Chaka Khan at Sydney Opera House, April 2025
It was a full house last night in the Concert Hall of Sydney Opera House. The crowd piled in to see music legend Chaka Khan celebrating 50 years in music. With 10 Grammy Awards, 13 Albums and millions of record sales, Khan was inducted into the SoulMusic Hall of Fame in 2012 and the prestigious Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. She’s worked with many music greats including Ray Charles, Prince (she signed to his record company after leaving Warner Bros.), Gladys Knight and Quincy Jones.
The pocket rocket stands at a height of 5’4” but her voice still has the strength of a Titan. Comparing to the early 1970’s footage of her groovy but sweet performance, Khan has matured into an earthy seasoned professional who knows what she’s about. She’s used her decades of experience to dig deep into the meaning and nuances of each song.
Travelling with a team of band members who have worked with her for many years, it feels like a mix between a well oiled machine and a supportive family. Khan, now in her 70s, was bold strutting out in a sequinned black unitard, over knee black boots and waist length rusty ringlets. Electric fans set up downstage on either side gave her the Bee Gees flutter to her hair. The trademark carmine lipstick stretched broadly to flash her enormous smile. She looked like she is still loving the connection with her audience after all this time. As she performed, she frequently rotated around to acknowledge those behind her in the Opera House Concert Hall choir seats, much to their delight.
The performance was surprisingly short at just under 90 minutes but was padded out with a DJ setting the mood for the hour beforehand. One would have thought the time might be used to rev the audience up but, instead, he kept the music mellow and easy enough to talk over. The audience demographic was the perfect blend of all ages. There would have been those who remember her in the 70s through to wildly excited millennials. Plenty of opportunity to dance to the favourites and then sit to listen to the quieter music.
As expected, the crowd went wild for her best known songs such as “I feel for you”, “I’m every woman”, “Tell me something good” and “Ain’t nobody”. The audience fell silent for her unusual version of “My funny valentine”. This seemed to be an odd addition to the repertoire but, Khan released an R&B cover of this song way back in 1995.
During the evening, Khan took a few breaks and allowed her 3 female vocalists to take the limelight. Their clothing felt rather out of balance with well covered tops, then frilly skirts you might say were just past breakfast, topping a pair of lacey tights. One vocalist preferred to wear ¾ length leggings under the tiny skirt which actually looked more classy.
The lighting was gorgeous featuring an ever changing backdrop of colour combinations accentuated by stage smoke. The main technical problem lay with the sound. The bass was so loud there were oft times the melody and the words of the vocalists could not be deciphered. The audience was left confused as to what they were listening.
The sound for Khan was not quite so bad but when the three vocalists came out to sing their own solos, it sounded like they were singing from back stage, really not acceptable. One could see they were really good singers in their own right but we never got to hear them clearly at all.
The musicians were working hard and produced plenty of great rhythms. It was only at the end of the concert, after Khan and the vocalists had left the stage, that they really let it rip, doing their own thing. It was so good and would have been wonderful to hear them jamming mid concert too.
Bad sound balance didn’t put anyone off in the audience though. They cheered every time Khan belted a note. She did amazingly well and, looking at the schedule for the continuation of this tour, she has a lot more performances lined up.
All in all, it was a superb team on stage let down by inadequate sound checks. It was wonderful of Khan to include Australia in her tour. I’m sure there will be many who will be proud to say they were there to witness the performance.
Related Links
Chaka Khan tour continues through USA and Europe https://chakakhan.com/events/
Chaka Khan on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/ChakaKhanChannel
What’s on at Sydney Opera House? https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/whats-on
