Gazza wrote on Jul 13
th, 2014 at 11:47am:
I was at the first 02 show and really enjoyed Mary J Blige's performance (I think she's an amazing singer, anyway. That Grammys rendition of 'No More Drama' a few years back is one of my favourite performances by anyone. Ever)
Florence though just tore the roof off the place. It takes a special stage presence for anyone to go toe to toe with Jagger, especially on that song, but for a young white girl - who doesnt really have the pipes that Merry, Lisa or Mary J would have - to do it takes some....well, balls, to put it mildly.
Cheers for the other video posts G. And this clip of Flo guesting on Gimme Shelter still makes me choke up a bit.
She sings it far more in the spirit of Merry Clayton - plain, unbridled emotion, without the vocal gymnastics of Lisa, Mary J, etc.
This isn't a "party" song; this is combat rock. This isn't a song for showing off musical chops, this is a song of fear and longing. Florence seems to get that - with her limited white English girl voice, her body language, her facial expressions, her obvious love and gratitude for the band (other clips show her giving Charlie a big kiss as she exits the stage. This is one cool young woman).
My eldest brother Chris still maintains that when Merry's part opens up in the original, it still makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up and moves him to tears. Being a more intense (or jaded) Stones freak than he, the song doesn't quite move me that way anymore, but Florence Welch's version, at least on the crummy YouTube clips, does move me that way. i think it's a far more
emotional take than any other singer I've heard tackle it (barring of course Merry Clayton).