If you've been in and around the Newcastle/Gateshead area in recent weeks, perhaps you will have come across posters and advertisements highlighting the arrival of US superstar Kelis.
The Sage Gateshead secured one of only two UK headline gig appearances from the legendary artist. And on Tuesday evening, Kelis arrived in the North East hot off the back of a European festival date in Helsinki, Finland, at the weekend.
Kelis’ eagerly anticipated Tyneside date was a pre-cursor to the esteemed artist’s upcoming appearance at Glastonbury Festival on Friday. For those lucky enough to be in attendance at the Sage Gateshead, they got a taste of what is to come at this weekend's iconic festival at Worthy Farm ahead of time.
For those looking for a pre-gig beverage, the venue served up a variety of rather fitting Milkshakes so that the fans could refresh themselves, Kelis style.
Following a wonderful opening set from Middlesborough-based alternative hip-hop artist Dylan Cartlidge, the award-winning US performer took to the stage. Kelis was sporting a sparkling silver sequin outfit and flanked by a DJ, backing vocalist, bass player, keyboardist, and a pair of drummers. The whole room was immediately on its feet, dancing to Kelis' intoxicating rhythms and infectious beats.
It’s been nine years since the release of the RnB sensation’s last studio album Food, so the setlist for the singer/songwriter’s Tyneside date was largely a walk down memory lane. Of course, the US-based singer possesses an arsenal of timeless classics. Many of the songs in Kelis’ repertoire have achieved streaming numbers exceeding tens of millions of hits.
Highlights of the set included songs that soundtracked the late 90s and early noughties, such as Millionaire, Got Your Money, Caught Out There, Bossy, Trick Me, along with Young, Fresh n' New.
It’s hard to believe that Kelis’ seminal album Tasty was released in 2003. And songs from the album like Milkshake still sound as fresh as they did upon their release two decades ago.
Whilst Tuesday’s set largely revolved around Kelis’ greatest hits, there was room in the set for a small number of covers. Perhaps, the most unlikely of which was the inclusion of a few bars of the Nirvana classic Smells Like Teen Spirt. There was even room for a bit of Donna Summer.
Throughout her career, Kelis has collaborated with many greats of the music world including the likes of Nas, Andre 3000, CeeLo Green, P Diddy and Busta Rhymes. In 2011 Kelis worked with Scottish DJ Calvin Harris on the track Bounce. And, of course, a euphoric performance of the song featured in the latter stages of the set.
A high-energy airing of Acapella rounded out the main set to great effect, leaving the audience singing in unison with the headliner herself.
It may well be twenty years since the release of Milkshake, but based on this performance, Kelis is still dishing out the Good Stuff.
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