Applause erupted from the seated audience when Neneh Cherry snuck onto the stage at Brisbane’s The Tivoli Theatre (23 January).
The Swedish singer followed her six-piece backing band, approaching her mic to the sound of chiming marimba and harp plucks. Rather than sing, Neneh held her phone to the mic and played a recording of nature sounds. It’s less of a bang than a murmur for Neneh’s first visit to Brisbane.
But this introduction showed the fine, artistic touch Neneh has demonstrated across her 30-year career; building to a point where fans couldn’t help but rise from their chairs.
"I get super self-aware with everyone sitting down and I’m the only one dancing," Charlotte Adigery, lead singer of Belgian R&B trio and support act WWWater, said. The singer lost her self-consciousness when the groovy rhythms of synth player Boris Zeebroek and drummer Steve Slingeneyer erupted.
Charlotte’s sweet coo was replaced with repeated shouts of “masturbate”, accompanied by her high-kicking the air and her dreadlocks coming undone from being whipped around.
After Neneh Cherry’s subdued start, funky polyrhythms emerged in ‘Shotgun Shack’.
The groove infected the performers; Neneh took her mic from its stand and let her body flow; her harpist stepped back from her instrument and bounced to the beat; her bassist rocked hard to the beat, shaking his long fringe. Neneh’s movements were restricted by her baggy pants, so she lifted them and gave her feet the freedom to dance.
Raw emotions were on display on the dub-reggae ‘Kong’, a collaboration with her “old friend, 3D from Massive Attack”. Displayed behind her were images of refugees climbing in to boats and crying behind barbed-wire fences, showing the people behind her lyrics.
Upfront was Neneh’s voice, which has become husky with age and conveyed great empathy and emotion. The music faded away and Neneh chanted “we want to be free” as the sorrowful eyes on the screen continued to pierce the audience.
Between spacey jams, Neneh’s talented band raced across the stage and took their position behind a completely different instrument to before.
For ‘Natural Skin Deep’, the harpist played the bass and her nimble fingers played a thick groove. Throughout the night, audience members could be seen shuffling in their seats to the beats, but ‘Natural Skin Deep’ urged one fan to leap from her seat and dance wildly in the aisle.
Upon seeing her, more fans joined her and Neneh complimented her on her “good moves”.
“We’re gonna do a little throwback,” Neneh announced before performing a series of hits, beginning with ‘Manchild’.
After a duet with her husband and collaborator Cameron McVey on ‘7 Seconds’ came ‘Buffalo Stance’, the song that introduced the world to Neneh Cherry.
While she is more of a singer now, Neneh breathlessly rapped through her hit. Every seat became empty after everyone stood up to dance with Neneh, hypnotised by her fantastic performance.
