SANANDA MAITREYA (FKA TERENCE TRENT D’ARBY) & THE SUGAR PLUM PHARAOHS – CHALK, BRIGHTON 6.11.25
Sananda Maitreya officially changed his name from Terence Trent D’Arby in October 2001, although the personal transformation started six years earlier after a series of dreams and meditation. This allowed him to create a new identity and break away from the struggles of expectation from the major success of his debut album. It was a spiritual rebirth that gave him artistic freedom.
The popular soul singer achieved phenomenal success with hit singles ‘If You Let Me Stay’, ‘Wishing Well’ and ‘Sign Your Name’. All three songs reached the Top 10 in the Official UK Singles Chart, and along with the top twenty hit ‘Dance Little Sister’ featured on his debut chart-topping album ‘Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby’, which spent nine weeks at number one in the UK and now has been renamed as ‘Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby Now Known As Sananda Maitreya’.
Tonight’s performance is the last show of a nine-date UK tour, and apart from a late afternoon slot on the North Downs Stage at the 2024 Love Supreme Festival, the tour is Sananda’s first performances in the UK for 23 years. The tour which includes Sananda’s all-Italian backing band The Sugar Plum Pharaohs started at the Norwich Waterfront on 23rd October and followed up at venues in Cambridge, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, and at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London last night.
A reasonably sized queue, running down the side of the Chalk venue, had formed by the time doors opened at 6pm and for those that did arrive early, it was a long wait before the appearance of Sananda and his band. There was no support act, so it was a 110-minute wait. During this time, the crowd built up, and by the time the on-stage action got underway, the venue was close to being full. At 7.50pm The Sugar Plum Pharaohs took to the stage with Sananda following soon after to cheers from the packed audience. Sananda wore a stylish tan-coloured sleeveless jacket over a lighter tanned shirt, a woollen black hat with his logo embossed in white, a cheetah print neck scarf that matched the print on his mostly yellow-coloured Fender guitar, a pair of snazzy cheetah print shoes, and black leather trousers. There was an announcement on the backing track: “Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Sananda Maitreya & The Sugar Plum Pharaohs.” Further applause rang out. Sananda and his band started off with a short instrumental version of ‘The Birds Are Singing (Pandora)’. This segued into ‘I Saw Her’ from 2011’s ‘The Sphinx’ album. Then it was ‘The Birthday Song’, which features on his most recent album ‘The Pegasus Project: Pegasus & The Swan’. At the end of this song, Sananda wished anyone in the audience who had a birthday today a happy birthday. The quick-fire start to the set continued with 2005’s ‘It Ain’t Been Easy’ before they got to have a breather.
Sananda welcomes the onlookers with “Hello, thank you very much,” then tells us how he regrets not visiting Brighton often enough during the time he lived in London. He says things have certainly changed since he lived there. “Now, it’s the white ladies who have the big lips and big asses; we have a man on the throne and an American Pope.” There is plenty of laughter from the audience to these comments. Sananda removes his guitar and hat to reveal his now clean-shaven bald head. Quite a different look to his sleek, styled cut from the late 1980s, but then again, the Manhattan-born man is now 63 years of age. One thing for certain is that he still has superb vocals that effortlessly fuse soul, jazz, and blues styles to powerful, effective falsetto and he can even deliver a good howl as well as delicate, tender balladry. The next song is ‘Delicate’. A number 14 hit in the UK from 1993 when it was recorded with British soul and R&B singer-songwriter Des’ree. Tonight, this is my pick of the set. An amazing performance from Sananda that’s even better than the recorded version. It sees some slick dance moves from him towards the front of the stage. This gets a good reaction from the ladies down the front. As the song nears its conclusion, members of the audience join in with the closing “la la la la’s”. 2006’s ‘Pretty Baby’ is next, another slower song that almost matches the perfection of the previous one.
Sananda addresses the crowd with “Thank you so much for being with us and thanks to this place for hosting us,” then is back on guitar (this one has a Union Jack strap) for the next three songs. These are ‘Yuki Suzuki’, ‘Dolphin’, and the rockier ‘This Side Of Love’. Things slow down a bit for ‘Billy Don’t Fall’ as Sananda is back, slowly moving around the front of the stage, gliding from one side to the other. What is now noticeable is the sweat on his temple. It seems the majority of the audience has looked at the previous setlist from the tour as they appear to know what’s coming next, and they respond with big cheers as one of the big three hits is introduced. It is the number four UK hit and US chart-topper ‘Wishing Well’. As expected, this goes down well, with some of the audience singing along. Following this, Sananda takes a bow and says “Thank you. Thank you so much.” Then he tells us “We are going to take a short interval for our sponsor alcohol sales, then come back and play you another set”. There is a bit of laughter at the sponsor comment and cheers regarding the announcement of another set.
Following the 25-minute break, The Sugar Plum Pharaohs return to the stage at the stroke of 9:00pm. Sananda soon follows, this time wearing a tanned-coloured waistcoat; the black woollen hat is back on, along with what appears to be a black snood around his neck. For the opening five songs of the second set, Sananda plays keyboards. The brilliant ‘Let Her Down Easy’ is the first of those songs, and the vocals are stunning and powerful. Unsurprisingly, there is a great reaction for this one. The other songs in this section of the performance are ‘Share Your Pain’, the faster-paced ‘This Town’, the popular ‘O Divina’, which sees Sananda’s vocals rise at the climax to produce an almost scream, and ‘Let’s Go Forward’ from the debut album that amazingly sold a million copies worldwide within the first three days of release. Sananda got up from the keyboard to sing the next song, another from the debut album, his best chart-placing single in the UK, number two hit ‘Sign Your Name’. For this impressive performance of the song, there were plenty of hand gestures from the frontman as well as some smooth dancing on the spot. Sananda once again showed appreciation for the audience’s pleasing reaction by taking another bow and saying “Thank you”.
Sananda switched back to guitar for the next three songs. The first of these, ‘Vibrator’, typified how well the man seamlessly switches from rock to soul to funk. It was truly amazing to witness. ‘Supermodel Sandwich’ followed, a real funky rock track that sees three out of the four Sugar Plum Pharaohs join in on the vocals. All the Sugar Plums are very good musicians in their own right and are a great addition to Sananda’s outstandingness. ‘She Kissed Me’ is next, another top twenty UK hit in 1993. This one definitely rocked with a fine performance from Luca Pedroni on lead guitar. We move from rock to a popular funky dance track, ‘Dance Little Sister’. It gets the crowd moving with Sananda encouraging them to sing along, which they do. Following this, there’s a quick thank you from Sananda; he then introduces the band members and says, “Thank you so much for coming out tonight.” He leaves the stage with the Sugar Plum Pharaohs left to finish off the song. After a three-minute break, they all return for the encore, and it’s just the one song, but it’s another good one. His last UK top twenty hit, ‘Holding On To You’, from 1995. It’s another sing-along from those that know the words and a great way to end a splendid evening. As the song finishes, Sananda takes a last bow and makes a swift exit while the Sugar Plums take a bow themselves at the front of the stage, then leave the stage with an instrumental version of ‘Music To Watch Girls By’ played through the speakers.
Sananda Maireya & The Sugar Plum Pharaohs:
Sananda Maitreya – lead vocals, guitar, piano
Marco Mengoni – drums, backing vocals
Luca Pedroni – lead guitar
Fabio Longo – bass guitar, backing vocals
Alessandro Spoldi – keyboards, backing vocals
Sananda Maitreya setlist:
‘The Birds Are Singing (Pandora)’ (from 2017 ‘Prometheus & Pandora’ album)
‘I Saw Her’ (from 2011 ‘The Sphinx’ album)
‘The Birthday Song’ (from 2024 ‘The Pegasus Project: Pegasus & The Swan’ album)
‘It Ain’t Been Easy’ (from 2005 ‘Angels & Vampires – Volume I’ album)
‘Delicate’ (from 1992 ‘Symphony Or Damn’ album)
‘Pretty Baby’ (from 2024 ‘The Pegasus Project: Pegasus & The Swan’ album)
‘Yuki Suzuki’ (from 2021 ‘Pandora PlayHouse’ album)
‘Dolphin’ (from 2005 ‘Angels & Vampires – Volume I’ album)
‘This Side Of Love’ (from 1989 ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh’ album)
‘Billy Don’t Fall’ (from 1989 ‘Neither Fish Nor Flesh’ album)
‘Wishing Well’ (from 1987 ‘Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby Now Known As Sananda Maitreya’ album)
(interval)
‘Let Her Down Easy’ (from 1992 ‘Symphony Or Damn’ album)
‘Share Your Pain’ (from 2005 ‘Angels & Vampires – Volume I’ album)
‘This Town’ (from 2009 ’Nigor Mortis’ album)
‘O Divina’ (from 2002 ‘Wildcard’ album)
‘Let’s Go Forward’ (from 1987 ‘Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby Now Known As Sananda Maitreya’ album)
‘Sign Your Name’ (from 1987 ‘Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby Now Known As Sananda Maitreya’ album)
‘Vibrator’ (from 1995 ‘Vibrator’ album)
‘Supermodel Sandwich’ (from 1995 ‘Vibrator’ album)
‘She Kissed Me’ (from 1992 ‘Symphony Or Damn’ album)
‘Dance Little Sister’ (from 1987 ‘Introducing The Hardline According To Terence Trent D’Arby Now Known As Sananda Maitreya’ album)
(encore)
‘Holding On To You’ (from 1995 ‘Vibrator’ album)
