"Are you ready for some soul dynamite?" asks James Brown's compere. Moments later, the entire crowd are chanting: "James Brown!" The stampede that greets his entrance is something to behold. "He looks just like he does on the posters," exclaims one excited student.
The posters may date from 1965, but Brown is uncannily unchanged. The bouffant simply seems bigger, and the famous white-toothed grin is now visible from a full 400 yards. James Brown didn't get where he is today without realising the potency of immaculate hair and teeth.
Where he is, however, is a moot point. He is possibly the most important black musician of all time, but in recent years Brown has been associated more with criminal records than music. This adds to the appeal for a surprisingly young audience. "Who did he shoot, exactly?" asks one girl, while some scamps strike up a chant of, "Marijuana! PCP!" If only events on stage were remotely as exciting.
A few years ago, Brown played a festival tent in this town for 45 minutes and slayed the crowd. Now, closer to 70, he proclaims Soul Power but no longer has the batteries for an endurance-testing two hours. When he shouts "I feel good!" you're not inclined to believe him.
All night, Brown fully sings five songs (Soul Man and Sex Machine among them). For the rest of the show, he is carried by a band who can barely be heard above the chatter, so quiet is the sound system. While Brown turns his back to the audience and plays inaudible keyboards, we are regaled with endless guitar solos, drum solos, even a Janis Joplin impersonator. At £29 a ticket, this is the most expensive wedding band on earth.
Frustratingly, there are flashes of the performer Brown must once have been. Although brief in appearance, most of his trademarks - throwing off the cape, the soul-piercing "Ow!" - are still dynamite. In one explosive verse of It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World he reminds everybody of his past achievements.
But as calls for an encore are ignored, the chants quickly turn to boos. Someone remarks: "He's a shell of himself." Credit to Brown for keeping the music alive, but performances like this can only damage his magnificent legacy.
