★★★★ by Ifan Llewelyn
When other thirteen year old boys spent their evenings guffawing together at old episodes of South Park and trying to make out what was happening in a grainy online porn video, my evenings were spent re-creating Barbra Streisand album artwork alone in my room. It wasn’t quite clear what my pubescent thirteen-year-old self saw in a Jewish woman in her late sixties, but something clicked. As many little gay boys before me, diving into Streisand’s vast and varied back-catalogue gave me solace. After a routine hazing on the bus back from school, Streisand’s bongo infused rendition of ‘Gotta Move’ had me draping down my bedroom walls like an art deco sketch.
Now in my early twenties, having ‘Gotta Moved’ to the big smoke there was no keeping me away from Hyde Park when Streisand was announced to perform. With a decade of my fanaticism pegged on this one performance, Streisand did not disappoint.
Six years since her last time performing in London, Streisand aptly opened with Sunset Boulevard’s ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’. Showcasing her innate proclivity for camp, she sang her own lyrics, waxing skittishly that the stars began to sparkle ‘… just like that ring on Meghan Markle’, followed by high praise for Fortnum and Mason and the smell of shepherd’s pie. Any doubt that this performance in London would not live up to her six-decade-long career subsided in the wake of her undeniable charm and the warmth of that voice.
What followed was a whistle-stop hour dipping in and out of the various stages of her career. Riffling through newspaper cuttings and behind the scenes photographs on her display, it felt like an evening of scrapbooking on Aunty Barbra’s living room floor. She would pause for an anecdote every now and then, like the one about her taxi journey over (“My driver asked me if I went to the Pride parade yesterday. Why would I go? I knew I would see everyone there here tonight.”) between taking flamboyant sips of tea from her china set. With 36 studio albums, 9 compilations, 7 live albums and 15 soundtracks to chose from, her song montages made sure to satisfy her more devoted fan base. Her cover of Laura Nyro’s ‘Stoney End’ from the 1971 album of the same name was a delightful gem for those more familiar with her discography.
The evening’s strangest moment came when her gold-gilded paisley backdrop fell away to reveal a starry sky for a rendition of Christmas carol ‘Silent Night’ in the middle of July. A move that only she could pull off as her soft-handed grabs of the song delivered it sincerely, and with Barbra holding court it most definitely was a holy night.
Though she was momentarily let down by a lack of rehearsal, which felt out of character for the performer who’s built a career on her fastidiousness, she took the opportunity to give the audience a wink and a nudge, a rare peek behind her pristine veneer. When Kris Kristofferson inevitably joined her on stage for A Star is Born’s ‘Lost Inside of You’ it felt rather anti-climactic, and the Lionel Richie cameo did deprive us of the ‘Memories’ performance we’re so used to hearing. Always one to strive for something a little new even in this late stage of her career, she managed to keep us guessing as the next intro began to play. It mightn’t have been a flawless evening, but god damn was it a life-affirming moment for the 65,000 people who made their way over for an evening in the presence of a living legend.
Part of the British Summer Time festival at Hyde Park, London on Sunday, the 7thof July.
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