Reviewed by Lins Honeyman

Back in 2016, British choir The 100 Voices Of Gospel gained national recognition by reaching the final of Britain's Got Talent and securing the Jury's Favourite award. The following year saw them perform their own mix of traditional, urban, African and Caribbean gospel at the prestigious Palais Des Sports in Paris and this Wienerworld-released DVD captures the whole spectacle. As its members - resplendent in white silk robes - burst onto the stage from every direction, it's clear that this choir is a force to be reckoned with thanks to its sheer size and, by the time they launch into the scene-setting opener "We've Come To Praise Him", it becomes obvious as to why they got so far in the aforementioned talent show. Never putting a foot wrong throughout, the choir swoops, claps and hollers its way through 18 songs with an energy and passion that is truly impressive - especially since the running time of this concert is just shy of two and a half hours. Unfortunately, this mammoth outfit has to play second fiddle for the duration of the performance to a revolving door of soloists who don't always make the mark. For instance, some frankly bizarre vocal performances from singers Al Sanders and Junior Mulongo on "Al's Medley" and "Whatever You Want" respectively tend to take some of the polish off proceedings although gospel divas Tiffany Andrews-Woodside and Jean Carpenter's various performances fair better despite some lengthy periods of noisy vocal acrobatics. A top notch backing band - headed up by musical director Kevin Jubert - handle everything that the fairly varied set list throws at them from contemporary gospel to the African-themed "Baba Yetu" and a surprise augmented version of the George Harrison hit "Got My Mind Set On You". Adding to the gargantuan amount of bodies already on the stage, a troupe of dancers also appear from time to time to keep things visually interesting for the fairly reserved-looking Paris crowd although each soloist's tendency to prattle on for ages before each song does tend to make this a somewhat disjointed affair. Despite the choir's obvious talent, the hit and miss nature of the guest performers plus the lack of subtitles (most of the intros are in French) and special features means that this is something of a substandard release.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.