At Last: The Etta James Story – Aotea Centre, 28 November 2014

Vika Bull and The Essential R&B Band have been performing this “narrative concert” based on the life and music of Etta James in Australia for over a year. Now, Vika brings her show to Auckland for one performance at the Aotea Centre.

Most New Zealanders will be familiar with Vika Bull through her recordings with her sister Linda…Vika and Linda’s House Of Love was a hit back in 1994. Now the Australian (of Tongan descent) takes on the music of r&b great Etta James who passed away in 2012.

The show features Vika fronting a seven-piece band (guitar, bass, keyboards, drums, trumpet, trombone, sax) singing Etta’s biggest hits while she and trumpet player Tibor Gyapjas played tag team telling James’ story between songs.

The show started at 8pm with the band appearing in front of a backdrop featuring a Chess record and a vintage street scene. Vika Bull strode out and they whipped up a rousing version of Tell Mama, one of Etta’s hottest tracks from her 1967 session at Muscle Shoals. This sent out a message that the music wouldn’t be presented strictly chronologically, as Etta’s recording career began back in 1954.

The narrative did begin with Etta’s birth in 1938 to her 14-year-old mother, her rough upbringing in LA and her eventual discovery by r&b impresario Johnny Otis. The narrative came across like a well-written Wikipedia entry although the music was much better.

While it took a while for the band to heat up, Vika was on form from the beginning. She served up a gutsy version of I Just Want To Make Love To You and proved just what a soulful singer she is on Something’s Got A Hold On Me.

Trombonist Ben Gillespie joined Vika for Roll With Me Henry and guitarist Dion Hirini duetted with Vika on Howlin’ Wolf’s Spoonful.

The show was split into two parts…the first set ending with Sugar On The Floor, the second beginning with Come To Mama, which was followed by a show-stopping performance of James Brown’s This Is A Man’s World.

The second half definitely raised the temperature in the room…I Would Rather Go Blind, Good Rockin’ Daddy and Lovesick Blues all got the crowd bouncing in their seats.

Meanwhile, the narrative focussed on Etta’s personal life, particularly her long-running problems with substance abuse and run-ins with the law. I felt those stories were beginning to become a bit tiresome and I would have liked to have heard more about her musical experiences…her time recording with Chess or traveling down to Muscle Shoals to rekindle her career.

It seems that the narrative aspect of the show caused problems…there were times when they perhaps should have strung a few songs together to build up some musical momentum and Vika did struggle with her lines from time to time. But Vika wisely avoided imitating Etta (their voices are quite different) instead drawing from the same emotional pool as the blues legend.

Of course At Last closed the show and it was stunning…but even better was the encore…the six-person Oceanic Voices choir was brought out to help with a remarkable version of The Eagles’ Take It To The Limit. Etta James had recorded the song back in 1978, but I had never heard that arrangement until now. What a treat!

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Veronica McLaughlin:

At Last: The Etta James Story set list:

1. Tell Mama
2. I Just Want To Make Love To You
3. Something’s Got A Hold On Me
4. Roll With Me Henry
5. All I Could Do Was Cry
6. Spoonful
7. Fool That I Am
8. W-O-M-A-N
9. Strange Things Happen Every Day
10. Sugar On The Floor
11. Come To Mama
12. This Is A Man’s World
13. Out In The Streets Again
14. Lovesick Blues
15. A Sunday Kind Of Love
16. I Would Rather Go Blind
17. Good Rockin’ Daddy
18. In The Basement
19. Deep In The Night
20. Pushover
21. At Last
22. Take It To The Limit