After seven years on the US R&B A-list, it must irk New York's Faith Evans that she is still best known for the men in her life: late husband Christopher "Notorious BIG" Wallace and mentor Sean Combs. Her biggest hit to date is the Police-sampling I'll Be Missing You, a tribute to the former helmed by the latter. Neither as outlandish as Missy Elliott nor as imperious as Mary J Blige, she hasn't managed to carve out a niche of her own. Her unofficial title is "First Lady of Bad Boy", but Combs's Bad Boy label is not what it was in the days when its proprietor was a Daddy rather than a Diddy, and Faithfully, Evans's latest album of slightly dated street-soul, has not set the world alight.
Hence, presumably, her decision to play London for the first time. She eulogises the place as if it has been a lifelong ambition to tread these streets. If it meant so much to her, perhaps she could have turned up on time. It quickly transpires that the alleged stage time of 9pm is just a cynical ploy to ensure a packed house while the promoters showcase a clutch of newcomers. If Evans has a good reason for not appearing until 11.20pm, she keeps it to herself. More likely, it's yet another example of the casual contempt with which US stars and British promoters treat fans of hip-hop and R&B.
At least Evans, backed by a DJ and two dancers, puts some back into it. Dressed more casually than most of the crowd in miniskirt and denim jacket, she is appealingly short of airs and graces. "Thanks just for loving Faith Evans," she gushes. "Y'all don't know how good that makes me feel." She backs it up, too, energising often unremarkable songs with her rich, gutsy voice. By the end of the second song, she is already panting with exertion. During the fourth, the surging Never Let You Go, she thrashes up and down the stage, shaking her mike stand and practically roaring the chorus.
Such are R&B gig-goers' low expectations that it's a pleasant surprise when Evans completes her eight-song, 30-minute set as advertised, without walking off, looking bored or interrupting every number for some call-and-response vaudeville. By normal standards, it's slickly professional but underwhelming. Perhaps two hours earlier it might have been enough.
