SHEILA E
Metro Theatre Sydney,
Sunday 11 December 2016

Review by: Paris Pompor
Photos by: Rizwan Omar

Lynn Mabry takes centre stage with Sheila E in her element on percussion

“Who said, girls couldn’t drum?” Sheila Escovedo rhetorically asks after one of her impressive percussion solos tonight.

Well, certainly no one here would have dared utter that misconception.

And if they had, they would have been shouted down or evicted by the considerably sized adoring crowd that has gathered inside the Metro on Sydney’s George St strip. Here, on this balmy night, we’re all instantly transported back to the mid-’80s. From the polished lighting design, snappy snare tones and wiggy synth fills, through to the two-tone product-filled mall-bangs and white belt of back-up singer Ashling Cole. Alongside the tortured-seamed jeans, swinging leather jacket, ultra-white hi-tops and gleaming MTV-teeny-heart-melting smile of guitarist Sir Mychael Davison, it’s like being on the set of ‘Krush Groove’ for one of the club sequences. Arriving on stage as a unified force, Sheila’s E Family Band wastes no time unleashing their ‘80s funky house party vibe. Even outside, time seems rewound: George St doesn’t feel quite as dead as the rest of this locked-out city, although I spare a thought for the band finding somewhere to get a post-show drink, let alone finding somewhere to “partyup” afterwards.

Inside, the guy in front of me has ‘Prince’ emblazoned across the back of his T-shirt, and there’s a palpable sense many have assembled as much to experience the purple prodigy posthumously (albeit by one degree of separation) as they have to re-live Escovedo’s early hits ’The Glamorous Life’ and ‘A Love Bizarre’. On first count, she doesn’t disappoint with a number of Prince tunes peppering the set. On second count however, we’re left wanting. Instead of an extended workout of at least one of the aforementioned Sheila E tunes we have to make do with a kind of ongoing medley of tunes throughout. We never get the much-wanted 12” meltdown or extended workout of any of her much-loved singles. It’s the one thing missing in this otherwise slickly, if a little back-to-frontly, choreographed show. In fact, for the first twenty minutes of the concert – we don’t hear any songs in their entirety, as the band masterfully jumps through half versus and choruses from a number of tracks, kicking off with Prince’s ‘When Doves Cry’ (later its B-side ’17 Days…’ appears too.) The opening feels more like an encore (but there isn’t one tonight), or that heated frenzy you witness at a gig when an artist has over 30 albums to cover in two hours and throws up a mash of melodies in recognition of the fact time is running out and they too sense the collective thought-bubble hovering: “But you haven’t played XXX yet”.

Escovedo doesn’t have that huge solo backcatalogue to agonise over, so it’s something of a misstep not to indulge fans with at least a full rendition of one of her signature tunes. Never mind, the frequently smiling Sheila – whose disco spangled gold pants are her only fashion excess – is otherwise firing on all cylinders. She looks comfortably radiant and only a fraction of the 59 years she tells us she will turn the following day. This prompts a rousing, improvised ‘Happy Birthday’ singalong from the crowd. Later the band breaks into a brief rendition of Stevie Wonder’s ‘Isn’t She Wonderful’ which along with the “surprise” birthday cake, feels a little more staged, especially for those of us who read a review of the Melbourne show a few days earlier. Escovedo is a consummate entertainer. She makes leading a band through fiery hoops look effortless – she certainly never breaks a visible sweat despite the obvious physical workout, leaping from drum kit to microphone to guitar without so much as a pant. She is a marvel no doubt. The show however does seem rehearsed down to the minutiae, even when we descend into Hallmark territory briefly for a rare monologue on love and a directive to hug the person next to us. It’s bookended by her recent single homage to collaborator and one-time lover, Prince. There’s no doubt his passing must have been a huge and surprising loss to Escovedo, but something about this public Oprah-esque segue doesn’t sit easily with everyone.

Yet even for me – someone who can’t abide mawkish sermonising or following group-hug instructions – it hasn’t detracted from the overall enjoyment of tonight’s concert and experiencing a woman who is still very much at the height of her prowess. From the sheer pop joy of hearing ‘The Belle Of St. Mark’ with backup singers bouncing round the stage, to Sheila rapping her way through the ‘Krush Groove’ soundtrack’s ‘Holly Rock’. Even a preview of the upcoming, laser-light inducing anthem ‘Bailar’ (Spanish for ‘dance’) has the crowd instantly singing along.

Generously allowing her band members their own time in the spotlight, special mention has to go energetic saxophonist Eddie Mininfield, as well as powerhouse vocalist Lynn Mabry (yes, she of Family Stone, Funkadelic and Stop Make Sense fame). Mabry’s voice is a wonder in itself, especially when taking centre stage for an all-too-short rendition of ‘Diamonds And Pearls’. And that’s just for starters. With Latin and jazz influences never far from the mix, even Funkadelic’s ‘One Nation Under A Groove’ slides briefly into earshot from a swinging rhythm breakdown and no one misses a beat.

Actually no one misses a beat all night. It’s that kind of show. Come back soon Ms E, we miss you already.