Bermuda Musical– Festival

The old was spiced up with a dash of the new on Friday night at the Bermuda Music Festival as a Brit breakthrough artist of the year nominee warmed the crowd up for a Motown legend.

Singer-songwriter Natasha Bedingfield offered a breath of fresh air in the festival line-up which has long been dominated by artists whose heyday was the 1960s.

In an era of overproduced pop-princesses lip-synching sings songs they have not written to beats they have not created, Ms Bedingfield offers the real thing.

Her authentic voice and fresh lyrics are infectious and joyous.

She took the stage in a sparkly red beret, red sundress and boots, telling the crowd later, "It's too hot for clothes in this country," as she tossed her beret away.

I was thrilled to see this artist's name on the festival line-up. But despite her current popularity, with only one album released to date — her sophomore album is on the eve of release — she does not have the mine of hits to draw upon as did headliner for Thursday night, the timeless Lionel Richie, or Friday's hit machine Smokey Robinson.

For this reason she had to mix many of her lesser known songs from her debut album 'Unwritten' with the ones that have climbed the charts.

The better known singles 'Unwritten' and 'These Words' had the crowd on its feet and drew the younger members of the audience out of their chairs and to the front of the stage — to the artist's delight.

Bedingfield had enough stage presence to keep even those unfamiliar with her work glued to her performance. She is as good live as her refined, finished product on her album and I suspect we will hear a lot more from this artist in years to come.

I for one will be playing her sweet ballads 'I Bruise Easily' and 'It's Not Worth It' as I drift off to sleep this week.

Actress and comedienne Kim Whitley served as the night's host and, I am sorry to say, her voice simply did not carry well at the National Sports Centre. Her jokes seemed to float off into the night as an impatient crowd waited for its main course.

As such, the time between the main acts seemed overly long and wasted.

The crowd in the grandstand could hear the sounds from the secondary Onion Stage acts wafting through over Ms Whitley's commentary and it might have been a better option to simply have these acts — Danielle, Prestege and Pulse as well as comedian Nadanja and Place's New Generation Gombeys — perform between the acts on the main stage.

The way the night developed, it felt like there were long lulls between performances which drove the event on unnecessarily late.

In addition, while at Thursday night's concert the audience had been allowed to mingle freely in most areas, on Friday, those in the grandstand seats were prevented from entering the ground-level sections. As a result, the stadium looked only half full and performers were gazing out upon a sea of empty seats.

With festival tickets running in price difference only from $85 to $100, this segregation seemed silly.

A better experience for all might have been achieved by selling all the tickets at $90 and simply have prime seats taken on a first-come, first-served basis. However, as Saturday's Earth, Wind and Fire concert was sold out, the seating plan may have made more sense at that event.

Most of the crowd on Friday was undoubtedly there for one big reason — and that was to see Motown hitmaker Smokey Robinson. In addition to his formidable solo career and many successful years as the frontman of the Miracles, Mr. Robinson is responsible for penning scores of the best known songs of the 1960s and 70s.

Ever the showman, Mr. Robinson, now 67 years old, strode unto the stage with little introduction in a shocking pink suit and made his presence immediately known.

Timeless hits like 'I Second that Emotion' and 'My Girl' immediately reminded the crowd of why they were there — to see a legend at work.

Mr. Robinson took a little while to find his groove, however, after taking a short break, he returned to the stage with gusto.

He worked the crowd in the last 30 minutes of his set with an energy that would put many a performer half his age to shame.

At times, his voice seemed to have lost its old vibrance and back-up singers overtook his vocals, but at other moments, the Motown legend shone bright.

And this was his audience, there to see him on his night and in that milieu he did not disappoint.

He gave a classy performance, offering sex appeal mixed with a heady dose of nostalgia and sent the crowd home happy and humming hits like 'The Way You Do The Thing You Do' and 'Cruisin'.