Sunday, December 16, 2012

Ali Campbell at IndigO2

IndigO2, London. Friday 07-December-12.

Mary was delayed in South Africa on business so my friend Bill stepped in at the last minute to avoid the ticket going to waste (or me having to stand around outside the O2 like a ticket tout).
Alistair Ian "Ali" Campbell is a British singer, solo artist and songwriter who was the lead singer and founding member of UB40. As part of UB40, Campbell sold over 70 million records world wide and toured the globe for 30 years. Wikipedia
It was a concert that delivered exactly what you would expect: reggae inna UB40 stylee. A professional bunch of musicians delivered what they do best: a good smattering of UB40 songs for the faithful and, what I was not expecting, a couple of cover versions. Odd to hear "Paint It Black" and "Purple Rain" in a reggae arrangement - not in a bad way and interesting take on such familiar tracks.



I have to agree with most of the other reviews: Brilliant concert, DJ beforehand was on too long, Ali could have been on longer (hour and a half from 9pm). His final encore was, not unexpectedly, "Red, Red Wine".

Another fine evening out.

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