With the audience on their feet and cheering before Dame Shirley had sung a note, the enormous affection for the ‘Girl from Tiger Bay’ was palpable. Opening the show with Diamonds Are Forever, the Royal Albert Hall was immediately swathed in mirrorball sparkles and not just from DSB’s fabulous bejewelled frock. With her own musical director Michael Alexander conducting the magnificent Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, only a peerless diva such as Shirley could get away with conducting her conductor to speed up. With a claimed showbiz age of 85, you only can but marvel at that voice.
Before the audience could quite recover, Dame Shirley launched into her signature song. Even though she has been singing it since 1964, Bassey always performs Goldfinger as if it is completely fresh for her. With the audience giddily clapping every crescendo and the singer delighting us with her trademark flamboyant armography, this was a star turn that managed to be both the epitome of camp and an irresistible explosion of talent. There is a moment where that final extended note of “gold” approaches and you draw breath – of course she smashed it.
As a delighted Dame Shirley skipped off to the roars of the audience, she left The Sound of 007 with a considerable problem: how do you follow that?