Corinne Bailey Rae at First Avenue, Minneapolis (07 Aug 2016)

Leeds, UK singer-songwriter Corinne Bailey Rae breezed into First Avenue in Minneapolis over the weekend, for a joyous set that would turn highly personal towards the end.

Mina Moore

Opening the evening of soulful music was local favorite Mina Moore (aka Yasmina Moore-Foster), who has been staying quite active of late. In addition to her own music and prepping a full-length debut, she can also be seen singing backup for Doomtree and BFF Caroline Smith, on occasion.

She and Smith collaborated on Moore’s biggest song to date, ‘Amanhã’, about meeting an old acquaintance and noticing how they’ve changed; the parenthetical title of which is ‘Helaina’, her younger sister’s name as Moore likes to name songs after friends, family, and people close to her.

Corinne Bailey Rae’s return to a local stage was long overdue (she thought she was last here in 2010, but I couldn’t find anything more recent than an Aug 2006 show at the Varsity Theater) and she began her hundred-minute set of effervescent joy with the new ‘Been to the Moon’, a proper introduction to third full-length album, The Heart Speaks in Whispers (Virgin EMI Records), just released mid-May.

“So good to see you all, what a pleasure to be here”, she beamed, wearing a sleeveless one-piece pink dress and big smile, with her tight four-piece backing band surrounding her in a half-circle around the stage.  Known on radio for more demure folk soul songs, her live persona is more energetic and voice has much more range and depth, than one might expect.

2010’s ‘Closer’ from The Sea, set the groove tempo with her personal lyrics and the rhythmic backbeat of the song and that expanded vocal range was evident near the end, with Rae cooing then rising her volume effortlessly.

“You may have noticed some signing over here in the corner,” she said pointing to a sign-language interpreter, “this is another way to interpret the songs” “you can watch the story that’s being told as well”, Rae revealed as a few of the hearing impaired applauded in appreciation.

An early set cover of Bob Marley’s ‘Is this Love?’ from her 2011 Love EP was effective and won Rae a Grammy, but many in the crowd were secretly hoping instead for the EP’s first track, a Prince cover.

‘Green Aphrodisiac’, co-written with twin sisters and Minneapolis natives Amber and Paris Strother from KING and just revealed as one of the tracks on President Obama’s summer playlist, completely fit the tone of a warm and humid August night.

‘Paris Nights/New York Mornings’ bubbled with Camera Obscura-like enthusiasm, ‘Hey, I Won’t Break Your Heart’ was quiet with some of Rae’s most vulnerable lyrics, and ‘Stop Where You Are’ was all about living in the moment, starting sparsely but crescendo-ing into a Coldplay-esque end chant.

Rae’s initial breakout song ‘Put Your Records On’ (amusingly abbreviated on the setlist as ‘PYRO’) predictably launched recording cellphones in the air and got even the most casual fan in the diverse crowd, to sing along with the chorus.

The chanting and clapping from final main set song, ‘The Skies Will Break’ carried over and through into the single-song encore, with the band amused and joining in as they retook to the stage.

“This city is so special to us in so many ways”, she said, “this is where Prince is from” likely silently remembering his early support of her, his time spent mentoring, and even flying in to attend her first US show in 2006

‘Do it All Again’ was skipped from the setlist, in favor of playing only an impassioned ‘Like a Star’, her debut single from 2005, on which emotions got the best of her towards the end, with Rae breaking down and crying, though never actually stopping the song.

Explaining that “the person that I wrote this song about… it would have been their fortieth birthday today… so that’s the whole reason it’s a special day to me”, as Rae remembered her first husband Jason, who tragically passed away in 2008 of an accidental overdose.

Quickly catching her breath and composure, the smile nervously returned, singing “Just like a star across my sky, just like an angel off the page; You have appeared to my life” as the song finished.

The cool had returned just in time, though Rae proved she’s as human as anyone else, when it comes to love and loss.

Corrine Bailey Rae remains on the road through the fall, playing a few UK festivals before returning on the bill for a run with Alabama Shakes, then a brief co-headlining run with Andra Day.