Live Review: Grace Jones – 26th July 2024 – Love Motion/South Facing Festival, London, UK
3 min read
It was an evening of art pop and funk last night as we made our way to the other side of London to catch a true icon of 70’s disco make a very warm and welcome return to a sold out crowd of 10,000 fans at Crystal Bowl Palace.
Grace Jones was the leading lady of last night’s edition to this year’s South Facing Festival line up, situated in the outdoor and scenic South East London space. As we arrived to the venue at a little after 8pm, almost every inch of the greenry was filled with punters dancing along to the beats of popular DJ foursome, Horse Meat Disco who had been enlisted to extend their set to cover for a Roisin Murphy who had dropped off the line up due to feeling poorly.
As the sun went down the onstage screens blackened and wearing a long black coat and a skull mask with golden shards projecting outward, the iconic musician appeared on an elevated stage above her band to perform opening number, Nightclubbing as if some mythival msucial creature. Noting her late stage arrival, the singer told the crowd, “Sorry for being a little late… BA wouldn’t let me on the plane”, something that was quickly forgiven after the nights memorable opening Iggy Pop nod.
From that point it was a brief but solid hour long set of many of the singers most iconic recordings as well as a handful of famous covers including a catchy spoken word rendition of The Pretenders hit, Private Life and a phenomenal performance of Roxy Music’s Love Is The Drug, which saw Jones sprting a glittering bowler hat as she stood beneath a green laser which projected shards of light out into the crowd.
With each song dished up by the superstar, eccentric costume changes were perfectly executed as the musician changed from figure hugging pieces rhat revealed her flawless, seemingly unaged physique beneath as she flexed her legs over steel bars during My Jamaican Guy, much to the encouragement of the crowed, through to a bellowing graffiti drawn white dress and black hat as Jones took the audience to church during Williams’ Blood which led us perfectly into a brief cover of Amazing Grace.
An early performance of The Polices Demolition Man saw Jones throwing drumsticks out into the crowd while nearing the end of the show she took to the shoulders of her security to pace the front rows of the crowd to deliver her iconic signature hit, Pull Up To The Bumper which had the crowd singing along as foam machines on both sides of the stage poured bubbles over her well warmed up fans.
Always chatting to her audience or improvising lines backstage as her team strapped on her next elaborate outfit or fixed her latest mask, Jones was the perfect entertainer from start to end, and always gracious to her talented band mates and backing singers, explaining to fans “I don’t give them enough credit” as she dished up new song The Key.
Just as we thought her showmanship couldn’t get any better, a closing 15 minute performance of signature dance hit, Slave To The Rhythm saw the singer take to a small podium on stage, kick off her shoes and hoola hoop her way through the number, closing the show in spectacular fashion.
While it may have been short, the night was a truly spectacular one from one of the greatest performers and icons remaining in the industry and from the great Studio 54 and Disco era.
Nightclubbing (Iggy Pop cover)
Private Life (Pretenders cover)
Demolition Man (The Police cover)
My Jamaican Guy
The Key
Williams’ Blood
Amazing Grace
Love Is the Drug (Roxy Music cover)
Pull Up to the Bumper
Slave to the Rhythm
::: RenownedForSound.com’s Editor and Founder –
Interviewing and reviewing the best in new music and globally recognized artists is his passion.
Over the years he has been lucky enough to review thousands of music releases and concerts and interview artists ranging from top selling superstars like 27-time Grammy Award winner Alison Krauss, Boyz II Men, Roxette, Cyndi Lauper, Lisa Loeb and iconic Eagles front man/songwriter, Glenn Frey through to more recent successes including Newton Faulkner, Janelle Monae and Caro Emerald.
Brendon manages and coordinates the amazing team of writers on RenownedForSound.com who are based in the UK, the U.S and Australia.
