This article first appeared in THE WEEKENDER

3rd November 2007

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The cesspit of artificial glitz that is Grand West Casino has one redeeming feature: the Grand Arena, an impressive concert venue that, every so often, plays host to some authentic talent. That was certainly the case earlier this week, when a 3,000-strong crowd was treated to a genuine (jen-yuu-WINE), real-deal star in the form of Gladys Knight, who completed her South African tour in Cape Town after concerts in Jo’burg, Sun City and Durban.

I must admit, I expected – perhaps, rather cynically, even hoped – to confirm my belief that ageing performers should, well, retire gracefully. But Miss Gladys Knight is still very much on top of the hill. At 63, she looks, sings and dances like a woman twenty years her junior and remains, after half a century in the limelight, a consummate professional.

Throughout her stay in this country, Knight emphasised that she had long wanted to visit, despite her reluctance to grace any apartheid venues. “But,” she pointed out, “we’ve shared a lot together, through the music”; and judging by the enthusiastic response of the multiracial, multigenerational audience, the songs of Gladys Knight (with and without the Pips) have been part of the soundtrack to many South African lives.

Knight has an easy onstage rapport with all around her – fans, band members, backing vocalists. She interrupted herself during the climactic notes of the 1961 hit “Every Beat Of My Heart” to joke: “Most of you weren’t born then, but it took a long time to end songs back in those days ... so you and your man could, you know, enjoy the darkness ... at least, back then, you had a slow-dance partner; now, you have to dance all night just to get a partner!” And she proceeded to bust some moves that would put any noughties nightclubber to shame.

It’s this comfortable blend of the old and the new that has kept Knight contemporary, decade after decade. She doesn’t see herself in competition with younger singers (“When people ask me what I think of young artists today, I say ‘They got talent and they’re producing great music; they got a lot to learn, but they’re gifted’!”) and has, over the years, paid tribute to a number of them by covering their songs. In concert, Knight performed Karyn White’s 1988 “Superwoman” – which she, Patti Labelle and Dionne Warwick updated in 1991 – and her “End Of The Road” medley, which fuses the Boyz II Men track with older classics like “If You Don’t Know Me By Now”.

Indeed, in The Pips’ heyday, it was probably even more common for songs to be released by multiple artists than is currently the case. Audiences were reminded of this when Knight was joined by her brother, Merald “Bubba” Knight, for a “Heard it Through The Grapevine” double: Gladys sang The Pips’ (1967) version and her brother gave Marvin Gaye’s (1968) rendition. Contradicting all stereotypes about men called Bubba, the older sibling temporarily upstaged his sister with a manic song-and-dance routine in the style of James Brown and Al Green.

Mostly, however, the focus was on Miss Knight and her superb vocal range in numbers like “Save The Overtime For Me”, “Stormy Weather”, “Neither One Of Us (Wants To Be The First To Say Goodbye)”, “I’ve Got To Use My Imagination”, “Love Overboard”, “Love And Happiness”, “Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me” and, of course, “Midnight Train To Georgia”. She belted out the soul-searching high notes with power and control. She also struck a soft, sad tone at times – although most of the audience was cheering and applauding too loudly to notice.