Beverley Knight at The Royal Albert Hall

Last night we went to the long awaited concert by Beverley Knight at the Royal Albert Hall. Tickets went on sale last autumn so it's been a long wait and when we got there last night we found we were in a box right at the side of the stage (I never understand the RAH seating chart), so we were close but didn't have the best of views.

To start off with, Mamas Gun were the support act. I first saw them back in 2007 when they supported Kiki Dee at the IndigO2, so it was nice to see them again. A smaller band and a tighter sound but they seem to have discovered extended mixes of their songs which wasn't a good thing. It was great to hear 'Put My Finger On It' and 'Pots Of Gold' again but the two extended versions of songs seemed to drag a bit. But it's good to see them again, especially supporting Beverley.

And then on came the main lady herself in a silver miniskirt-suit ensemble, lots of thighs and on impossibly high heels. But there's no mistaking that voice and that control of the stage, stalking it back and forth, never still. She's clearly on tour, very professional with a well-rehearsed band in matching black along with her usual trio of singers. Bev had three costume changes, all exposing acres of leg and sparkly high heels - she's in good form and dancing and singing her heart out, she must be incredibly fit. No sign of sounding winded at all, dancing and singing and giving us her all.

She played all the big hits you'd expect, old and new, so no-one would go home without hearing a favourite song. Favourites for me were 'Come As You Are' (the set closer), 'Beautiful Night', 'Black Butta', 'In Your Shoes', 'Gold' and 'Made It Back'. There was an extended version of 'Shoulda Woulda Coulda' that was, well, long, but the whole show was very professional and slick. And I think that may be partly why I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have.

I recall seeing Bev at the ICA last year which was the first time she'd played some of the songs from her new album, "100%" so that might've been why they sounded fresh and new and, well, not raw, exactly, but not slick. It was also more of a gig when we could get close to Bev rather than be restricted by the seating plan. And, sadly, having a couple of Italians in front of us that insisted on talking and laughing throughout until we asked them to be quiet, after which they smirked at each other and danced energetically with arms in the air to obscure the view. Not the happiest of concerts, but they rarely are at the Royal Albert Hall. It might be a prestige venue, but it's not designed for a rock or soul performance.

Bev was excellent and it was great to see her and great to see her commanding a venue like the Royal Albert Hall but I hope she plays somewhere else the next time she does a gig in London. My photos are from the ICA last year.