Kirk Franklin, the reigning King of Urban Gospel, receives a rapturous welcome stepping out on the Civic Theatre stage this evening.
This is his first appearance in New Zealand, and this World Tour begins here before taking on three dates in Australia.
Immediately I get the sense this is a Soul Revue show with the extra caveat of Gospel.
Many years ago, James Brown performed one of his last concerts before his death on this same stage, in 2006. He passed away on Christmas Day of that year.
Franklin is even more diminutive than Brown, which he is quick to joke about as he mentions the initial surprise of his small stature.
But he then busts out moves and glides across the stage, reflecting the chitlin circuit of the segregated Black American entertainment scene, dominant in Jim Crow America until the ascendency of the Civil Rights movement in the mid Sixties.
Michael Jackson streamlined the frenetic and expansive style of James Brown and made it uniquely his own. Franklin falls somewhere close to that without any dazzling pyrotechnics.
Brown included hot young female dancers on stage with him. Jackson did this with both sexes. Franklin has three backing singers, two female and one male, who stick to the vocals and don’t dance prominently. Unlike the original Famous Flames who were very much part of the visual spectacle up to the mid-sixties.
I don’t wanna love nobody but you. The show is kicked off in high fashion with Love Theory (from the Long Live Love album 2019). Backing singers carry the bulk of the lyrics.
Franklin extemporises around the rhythm and encourages with some old school Hip-Hop vocals which segues into a Holy Ghost dance.
The band is relatively small, but they carry a massive musical load. Dominant is the engine room bass and drums, which is pure JB legacy. The drummer is metronome precision and authoritative.
Matched with a bass player who can lay down ominous and malevolent rhythm lines so that it becomes the lead.
The guitar adds judicious amounts of colour and melodic flourishes. Two keyboard players stand in for a horn section. All together they carry the sound of large revue show.
When Franklin started his recording career in 1993, it was with a large 15-person vocal ensemble called the Family. The three on stage tonight lift to that level.
Brighter Day follows and immediately the bass acts as the lead instrument whilst the drummer dictates.
Never thought the dark clouds would end/ Never thought that I could have a friend.
The tone is hard and funky R’n’B with Franklin rapping and toasting around the music. I sense this band can improvise on most of the songs to build up a head of steam. The tension is resolved with everybody scream!
The tension does not let up as the band launch into Revolution, where hard R’n’B mixes with Rap and traditional Black Gospel to produce a thrilling new hybrid. Distinctive whoop-whoop vocal effects and stand-out funky guitar hooks aplenty.
I am a huge fan of the traditional Black hard Gospel sounds of the Soul Stirrers, Sensational Nightingales and similar.
The group that has repeatedly visited New Zealand (the last time being WOMAD 2020 right on the eve of Lockdown) are the Blind Boys of Alabama. Al Green has been here once, but we are relatively starved of traditional Black Gospel.
That is why it is such a blast and a revelation to hear the progression of this vital Black American music. You will note that Elvis (who was a huge fan of Gospel music) defined Rock’n’roll as the mixing of R’n’B and Gospel.
Kirk DeWayne Franklin was born and raised in Forth Worth, Texas, by his aunt as he had been abandoned by his teen mother and unknown father.
This is his origin story which he is informs us late in the show. His aunt collected aluminium cans to fund his piano lessons. Franklin was a prodigy and was performing in Southern Baptist churches by as young as six.
He also admits to many wrong turns in his developing teen years which is an overriding hazard for black youth in America. His aunt was a devout and strict Christian, and his faith eventually saw his own redemption.
The overriding audience tonight is strongly faith-based and Christian. A distinct family atmosphere and a large Polynesian presence. Plenty of palagi as one commentator on stage mentions, but it is a definite South Auckland vibe.
Contrast this with the night before here, when I attended the Come Together End of Year Big Bash. It is rare to get large Polynesian crowds into central Auckland for music shows.
Rappers that play at big sold-out shows at the Spark Arena have predominantly European audiences.
A festive and boisterous atmosphere as the support act Tribe of Ope, open the evening.
A Polynesian family quartet of two brothers and sisters, they play Folk styled Christian songs in lovely four-part vocal harmony. As only siblings who grow up together can.
They cover a great Judd’s song, Grandpa (Tell Me ‘Bout the Good Old Days) which steals your heart.
They also finish with a straight praise to a grateful God, which feels like a church service without any hint of irony. It is that sort of sincere audience tonight. Maybe we don’t think of this country as conservative Christian as heartland America anymore.
In keeping with this is a presentation by Tearfund New Zealand, to solicit sponsorship for grossly underprivileged children in Third World countries, an organisation which Franklin and his group support.
Black Gospel music is high on my rotation streaming on Spotify, so I can’t believe this is the first time I have listened to Kirk Franklin, who is a multiple Grammy award winner.
But the audience are experienced.
On the first of two piano interludes, they sing back to him songs that he just starts off with an intro melody line. Certainly not the majority, therefore many are novices to his music like me.
Yes, Jesus tells me so… Life is in your hands…. Wipe those tears away.
I recognise Silver and Gold and Why We Sing from his first album as Kirk Hamilton and the Family (1992).
There are extended versions of Hosanna and Imagine Me. Big heavy bass drops and solid dance rhythms. The audience are on their feet continually. The large circle floor is bouncing seismically.
Franklin gets to cut loose and testify. Can I get a witness!
He goes into preacher mode. The more bags you have, the heavier the luggage. Get up on your feet and be free!
Revolution is reprised as it radiates so much energy.
Comes back to finish with He Reigns. While a lot of the show is precision-rehearsed, when he grabs volunteers from the front of the house to perform an impromptu haka, he picks up the gist of it on the spot.
Kirk Hamilton is a real showman (shaman?) and looking to inherit the mantle, the hardest working man in show business!
Rev. Orange Peel
Photograpy by Chantelle Musson, courtesy of Live Nation
