YolanDa Brown Japan Concert Review

Earlier on this month I was invited to the Yolanda Brown benefit concert for the Japan disaster (in conjunction with Yamaha) I do like a bit of Ms. Brown so I accepted gladly.

However before I continue I must tell you about the venue ‘Under The Bridge; a new West London entertainment spot which can only be described as ‘THE STUFF’ designed by the developer of the ‘House of Blues’ I liked it because it captured the ambience most spots struggle to achieve, not to mention the stage is visible from almost everywhere and the cute booths on the mezzanine level look pretty small but can actually seat a small group of friends (and their friends) likewise the venue as a whole feels deceivingly intimate - it allows for such large numbers because it’s in the basement, It’s a top notch venue and well worth the 20m. Roman Abramovich: nice one!

But back to the lady of the night - myself & colleague settled into the press booth and she knew everybody up in there (jammy cow lol) after we all wet our throats and got acquainted, YolandDa graced the stage with a full band and 3 backup singers...I must admit I didn’t quite know how the backup singer thing would work, at times it did seem as if they didn’t quite know what to do with themselves but overall it worked really well.

YolanDa is fantastic! After blowing the sax out! she jumped straight on the keys! I was amazed; she gave her pianist (Oscar Stieler) a run for his money. The house was packed and among the 400 strong crowd was Rudolf Walker who Yolanda saluted during the performance, Angela Wynter, Charlene White, Will Johnson & Jimmy Akingbola (more on them below) The night itself was a benefit concert in support of the Japan disaster and it was just great to see everyone come together young & old. The event was a brillant way to keep Japan in our hearts & minds as it’s so easy to forget and I myself was guilty of doing just that. So a big thank you to Yolanda, Yamaha & Atina PR for re-awakening us and our readers.

Not only is Yolanda is true performer but she’s every inch the well-bred lady she embodies class, elegance and that girl-next-door flavour that makes you wanna be her online BFF (wink wink :) I laughed when she called herself an honorary Nigerian as I’d already picked up on her affinity to the culture when she used the terms

“Ah Ah’” and "Mehn” in context without thinking twice LOL. The highlight for me however was when she played a song entitled ‘Story’ (simply mesmerising) she ended the evening with a 'Fela' track that kept us on our feet. All in all a positive night filled with high energy and great people uniting for a worthy cause.

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During the course of the evening I had the pleasure of catching up with a few well-known faces

“Charlene White” ITV News Presenter

"I’ve seen YolanDa perform so many times, my younger sister introduced me to her music. I used to play various instruments back in the day but when I discovered raving at 16 I stopped playing. My Dad who’s here with me tonight said I’d regret it in later life. So to watch YolanDa not only play the sax but also get on the piano reminds me just how talented she is and how wrong I was to have given up so easily.
I’m also here in support of Japan. Working in the news you see the suffering and hear the news stories all-day-every-day and you feel involved even though you’re not physically there. Japan happened a relatively long time ago in terms of the turnover of news stories we report, but we need to remember the people who are still suffering and dealing with the aftermath"

“Will Johnson” Actor

"The show’s absolutely fantastic! I’m a huge fan of YolanDa’s and have been for many years. I came out to the tonight not only to see her perform but also to show my support for Japan, it’s a very worthy cause and I’m happy to be here"

“Jimmy AkingBola” Actor

"I came out first & foremost to see YolanDa as I’m a big fan, I saw her at the Screen Nation years ago and I've been following her ever since, she even added me on Facebook...I think I might be stalking her a bit (laughs) but her affiliation with the Japan disaster is commendable and very important; just because it’s not the flavour of the month news story anymore we still cannot forget. Events like this keep the cause alive, spread awareness and get people moving again"

“MYM” Gospel Artist

"I’ve never seen YolanDa Brown live and I did wondered how it would all come together, but I’ve been mesmerised all the way through; the Sax is clearly an extension of her. I’ve been so entertained she’s definitely landed herself a new fan (laughs) and of course we can’t forget about Japan. After this we must all continue to support in any way we can"