Beverley Knight at The Halls: Wolverhampton singer returns to her home city and wows fans with a stunning performance

Any artist would find it hard to top selling out the Royal Albert Hall as Beverley Knight did on Monday, but arguably she felt she had, with a stunning 90-minute showcase of her powerful vocals where she had the audience at The Halls in Wolverhampton lapping up every note she sang and every word she said in the city where it all started for her 30 years ago.

She was 'scooped up,' she said at Paloma's nightclub in 1994 before shortly after making her debut album The B-Funk and hasn't stopped since, releasing nine studio albums, becoming a star of the West End and of national television and radio.

But it was clear Wolverhampton is where her heart is, with constant 'Wolves Aye We' references and announcing that her mum, numerous members of her family, former school-friends and teachers were all in the audience.

Indeed even one of the backing singers was her young niece and former Aldersley High School pupil Sofie-Ann who took her place in an impressive white-suit clad ten piece band.

This was the first time Knight had played the venue since it re-opened and from the starting number and a signature song Greatest Day it was clear she was out to enjoy the occasion, having the crowd on their feet for the first four songs including Made it Back and Systematic Overload.

She then showcased the song Not Prepared for You, penned for her by superstar songwriter Diane Warren which showed how far she has come since the early years of her career.

The 51-year-old, who released her Fifth Chapter to celebrate a milestone birthday last year, looked incredible in a body hugging catsuit and showed boundless energy and versatility. Power pop songs such as Last One on My Mind and Come as you Are mixed seamlessly with slower numbers like The Need of You and Sista Sista.

There were emotional moments as well such as Fallen Soldier, a song she wrote in tribute to murdered teenager Stephen Lawrence, and she also spoke about her friend and long term musical director Paul Reid who died on Christmas Day in 2020.

But this was a night of celebration and of coming back together and Knight was loving every minute of it, launching into sing-along hit Shoulda, Woulda Coulda and then Someone Else's Problem.

An encore which started with Chaka Khan's I'm Every Woman saw her change into a Wolves top with a number nine and 'Knight' on the back and she gave a shout out to a certain Steve Bull MBE who was present in the audience, finishing with the anthemic 'Everything's Gonna be Alright' and a tearful farewell.

The night had started with friend and DJ Munro asking the audience to welcome back 'The Prodigal Daughter' and on this evidence, it won't be the last time she returns to her birth city.