Ronnie Spector: The Playhouse, Whitley Bay

WHILE most 70 somethings would be content to put their feet up after a lifetime of work, Ronnie Spector was in no mood for retirement and why should she when she can deliver a performance of such passion and energy as this.

Focusing predominantly on the material she recorded with the Ronettes, the group she fronted with her sister Estelle and cousin Nedra Talley, Spector took the packed venue on a wonderful trip down memory lane as she entered the stage to Baby I Love You.

The petite Spector, who sounded incredible and looked considerably younger than her 70 plus years would suggest, charmed the crowd with stories of her life on the road in the 1960s with The Beatles and The Stones as songs So Young, Do I Love You, Walking In The Rain and of course Be My Baby, backed by a video montage of her golden days, showed what an incredible legacy the Ronettes have created.

Spector's influence has loomed large over the years and her impact on the likes of Amy Winehouse is clear. Spector's cover of Back To Black saw the teacher turn to the pupil for inspiration and Winehouse would surely have loved Spector's impassioned take on her own song. Even better was a spine tingling version of the Johnny Thunder`s classic, You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory making a deeply personal song her very own.

A wonderful evening by a quite remarkable woman.

Mick Burgess