Soweto Gospel Choir - The Lowry Theatre - 04/02/08 by James Ellaby

After they got five stars from Entertainment Manchester last time they were over here, I was very keen to get the chance to see the Soweto Gospel Choir, and this show certainly wasn't a let-down. Hailing from Soweto in South Africa, they live up to every cliche you think of when it comes to an African gospel choir, and that's a very good thing. They're noisy, colourful, spiritual, soulful and great fun. In fact, the only thing more fun than watching the Soweto Gospel Choir looks like it is actually being in the Soweto Gospel Choir. I've certainly never seen any performers enjoying themselves quite so much on stage.

And it doesn't feel forced or put-on, even though they are very professional performers who spend most of the year touring. They seem to genuinely love doing it and get even more pleasure from watching each other sing and dance, and that kind of joy is infectious, making their shows almost impossible to dislike. Some people might be put off by the thought of listening to gospel if they are not religious, but it really doesn't matter at all. Plus, while there's a saying in rock music that the devil got the best tunes, a night with this Choir proves that it really isn't the case.

The theme for their new show (and album) is African Spirit, and we get some introductions to various themed sections of the show, but if you want to ignore that and just enjoy the music, then that's pretty easy as most of the spiritual songs aren't in English anyway. Indeed, it isn't until the second section when a few more familiar songs are thrown in, like Avulekile Amasango/One Love, which finishes with a rousing rendition of the classic Bob Marley song, while Bob Dylan's I'll Remember You is transformed into a stunning gospel tune. Not all of the Western songs are interpreted as well, but the low points are very few and far between.

With the entire choir dressed in very colourful African robes in both halves of the show, there's plenty to look at even without elaborate staging, and there's plenty of lively dancing thrown in too. One gimmicky but fun section sees the three percussionists sitting down in the 'canteen' and using the plastic table, crockery and cutlery to play a tune, and almost every member of the Choir gets to show off their skills at one point or other. Any one of them could easily be a powerful soul singer in their own right, but you get the impression they enjoy doing this too much to ever want to branch out on their own anyway.

Of course, they play Amazing Grace from their last album Voices From Heaven, and it's absolutely stunning, but the highlight of the night is the climax of World In Union, a song that is full of all of the ingredients that go into the Soweto Gospel Choir. It's spiritual, uplifting, great fun and packed with soul, and when performed by a group of talented people like this, it is moving and powerful. The whole evening has more than lived up to my expectations and the only shame was that it had to eventually end. And that I can neither sing or dance well enough to join them...