Review by Natalia Milne. Venue 57. The Jazz Bar – Partially Seated

★★★★1/2

Kat Brooks wants to challenge your assumptions about Etta James and Gladys Knight. They are known as ballad queens, but Kat aims to show you their other side. A side that exposes their grit, their soul and their storytelling abilities. The performance (set perfectly in Edinburgh’s famous Jazz Bar) is a 90 minute love letter to these two towering musical icons. 

Kat is joined on stage by two guitarists, a keyboardist, and her Pips (three back-up singers from the choir that Kat directs, called The Phoenix Choir) who were all excellent and really complemented the sound. Kat’s voice is soulful, bluesy and deeply in touch with the emotions of the songs. Her admiration for these women is clear in the performance, which she delivers with a high level of energy and fun. 

The show is opened by a rendition of Fire by Etta James, the first of the 22 songs performed over the course of the evening. As soon as the band played the opening bars the audience was gripped, and they remained so throughout the show. One of the standout moments was the Gladys’ Knight cover of Help Me Make It Through The Night. Kat opens by stating that the song means a lot to her personally. If you listen to the lyrics you can relate to its themes on loneliness;  how it is an emotion that we have all experienced but maybe don’t talk about too freely. This transcends through Kat’s performance which was so beautiful and vulnerable. The audience was captivated, almost holding their breath while she poured herself out on the stage.

Kat’s vibrant personality and humour throughout the show adds a real charm to the evening. She also mentions that Etta James loved to list the days of the week (in songs such as Sunday Kind of Love, Seven Day Fool etc.), and that observation has really wormed its way into my brain and will not leave!

“Throw me a Diet Coke!” Kat quips as the song I Just Wanna Make Love to You begins – she’s paying homage to that advert. The topless man with the lawn mower? I know you remember it. And then there was the Etta James song Got My Mojo Working. This offered the opportunity for crowd participation that the audience of the Jazz Bar was clearly craving. 

The show is then closed by the iconic and unforgettable song I Heard it Through the Grapevine. Kat describes how this song encapsulates everything that she loves about the two subjects of the show: Both women worked hard to succeed, despite their hard starts in life. They both experienced rejection from a world that did not appreciate them, and they were often not credited for their artistry and genius. The reason this song is a perfect way to illustrate her point was that it was actually first released by Gladys Knight, whereas most people remember and think of Marvin Gaye’s version.