Review
Publication date : Wednesday, July 06th 2005 - 12 339 views Ken Boothe: Soul Consolation
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There were in the end plenty of people at the Cabaret Sauvage to pick up their tickets, sold only on the spot. For this night really was a surprise, a consolation concert for some, a week after the announcement that the Garance Reggae Festival, where the veteran Ken Boothe had been booked, was cancelled. With his "Live in Paris", recorded in this very venue, having just come out, the opportunity to put together such a date at such short notice quickly proved itself.
 With no opening act, a simple introduction on the mic followed by Ken Boothe's arrival on stage is enough to set off salvos of hearty applause. Although the veteran is on the Cabaret Sauvage stage for the third time in less than a year, it is still only his third Paris concert in more than forty years of career. The tracklisting once again points to his best songs, with a slightly modified selection. After an opening with Old Fashioned Way, the atmosphere immediately goes up a notch from the second song with the crucial Colombus. Performed only a cappella at his previous concerts, the song gets a new lease of life under the impetus of the Toulon band No More Babylon, Ken Boothe's official backing band in France, accompanied by trombonist Buttons of Mattic Horns. "This night is a bit of a surprise, thank you for coming," proclaims Ken Boothe before launching into the first words of Crying over you. Silver Words follows, and Artibella with its by now customary "dancehall" section, illustrating the modernity of a song which, written in the mid-60s, has stood the test of time.
 Alternating his biggest hits, Ken Boothe does not forget one of his first, never before heard in concert: the essential Is It Because I'm Black, a cover of Syl Johnson's 1970 American standard. Mr Rocksteady strings together dance steps and finishes a cappella, his warm, powerful voice filling the Cabaret Sauvage: "Please open the door and let me in, open the door and let us in". "I could have been born white, you could have been born black," he tells the audience. True to himself, Ken Boothe is not short of good humour. Delighted, he overflows with energy, shakes hands and thanks people left, right and centre. "The world needs interaction today, we need to touch people". The tour of his hits continues: You're no good pushed to its furthest dub limits, The Train is Coming, Tell You Goodbye, The Girl I Left Behind, and a long version of Moving Away. "It's the first song that put me on a plane to go abroad," Ken Boothe says by way of introduction before the first chords of Puppet On A String ring out.
 A golden voice
He follows with a superb version of Speak Softly, the theme from The Godfather, all contained power and acclaimed by the audience. Ken Boothe leaves the stage after his classic Everything I Own (his biggest hit, notably in England) and it is another must, Freedom Street, that opens the encore. His 1970 hit for Leslie Kong ends once again a cappella, well taken up by the audience. "There will be no freedom as long as there is no peace," he chants. The energy drops with My Heart Is Gone. Ken Boothe pays tribute to Luther Vandross, who died a few days ago, and finishes on two a cappellas before leaving the stage for good. Often and rightly compared to Otis Redding, Ken Boothe completes two hours of concert in the purest tradition of soul singers. Mr Rocksteady has not failed his reputation, set in stone, as a "soul man" with a golden voice, humble and generous. Warm, intimate and full of effusion, the meeting of Ken Boothe and his audience will have made people forget the very reasons for his presence in this venue that night.
Report written by Sébastien Jobart.
Photos réalisées par Karl Joseph
Tags : Ken Boothe (72)
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