September 29, 1999

London Shepherd's Bush Empire

If the current boom in street soul has been partly due to the willingness of a generation to crossbreed R&B with other genres, then this is the logical conclusion.

Ladies and gentlemen, please extinguish your cigarettes - your interactive soul experience is about to begin.

If the current boom in street soul has been partly due to the willingness of a generation to crossbreed R&B with other genres, then this is the logical conclusion. Macy Gray paces the stage, a living monument to the power of positive vibes. For hers is perhaps the broadest of all the R&B churches; a soul stew spiced with hip-hop, dancehall toasting, Latino rhythms, shades of your Beck-y alternative rock and, God save us, a hefty dose of cabaret.

This is genetically modified soul, then, and Macy Gray is a soul that wants you to talk back. First she insists the audience sings along to current smash 'I Try' and provides a clapping rhythm for the sun-soaked 'I Can't Wait To Meetchu', then she insists the notoriously uptight English audience introduces itself. ("Sarah!" screeches a voice in the rear stalls).

So it's chaos - a shambolic pile-up of ideas with Gray deftly teasing the strings somewhere at its heart. Surrender to the power of muddled thinking. The future is coming an