Natalie
Williams, Vanessa Haynes, Brendan Reilly, Aux (vocals); Phil Peskett (keys);
Robin Mullarkey (bass); Ben Jones (guitar); Mark Brown (sax) Ben Edwards (trumpet);
Some concerts begin with the first note.
This one began long before that.
As I walked through the grounds of Hever
Castle on a glorious late-May evening, the festival atmosphere was already in
full swing. The last of the sunshine hung lazily across the Kent countryside,
casting a warm golden glow over the ancient stone walls and perfectly manicured
gardens. Around the lake, the water shimmered like glass beneath a sky slowly
surrendering to dusk. From the nearby Tudor Rose Garden, the scent of thousands
of roses hung heavy in the warm evening air, drifting across the lawns and
mingling with the sounds of laughter, conversation and anticipation.
Everywhere there was life.
The gentle murmur of conversation
drifted across the grounds. Champagne corks popped. Wine glasses clinked
together in celebration. Children ran barefoot across the grass while parents
unpacked elaborate picnics that had clearly required military-level planning.
The scent of fresh food mingled with the fragrance from the gardens as groups
settled into their seats, taking in the view before a single note had been
played.
It felt less like arriving at a concert
and more like arriving at a gathering of old friends.
There are few venues in the country
capable of creating quite this atmosphere. For more than six centuries Hever
Castle has stood as a witness to some of England's most extraordinary stories. It
was here that Anne Boleyn spent her childhood, and these ancient walls remain
forever linked to the turbulent world of Henry VIII and the Tudor court.
Ambition, romance, betrayal and power have all left their mark upon this
remarkable place.
Yet on this particular evening another kind of royalty had come to town. Not the kings and queens of England, but the kings and queens of soul. Natalie Williams' Soul Family may not wear crowns, but they carry themselves with the confidence and authority of musicians who understand exactly what this music means to people.
As Brendan Reilly stepped forward to deliver the opening lines of Marvin Gaye's Got To Give It Up, the eleven-piece ensemble slipped effortlessly into the groove and immediately transformed this historic corner of Kent into something that felt much closer to Detroit than Edenbridge.
From the very first notes, heads began
to nod. Feet started tapping. Smiles appeared almost instinctively.
By the time the band moved into Stevie
Wonder's Living for the City, the audience was completely theirs.
This was never going to be an evening
about challenging expectations or unveiling complex new compositions. Soul
Family know precisely why people come to hear this music. They come because
these songs form part of their lives. They are woven into family celebrations,
wedding receptions, first dances, long car journeys and treasured memories.
They are songs that belong not just to the artists who recorded them but to the
generations who have carried them forward.
And what followed over the next two
hours was a joyous reminder of why Motown continues to endure.
Dancing in the Street; I Heard It Through the
Grapevine; My Girl; How Sweet It Is; Signed,
Sealed, Delivered; I Can't Get Next to You; Everything
Is Alright; Who's Loving You; What Becomes of the
Brokenhearted; Midnight Train to Georgia; I Want
You Back; Ain't No Mountain High Enough; You're All
I Need to Get By;
Each song arrived like an old friend.
The response was immediate and often
emotional. Choruses echoed back from every corner of the open-air theatre.
Couples who had perhaps danced to these songs decades earlier found themselves
swaying together once again. Friends wrapped arms around shoulders. Complete
strangers exchanged smiles. As darkness slowly descended and the final traces
of sunlight disappeared beyond the castle walls, people were dancing in the
aisles, dancing on the lawns and singing every word as though they had been
waiting all year for this moment.
And perhaps that is the real magic of
Motown.
At its heart, this music is built upon
connection.
For a few precious hours the noise of
everyday life simply disappeared. Deadlines, bills, worries and
responsibilities were left somewhere beyond the castle gates. In their place
came joy, nostalgia and togetherness. One of music's greatest gifts is its
ability to create a sense of community among people who may never meet again,
and throughout this evening that sense of shared experience was everywhere.
Much of that success stems from Natalie
Williams herself.
An exceptional vocalist and natural
communicator, Williams possesses the rare ability to command attention without
ever demanding it. Her greatest strength may actually be her generosity. Rather
than positioning herself as the unquestioned star of the show, she has created
something far more rewarding: a genuine musical family.
Throughout the evening Brendan Reilly,
Vanessa Haynes and Aux each stepped confidently into the spotlight, bringing
their own unique personalities and vocal styles to the performance. Together
they formed a remarkable quartet.
Reilly delivered effortless soulfulness.
Haynes brought power, presence and passion. Aux offered elegance and
sophistication. Williams supplied warmth, humour and heart.
What struck me most, however, was the quality of the harmonies. These are four very different voices, yet when they came together something quite magical happened. Their harmonies seemed to float out across the gardens and over the lake, carried on the warm evening air. There were moments when the blend became so rich and so perfectly balanced that the audience simply stopped and listened.
Behind them, the musicians were every
bit as impressive.
Robin Mullarkey anchored everything from
the bass with quiet authority, while Phil Peskett delivered some particularly
memorable keyboard moments. During the Jackson 5 material there was an
unmistakable sense of pride as his children watched from the audience, grinning
from ear to ear as their father worked his magic on stage.
It was one of many reminders that this
genuinely felt like a family occasion, a Soul Family occasion.
Here, under an open sky with the
theatre's side curtains removed, there was nothing to separate the performance
from its surroundings. Music, audience and landscape seemed to merge into a
single shared experience.
Nearby, grandparents celebrated
milestone birthdays while younger generations danced around picnic blankets.
Friends toasted anniversaries. New memories were being created alongside old
ones. Between songs, glasses were raised, stories were shared and laughter
rolled gently across the theatre beneath an increasingly star-filled sky.
Ben Jones added colour and texture on
guitar, while the horn section of Mark Brown, Ben Edwards and Tom O'Grady
supplied exactly the punch, excitement and precision that this music demands.
Time and again those brass stabs cut through the evening air, drawing cheers
from the audience and adding another layer of energy to an already vibrant
performance.
The open-air setting elevated
everything.
Many of us know Soul Family through
their celebrated residency at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, where the intimacy of
the famous Soho venue creates an entirely different experience. Here, under an
open sky, the music felt somehow larger. The grooves ran deeper. The horns
travelled further. The vocals soared.
Credit must also go to the production
team, who managed to retain both clarity and warmth while allowing the full scale
of the ensemble to shine. These songs were written for theatres, dance halls
and large audiences, and in this setting they felt completely at home.
Williams chatted easily with the
audience throughout, joking about the weather, picnics, anniversaries and
birthdays, creating the sense that everyone present was part of the same
gathering rather than separated by a stage. It is a skill that cannot be taught
and one that helped make an audience of over 400 feel surprisingly intimate.
As darkness finally settled over the
castle grounds and the ancient walls became silhouettes against the night sky,
the atmosphere somehow became even more enchanting. Stage lights reflected
across smiling faces. Glasses continued to clink. Conversations flowed between
songs, the setting itself part of the performance.
The music glowed against the backdrop of
history.
Over centuries Kings and Queens have
cast long shadows over these hallowed grounds, but tonight the long shadows
were cast by the stage lighting and they disappeared off into the night sky and
the blackness that engulfed us.
That is why Hever matters.
It is not simply a venue. It is a place
of stories. A place where history lingers in every stone and every pathway. On
this evening it provided the perfect home for music that has spent generations
telling its own stories of love, heartbreak, hope and joy.
This was Soul Family's third appearance
at the festival and there was an unmistakable affection between performers and
audience. The standing ovations at the end felt entirely deserved.
The good news for those unfortunate
enough to have missed this, is that Natalie Williams returns later this summer
with both the Ronnie Scott's All Stars and on her own playing her favourite
songs and many original compositions. On the evidence of this performance, both
are likely to be among the highlights of the season.
Soul Family did not come to reinvent
Motown.
They came to celebrate it.
To honour it.
To remind us why these songs continue to
matter.
As everyone slowly drifted back through
the gardens beneath a warm Kent night sky, still singing snatches of choruses
and carrying glasses long since emptied of their contents, it was impossible
not to feel that they had succeeded.
For one perfect summer evening, beneath
the walls of Hever Castle, soul music ruled the kingdom.
And everybody present was happy to be
part of the court. Glenn Wright
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