REVIEW: We’ve Only Just Begun (A Celebration of Karen Carpenter) - at the Forum Theatre, Malvern, on Friday, May 15, 2015.

THERE was, and only ever will be, one Karen Carpenter. That incredible velvety voice, which had the power to astonish all who heard it, was pure gold.

Sadly she left us far too early - victim of a wasting disease and heart failure at the age of 32 in 1983, and by a strange coincidence, 32 years on, here was ‘Karen’ once again entrancing her audience.

Toni Lee’s tribute act does Karen proud and the word had obviously spread about her top-notch touring show as this first-ever appearance in Malvern pulled in a hugely appreciative full-house.

A long-tine fan of the Carpenters, she does have an uncanny natural resemblance vocally to that of Karen in the way her voice alters its pitch so naturally and is so clear.

The tribute show, and the way she evolved as Karen, came from the covers she did of different singers during her earlier career gigs when people particularly picked up on their vocal likeness - something she only fully realised when she went into a studio to record. She even wowed tv audiences when she appeared on ITV's Stars In Their Eyes as Karen.

That gift, that voice, and the Carpenters musical legacy is treated with real respect and professionalism by Toni and a talented backing band of six Irishmen and two equally impressive female backing singers The show itself is primarily about the voice and the music - the incredible arrangements dreamed up by Karen’s brother Richard, and while it’s not geared towards a lookalike show, Toni does wear a number of authentic costumes which necessitated a second glance, just in case!

The two-hour show - which clearly took many of the older audience members enjoyably down Memory Lane - featured many of the group’s major hits such as Close To You, Superstar, Yesterday Once More, Top Of The World, Solitaire and of course the tour title - We’ve Only Just Begun. And there was also Goodbye To Love which featured an outstanding guitar solo.

The Carpenters - brother and sister Karen and Richard - formed the duo in 1969 and had an unprecedented 17 consecutive billboard US Top Ten hits, while their first UK hit was in 1970 with Close To You.

This really was a celebration of the life of a wonderful singer and was made all the better by a superb sound system and light show, and especially the video projection on stage of original footage of the Carpenters.

Oh, such magical memories.

Other musical concerts coming up over the next few weeks at the Forum include - 

  • The Elgar Birthday Concert featuring the Royal Philarmonic Orchestra on Saturday, May 30.
  • Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller Tribute on Friday, June 5.
  • The Cwmbach Male Choir on Saturday7, June 6.
  • Russell Watson on Thursday, June 11.
  • and The Magic of Motown on Saturday, June 13.