Over more than five decades in the business Carole King has penned more love songs that most. So it seemed fitting to spend Valentine’s Day in her company at the Sydney Entertainment Centre last week.

Shane Howard opened the show with an acoustic set of songs from his Goanna days and solo years. I shamefully admit that I wasn’t familiar with anything other than “Solid Rock,” but that didn’t diminish my enjoyment of his intimate performance. In stripped back mode I could hear every word he sang and really immerse myself in the stories he told. I appreciated the way he introduced each and every song, telling us about the experiences he’s had and the moments that inspired these personal numbers. It was so refreshing to witness such an accomplished singer-songwriter performing with nothing more than an acoustic guitar. I loved the lack of bells and whistles.

The good honest music continued when Carole took to the stage. This was the third time that I’ve seen her perform live, and again I marvelled at the way that she seems to defy aging. Her distinctively raspy voice is every bit as powerful as it was the first time that I saw her. She takes it easy at the piano most of the time, but she seems to enjoy stepping out and shaking her booty with her talented back-up singers. Frankly, she seems to enjoy everything about being on stage. She must have performed many of these songs countless times over the years, but she shows none of the fatigue I’ve seen in some classic artists. Her smile is wide, warm, and genuine as she interacts with her band and hears the crowd singing along to old favourites.

My dad remarked that it’s a true testimony to Carole’s discography that whenever we see her live she pulls out a song we weren’t aware she’d written. Like Dad, I was more familiar with “Hey Girl” as a Michael McDonald track, so it was great to hear Carole’s spin on it. I also really enjoyed “City Streets.” The song passed me by in the 80s, but with Carole the lone performer on stage, at the piano and illuminated by a single spotlight, I was wowed. I love that I can see Carole tour after tour and hear different songs each and every time. However my favourites, like many others judging by the rapturous applause, were those songs from Tapestry. “So Far Away” made me misty, as it always reminds me of the time my husband and I spent living in different countries, and “I Feel The Earth Move” had us all dancing in our seats.

At around an hour and a half the set was a bit shorter than those I’m used to, but I can cut the 71-year-old Carole some slack. She might need to head to bed earlier than modern rockers, but she makes the most of every moment that she’s on stage. And that’s what keeps me coming back.

Image source: Stephen Katulka