Chaka Khan at Meltdown, review: septuagenarian gets the Festival Hall jumping with glitterball moves
Chaka Khan brought American showbiz glamour to the opening night of the highbrow Meltdown festival, in a rambling 90-minute show celebrating 50 years as the “Queen of Funk”. A brief preview movie whetted the audience’s appetite for a party with thumbs-ups from Stevie Wonder, who penned Khan’s first ever hit, Whitney Houston, who briefly served as her backing singer, and even folk supremo Joni Mitchell, who simply raved, “She’s just Chaka, man!”
As curator of the 29th Meltdown on London’s South Bank, Khan’s line-up leans boldly towards diversity, with black female headliners including Emeli Sandé, Mica Paris and Lady Blackbird, as well as LGBTQ+ sideshows such as the “queer rave” Adonis Afters.
If Ms Khan were any more of a gay icon, she’d sneeze glitter. Having overcome addiction to embrace community initiatives, she’s a beloved figure on the basis of three world-beating dancefloor bangers and a mellow, raunchy persona.
Materializing onstage in skin-tight black Lycra and lace, and calf-length boots with a sensible, sturdy heel, the 71-year-old exuded effortless star quality, with a million-dollar smile which remained in place as her voice flew up in rather squeaky runs through its upper registers on opener This Is My Night.
True enough, the night really was hers for the taking, with an excitable sell-out crowd at her mercy, but it was a show that needed just a little more effort and forward planning.
With an 11-piece band and four interpretive dancers to share the heavy lifting, her set quickly veered from shimmery disco (Do You Love What You Feel, from her days fronting the Chicago group, Rufus) and strutting funk (the Wonder-penned Tell Me Something Good), into gloopy balladry (Magic In Your Eyes), and suddenly all those amped-up Friday-night revellers started flopping down in their seats.
The energy returned with the memorable early-rap intro (“Chaka Khan, Chaka-Chaka Khan!”) to I Feel For You, her Prince cover which topped the UK charts in 1984, but it all too quickly led into a medley of ponderous cheese less familiar to British audiences. Cue another mass sit-down.
When not ambling around stage-centre, playing air-bass, the “Queen of Funk” also took to her bar stool, hazily dedicating I Remember U, another slow jam written with Prince circa 1998, to her co-author, “wherever you are”, and remembering other fallen collaborators such as jazz trumpeters Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Though absent-minded riffing was certainly part of her charm, honed anecdotes surely would’ve been preferable. The momentum dissipated further when Khan left the stage to another over-eager dance routine, agonisingly halted when the DJ’s equipment failed.
After a patchy hour-plus, finally 1978’s “sister disco” classic I’m Every Woman got the party started. Its lyrics of female empowerment have only deepened in resonance, notably boosted by Whitney Houston’s version on her multi-platinum 1992 soundtrack to The Bodyguard, but Khan fully owned it here, wiggling her hips with that ever-present oral gleam.
Ain’t Nobody, too, had the Festival Hall jumping with glitterball moves. All too soon, it was over. In the illustrious theatre’s intimate setting, Khan proved rather elusive. Let’s hope her closing-night “ClassiKhan” orchestral performance will shake her from her comfort zone.
Chaka Khan’s Meltdown festival continues until June 23. Tickets: southbankcentre.co.uk; she also plays Warwick Castle on July 3 and Love Supreme Festival on July 7
