Anastacia / Steve Appleton

The 'little lady with the big voice', also known as Anastacia, hit the Birmingham NIA on the 28th June with her Credit Crunch Concert (oops sorry that should be Heavy Rotation tour), to celebrate the release of her 4th studio album ‘Heavy Rotation’. You would expect a 20 + million album selling artist with an amazing soulful voice, dance moves to die for, hit after recognisable hit, and a wowing stage presence, to deliver an amazing gig to remember, but I left with the bitter taste of disappointment in my mouth.

The initial excitement of seeing Anastacia bubbled outside the NIA; after all diehard fans haven't had the chance to see her perform live for four years! Even though her latest album 'Heavy Rotation' hasn't achieved the commercial success of other studio albums, ('Not That Kind', 'Freak of Nature' and 'Anastacia'), her last tour was packed with singing, dancing and acrobats to ensure that the sell-out audience had a memorable time. But when I got inside to see that ¾ of the NIA had been curtained off and only 4,500 seats had been made available, I knew it wasn't going to be the same.

The night kicked off with support act Steve Appleton, a 20 year old Surrey born singer, songwriter and musician who's about to release his debut album 'When The Sun Comes Up' in August of this year. His album is full of tracks about being young, and as he wound his way though songs like 'Seeing Stars', 'Dirty Funk' and his latest single 'City Won't Sleep', I couldn't help but feel that the lyrics weren't quite right for the predominantly middle aged audience.

I expected to see people clamouring to their seats in time for Anastacia, but became slightly concerned when I was surrounded by empty seats; so much so that I could swap to get right near the front with no hassle whatsoever. As the photographers were hoarded in by the mixing desk to take shots of the sprock (soul, rock and pop) diva from a minimum of 200 yards away, the lights dimmed and the laughable extravaganza began.



It got off to a promising start with the video backdrop rushing us through buildings until we got to one with Anastacia emblazoned above it, and the unmistakable Anastacia appeared top of stage singing 'One Day In Your Life' in a simple brown leather jacket, shades and jeans ensemble. As if this wasn't showcase enough for her powerful voice, she skipped straight into 'I Can Feel You', which got the crowd clapping above their heads as they waited for something extraordinary to happen. But it didn't. She just sang with her two backing singers and that was it. She was met with huge, huge applause though, which visibly touched Anastacia before she tried out 'Same Song' from her latest album on the still expectant crowd. The lyrics ran across the video screens behind, perhaps to help out most of the audience who didn't recognise it!

It was from here on that the show seemed to fall apart as she stopped belting out hits and began to chat endlessly. I thought I'd stepped into an Anastacia chat show as she reeled off Cockney rhyming slang and called Brummies "Birminghamneses", before remembering that she needed to sing 'I Thought I Told You That'. She sat on her stool for 'You'll Never Be Alone' and her latest album track 'Defeated'. The whole audience was subdued, or maybe dead, as 'Cowboys And Kisses' was totally destroyed by one of her two dancers stripping off and performing awkward acrobatics in his white boxer shorts over a bath full of water. I was still trying to figure out why when Anastacia gabbled on again, introducing her band members like Big Bird out of Sesame Street. Next up was some entertaining audience participation, as Paul was invited on stage to do a dance off with Anastacia, who touchingly signed a programme for him and his wife before he dutifully returned to his seat.



Everyone did applaud enthusiastically to 'Why D'You Lie To Me' and 'In Your Eyes', but lost the will to live as her costume change took forever, even though she only came back on in yet more jeans and a bra top! She nailed 'Pay My Dues' much to the delight of the fidgety, bemused crowd. They quickly sat back down again for 'Beautiful Messed Up World', and then were up on their feet and waving their hands above their head for 'Sick And Tired'. They gave a big cheer for 'I Belong To You' and seemed to enjoy the A cappella verse of 'Not That Kind', before having to get into the big band style of the track to finish up the night.

As those people that were left (people had started leaving by this point) whooped and cheered for more for their money, the encore ensued. Anastacia, in skin tight black lycra pants and bra top, gave by far her best performances of the night. There was dancing, movement and energy whilst she sang 'Heavy Rotation' and crowd favourites 'I'm Outta Love' and 'Left Outside Alone'. There was finally atmosphere, but I couldn't help but feel it was all too little too late. As a confetti bomb exploded over Anastacia, I came away disappointed and confused. Oh yes, her voice sounded better than ever, but the concert was low budget, the theme was non-existent, and the set list just didn't seem to flow well at all. People who had also bought tickets to see her at the Manchester Apollo on 2nd July were threatening to sell them on eBay. Whether they will get even face value for them remains to be seen!

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.