Despite the last decade’s abundance of 80’s artists touring, I’ve never managed to see Alison Moyet and if I’m honest only know a few albums and the big 80’s hits with Yazoo and her first few solo hits. Put it this way, she wasn’t on my bucket list of artists I have to see. But a recent BBC Radio2 Piano Lounge session last year captivated me, primarily her cover of David Bowie’s ‘Absolute Beginners’ which tragically she doesn’t perform on this tour. She’s like an old-school Adele without the glitz and fuss, an Essex girl with a golden voice and the songs to match!
A sold-out, and fully seated, Reading Hexagon with a capacity of around 1200 isn’t the most salubrious venue Moyet is performing at, but the acoustics work really well for her powerful contralto voice. As the lights come up Moyet is revealed on a raised central stage, flanked by two further stages for the two keyboard/guitar players. There is no drummer, just a pre-programmed drum machine and for the most part the lighting is low-key allowing focus on Moyet and her, at times, extraordinary vocals.
The show starts with ‘Fire’ from her 2015 The Turn album, and ‘More’ from Hometime before she launches into her first anecdote, explaining the purpose of the tour to promote her tenth solo album The Key which re-works many of her singles and deep cuts from across a 40-year solo career. Here she introduces the first of two new tracks, ‘Such Small Ale’ which fits in well with the overall set highlighting that as an artist she seems to have become more confident and fluid with her writing.
As the show progress so Moyet engages more with the audience, thanking them for requests but making it clear the set is already set. But she also reveals how much more comfortable she is, in her 60s, with herself and how, finally, she has shaken off the stage-fear that haunted so much of her career – she certainly presents as comfortable on the stage with humour-filled anecdotes for the crowd, who, broadly, are respectful and listen (unlike too many recent crowds I’ve had the mis-pleasure of sitting in).
After a stunning version of ‘Changeling’ and ‘Tongue Tied’ Moyet delivers a double-whammy of pop perfection with, a somewhat inevitable, ‘Only You’ and a cover of the Lightning Seeds ‘My Best Day’’, on which she originally performed, which showcase what a great pop-singer Moyet has been throughout her career. The latter, although originally recorded with the Lightning Seeds at their peak, is performed in a more stripped back manner, allowing Moyet to inhabit it with more depth and tenderness. Depth and tenderness are something that flow through much of the gig and the set truly draws on a 40-year career, and is, broadly, in no way a nostalgia trip.
But, with an artist whose back catalogue stretches back forty plus years you expect them to bring out the big guns for the encore, and she does. The encore is the nostalgia part many have waited for, with Moyet performing the big hits like Yazoo’s ‘Situation’ and ‘Don’t Go’ and her solo hit ‘All Cried Out’ finally bringing the capacity crowd on their feet, but to be honest much as the songs are great they feel a let down after the main set. It feels that she has had to succumb to the hits to please the crowd, which is perhaps fair enough, but some of the integrity and growth she has shown throughout the show seems, sadly, lost.
Moyet hasn’t let up throughout the 90 minute set, seemingly loving performing and engaging with the audience and finally leaves the stage to a standing ovation. She might not have been on my bucket-list but I’m damn glad I made the effort to come and check her out – what a voice, what a presence!
