`Soul Diva" is a much-overused term, but in the case of American singer Angie Stone, it's hard to find anything else which describes her more accurately. Stone stands apart from the pack in that she insists on "keepin' it real", eschewing plastic, streamlined r & b for a grittier, old-skool, funky soul sound. Her debut album, Black Diamond, outsells Macy Gray in the States, but judging from the half-empty Olympia on Monday night, she has yet to challenge Gray's commercial dominance on this side of the pond.
Live, Stone is a powerful and weighty presence; unfazed by the poor attendance, she opens with some slow, slinky r & b, then suddenly changes gear, bringing the crowd to its feet with Visions, and keeping them up with Bone 2 Pic (Wit U). On CD, these tracks are slinky and sensual, but onstage they're just downright dirty 'n' cool.
Stone puts her considerable lungpower into Black Diamonds & Blue Pearls, Green Grass Vapours and Love Junkie, while her three backing singers display their impressive pipes on Coulda Been You. All four ladies do justice to Al Green's Love & Happiness and Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man. Stone's backing group, led by keyboardist Kenny Seymour, make light work of the heavy soul sounds, but it's the surprise appearance of Stone's three-year-old son, Michael, which provides the unlikely highlight. Toddling around the stage, watched proudly by his Mom, little Michael does a killer kindergarten rap - never has nursery rhyming sounded so fly. Stone's record label should get in early and sign the kid up.
