My family and I are huge fans of Sophie Ellis-Bextor. The chance to see her perform again this year in Coventry, at the HMV Empire was too good to miss. It was a live set to celebrate the launch of her newest album, “Perimenopop”. This date was actually rescheduled from last month, which was lucky for me because I couldn’t make the original date and I was now able to attend.
This was the third time we got to see Sophie perform in the last year, each time getting a little closer to the stage. Performance-wise, she sang a few new album tracks live, including “Relentless Love,” “Layers,” and “Freedom of the Night,” along with a cluster of older popular tracks like “Murder on the Dancefloor.” It was a mini set with about six tracks, and if my memory serves me right, she sang:
- Relentless Love
- Take Me Home
- Layers
- Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)
- Freedom of the Night
- Murder on the Dancefloor
About 30 minutes singing and dancing and my favourite performance was Layers, which is an excellent new track. As always, she sounded amazing. The HMV Empire in Coventry was also the ideal venue for quite the packed turnout. But as an intimate venue, all likely got a good view and hopefully Sophie also had a good time. She of course sang live and performed to a backing track with video playing. No live band but that had to be expected due to the advertised format of the show being a store performance.
A Q&A session followed for about 30 minutes which was an interview with Sophie who delved into the writing process of the album, exploring collaboration opportunities and the inspiration behind the album title. Sophie also discussed her home studio, the process of finalising songs, and the moment when she recognises when album material is complete. An interesting insight into her work.
Sophie was on stage for about an hour, which was good value for the £18 ticket price, which also included a CD. My wife and I had slightly different opinions of the event. I accepted the song choices, while my wife would have definitely preferred more of the newer material to be performed.
Certainly in my opinion, it was an enjoyable evening and I was just pleased to see her perform again. Hopefully there will be another UK tour soon as I can just keep on watching her perform.
Do read my previous gig review here when we saw Sophie in Oxford this year. And to read my review of this latest album, take a look here.
So let me know if you attended the show and what you thought in the comments.
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