Pearl’s A Singer

And so is Elkie Brooks. Incredibly her career spans over sixty years and, even at the ripe old age of 78, she shows no signs of slowing down. Obviously, her touring schedule isn’t as strenuous these days, running to only one or two gigs per month, and the venue for July was the Lancaster Grand Theatre. It was a sort of homecoming gig as she is one of the Patrons of our theatre.
But there is absolutely nothing wrong with her voice - the power and range was quite incredible. Backed by a very tight band we were treated to all the obvious hits, plus some great covers. In the second set, she went back to her roots and belted out some cracking blues numbers. In fact, she joked at one point that she had been into HMV in the afternoon - she wasn’t recognised! - and asked where she could find Elkie Brooks records. The answer was under Rock & Pop. “I was most disappointed” she said, “I thought I was Queen of the Blues!”
We had a great evening with almost two hours of fantastic tunes. The energy she displayed was awesome to see. At one point she was jumping up and down at the front of the stage, banging a tambourine, whilst the saxophonist played his solo! And she was delighted to tell us that they were recording a new album that will be out next year!
Let’s hope she can continue to entertain us for many years to come.