A Carole King live show is nothing but music. There was no flash set, loud costumes or special effects. This was Carole King, music and a A-list band including Danny Kortchmar, Russ Kunkel and Bob Glaub.
Carole King performing at The Plenary, Melbourne. Photo Ros O'Gorman
Carole is back in Australia for only her third time ever and all three of those tours have been in the past 8 years.
To witness Carole King live in concert is to witness music history. Carole’s output spans 53 years. Her first hit song was ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’ by The Shirelles in 1960 and she performs it in her current setlist.
Carole King was never meant to be a star. For her first decade she was ‘the songwriter to the stars’ working from the Brill Building as a salaried songwriter with the man she would marry, Gerry Goffin.
As well as ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’, her current setlist also includes the Goffin-King classics ‘Up On The Roof’ (written for The Drifters), ‘Hey Girl’ (Freddie Scott) and ‘You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman’ (Aretha Franklin).
Every song had a story. She said Gerry included the word “drifter” in the lyrics of ‘Up On The Roof’ because he knew he was writing it for The Drifters. She said she channelled Michael McDonald’s version of ‘Hey Girl’ when she sang the song.
Of course, the foundation of a Carole King show is the songs from her iconic ‘Tapestry’, easily one of the greatest albums of all-time. ‘Way Over Yonder’. ‘Where You lead’, ‘Its Too Late’, ‘Beautiful’, ‘Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow’, ‘I Feel The Earth Move’, ‘So Far Away’, ‘Natural Woman’ and ‘You’ve Got A Friend’ are all in the set. Each song is a standalone piece. The only one she didn’t do from the album was ‘Smackwater Jack’.
We may never get to see Carole again in Australia. She hinted mid last year that this was to be her final tour.
Carole’s last two Australian dates for Live Nation are:
Tonight, February 19, Melbourne, The Plenary
February 20, Adelaide, Adelaide Festival Theatre
The setlist from the Plenary show Melbourne was:
Home Again (from Tapestry, 1971)
Up On The Roof (Drifters single written by Carole, 1962)
Way Over Yonder (from Tapestry, 1971)
Where You Lead (from Tapestry, 1971)
Love Makes The World (from Love Makes The World, 2001)
Hey Girl (from Pearls, 1980)
Sweet Seasons (from Music, 1971)
City Streets (from City Streets, 1989)
(Love Is Like A) Boomerang (from One On One, 1982)
Jazzman (from Wrap Around Joy, 1974)
Safe Again (from Love Makes The World, 2001)
Song Of Long Ago (from Music, 1971)
Its Too Late (from Tapestry, 1971)
Beautiful (from Tapestry, 1971)
Will You Love Me Tomorrow (from Tapestry, 1971)
I Feel The Earth Move (from Tapestry, 1971)
So Far Away (from Tapestry, 1971)
(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (from Tapestry, 1971)
You’ve Got A Friend (from Tapestry, 1971)
