Jane McDonald in Concert (19/06/10, The Grand, Leeds)

Last night I took my Mum and Mum-in-Law to see Jane McDonald in concert, but they were really just my excuse to not go on my own! I was probably the youngest there, and the Mums were probably a good 10 years younger than most of the rest of the grey-haired audience, apart from the two very enthusiastic lesbians sat behind us. I'm used to being the youngest at plays though, I don't know what my peers do for entertainment - unless they're the people we met on the streets walking home at 10.15pm, drunk, loud and (the women) dressed in their underwear.

Anyway, I digress. Jane was absolutely incredible - it's no wonder she had a few standing ovations (though not from us up in the balcony, there's not enough room to move up there once you're seated). She's not only an amazing singer - as evidenced by a brief 1.5mins of opera that went down incredibly well - but she's also a lovely personality, and absolutely hilarious with it. 

Jane lives in Wakefield, so being in Leeds was a bit of a homecoming for her, and it felt like she'd added that little bit extra, plus her mother was in the audience. The first half of the show was a little more ballady than the second, and I enjoyed the upbeat latter a bit more, although that may have been because I knew more of the songs in the second half. I can't find a set list on line for any of her shows (boo!) but I remember her doing the following:

Walk On By, Do You Know The Way to San Jose?, [Italian Opera], Doctor's Orders, One Voice, Even Now (those 3 from Jane, her last album), One Night Only & And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going (from Dreamgirls), [a self-penned ballad in memory of her grandmother], Voulez-Vous, Heatwave... I can't remember the others! But there was a country song, a Motown medley, a disco medley, more Burt Bacharach, Cilla Black covers... Oh and one of her backing singers did Duffy's Mercy. 

The songs covered something from practically every classic genre, and the uptempo disco medley was a highlight. Jane can do a soaring big ballad one moment, crack a few jokes of a particularly northern kind, and then launch into a massive disco number. Her voiced completely filled The Grand and it was an incredible performance that I enjoyed from start to finish.