighting/set or dancers. I look forward to seeing what is next from her.

Written by Yolanda Mercy