With her album Fleshwounds due from EMI in a few weeks, Skin, formerly of Skunk Anansie, took the opportunity to do a solo show in support of the Forward organisation, of which she is a patron.
Forward, celebrating its 20th anniversary, is "dedicated to improving the health and well-being of African women and girls wherever they reside". In particular, the organisation campaigns against female genital mutilation, and the Linbury Studio's foyer was sprinkled with leaflets detailing the nature and consequences of this hideous, pre-Dark Ages procedure.
Despite Skin's name on the bill, this was a sadly under-attended occasion. Customers intrepid enough to figure out how to buy tickets could have attended an afternoon of videos and discussions, then the evening performance featuring Skin in between African dance troupe Movement Angol and the musical duo Black Sonshine.
Skin's three-song appearance, in which she was joined by two acoustic guitarists, could not have been much briefer without disappearing from the bill altogether. However, it was enough to offer a glimpse of how much she has changed from the ferocious, shaven-headed banshee of Skunk Anansie's heyday. Now sporting a chic feather-cut and looking imperiously slender in an all-black outfit, she is emerging as a power-diva with a stunning vocal range. Her new single Trashed was slow, deliberate and powerful, prompting the audience to clap along and letting Skin unleash both her strident upper register and her raw soul bellow.
Weak was a gripping episode of emotional soul-baring; it sounded stadium-sized even in this small hall. And her last song, with its chorus of "Just because you feel good doesn't make you right" suggested that Skin doesn't need to resort to clashing pyro-metal to get her point across.
Afterwards, Black Sonshine's mix of soul, rap and one-size-fits-all consciousness-raising was pleasant enough for 20 minutes, then rapidly began to grate. By then, everybody had got the point anyway.
· At the Scala, London N1, on May 6 and 7. Box office: 020-7403 3331.
