Bette Smith in Eastleigh

I first saw New York born soul singer Bette Smith at the Americana Fest in Nashville in 2019 and was impressed by her dynamic performance and the energy she displayed and by her huge Afro hairstyle. Since then she has recorded two albums to add to her first one 'Jetlagger', released in 2017, and she appeared at the Concorde Club in Eastleigh, near Southampton, last night to promote her third album 'Goodthing'. Sadly there was a very small audience - maybe 30 or so people- which was a shame as Bette put on an exciting show. Dressed in a multicoloured dress with a white feather boa around her neck, she began with the excellent 'Shackle and Chain' from the 'Jetlagger' album. She comes across as a mixture of Etta James and a female James Brown - not a bad combination come to think of it - and her next song was a regular in her set, Etta James's 'Tell Mama'. Bette's new album was produced by London-based Jimmy Hogarth, who has produced such stars as Amy Winehouse, Duffy and Corinne Bailey-Rae in the past, and she performed several songs from the album, including 'Eternal Blessings', which she co-wrote with Hogarth, 'Neptune' and 'Time Gets Slower'. A highlight was the slow 'Don't Skip Out On Me' from her second album 'The Good The Bad and the Bette' but most of her numbers were upbeat and showed off her raspy voice to good effect as she high kicked, shuffled and generally sashayed across the stage. There were a few covers, including George Jones's 'Tennessee Whisky' - a song I seem to hear everywhere these days - 'The Thrill Is Gone' and Otis Redding's 'The Happy Song', along with an extended version of Prince's 'Purple Rain', which included a walk through the sparse audience. Finally, after 75 minutes on stage, she returned for an exciting version of 'Nutbush City Limits', which showed off her inner Tina Turner to good effect. Overall this was a good show and Bette gave it her all, despite the small crowd and her rather uninspired backing band. Hopefully she will soon be filling concert halls as she is a delight to watch.