The Soweto Spiritual Singers greet their audience with the Lord’s Prayer, sung in perfect harmony. From the outset, the spiritual tone is set for the colourful, uplifting and wholesome African gospel experience to come.
Impressive solos on a large hand drum, a soprano saxophone and an electric guitar add dynamism and intensity to the show.
The Singers know how to dazzle and excite their audience. Pitch-perfect songs in a variety of tones and paces unfold, each as pleasing as the previous. Energetic, playful soloists relay one another with professionalism and unwavering confidence. The show is pure spectacle, indulging in numerous pleasing costume changes - from the elegant, to the shimmering, to the colourful. On top of this is the fact that the singers are talented dancers, delighting the audience with a South-African style dance-off featuring high kicks, jumps, rolls and the splits. This is no recital: the audience are encouraged to clap their hands, stomp their feet and get up and dance. If this show suffers from anything at all it is the stiffness of a British audience.
The Singers take care to anchor their performance in South African culture and identity, including small snippets of information that give an added texture to the performance. For example, one soloist draws attention to the fact that there are 11 South African languages, most of which they sing in at one point or another of the performance. This captivatingly draws our attention to the unique African sounds that make up the performance. Although you may regret not being able to understand the story of many of the songs that are not in English, you will likely gain an appreciation for the choir’s rich and varied sounds from home that create an intense sense of place.
The six-piece band also present on stage is in perfect balance with the strong vocalists, providing a professional accompaniment to the choir as well as punctuating it with solos. Impressive solos on a large hand drum, a soprano saxophone and an electric guitar add dynamism and intensity to the show.
The Soweto Spiritual Singers provide an experience that embraces home and spirituality in an engaging and refreshing performance that may make you wish you too spent your Sundays singing in a finger-clicking, hip-swaying, foot-tapping gospel choir.
