Celebrating his 40th birthday in quite some style and with quite the guest list, Lee Mead at the London Palladium made for a great night
“I’ll make you so sure about it”
I spent my 40th birthday eating as many Michelin-starred meals as I could hoodwink people into treating me to but being a much more genial sort, Lee Mead celebrated his by making a long-awaited return to live performance. Lee Mead at the London Palladium was his first concert in 18 months and in some ways, it was almost worth the wait.
With time on his hands, he has been able to come up with a beautifully balanced setlist with MD Adam Dennis. One which pays tribute to the shows that have made his career thus far, one reflects songs that have inspired him but above all, one which demonstrates love. Love for music, love for his friends and family, love for the act of performing to which he is so clearly accustomed.
So we glide from Wicked (‘Dancing Through Life’) to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (‘Hushabye Mountain’), Adele (‘When We Were Young’) to the Monkees (Daydream Believer’). His effortless tenor soars through The Greatest Showman’s ‘From Now On’ too but a God-themed two-hander sees him at his best, Miss Saigon’s ‘Why God Why’ and the Beach Boys’ ‘God Only Knows’ are both spine-tinglingly, scintillatingly good.
The evening was also blessed with a strong roll-call of special guests. Kerry Ellis smashed through ‘Somebody To Love’ and X-Factor winner Dalton Harris soared on both an impressive solo track and a duet with Mead on ‘Feeling Good’. And it was impossible not to be entirely seduced by Marisha Wallace as she first blew the roof off the Palladium with an incandescent ‘This is Me’ and then dialled it right down to partner Mead on a delicately beautiful ‘Make You Feel My Love’.
Photos: Marilyn Kingwill
