Ronnie Spector at Islington Academy

Last night I went to see Ronnie Spector play at Islington Academy, one of the original 'rock chicks' who's seen rock and pop develop first hand over the last five decades. It was nice to see her at the Academy which I think of as a 'rock' venue and that's how she played it. She was looking good, big hair, big red lips, tight outfit shown off with lots of poses and lots of energy even though she sat down every now and then due to a leg problem. Luckily she avoided the 'rock chick' steroetype of leather jacket or trousers.

Ronnie was backed by a six-piece band to build the 'wall of sound' as she sang some Ronettes classics - 'Baby, I Love You', 'Be My Baby', 'Walking In The Rain' - and, of course, we all sang along too. She had a nice line in name-dropping patter that amply demonstrates she's been adopted by all every bit of the music biz over the years and all the bad boys love Ronnie - the Stones, New York Dolls, the Ramones. And Billy Joel wrote ' Say Goodbye To Hollywood' for her, which she sang last night.

She only did a couple of songs from the latest labum, 'Last Of The Rock Stars', but it was good to hear the Johnny Thunders song, 'You Can't Put Your Arm Around A Memory' and the Patti Smith collaboration, 'There Is An End'. She sang George Harrison's 'Try Some, Buy Some' which I didn't realise but she had a hit with it back in 1971 before George released it on 'Living In A Material World' a couple of years later.

It would've been nice to hear more from the latest album, demonstrating where she is now rather than where she was, but she was doing a crowd pleasing set for the old guard, with lots of her oldies and some doo-wop thrown in for good measure.

I liked her chatting between songs, anecdotes a-plenty and a lovely New York drawl of an accent, not a dainty little voice at all. Little woman with a big voice. It would be churlish to mention that she wasn't always in tune but that's live performances for you and the joy of seeing someone in the flesh, dodgy notes and all. Ronnie was performing before I was born and she's still going strong - and she kept all eyes on her last night without even trying.