The swaying crowd at this sold-out show filled Concorde 2 with sweaty heat, crushing towards the stage. Finally, after an extended introduction from hype man and guitarist Binky Griptite, the great soul diva Sharon Jones stepped proudly on stage, the fringing on her turquoise sequinned dress shimmying with every move.

The Dap-Kings, dapper in suits and ties, responded intuitively to every direction from Jones. The horn section swayed from side to side, building up excitement together with Jones’ back-and-forth call-and-response patter. However, a broken speaker and problems with her earpieces meant that Jones couldn’t hear herself sing. Reporting the problem to the technicians in song, she marched from side to side, twisting and bending and turning her earpiece readjustment into a dance move, gasping in James Brown style.

Her rage was channelled into a furiously energetic and joyful Soul Train tribute, journeying through dance moves from riding the pony to the funky chicken: as the band segued into When I Come Home, the audience whooped and screamed with helpless delight.

With sensitive accompaniment from Griptite, Jones explained with raw honesty that she would soon be going home to bury her mother, who died recently. The energy from the crowd buoyed her up, as she sang snatches of You Know I’m No Good, At Last and I Will Always Love You in tribute to Amy Winehouse, Etta James and Whitney Houston. Together with backing singers the Dapettes, Jones created the perfect 1960s girl-group harmony on Mama Don’t Like My Man, while 100 Days, 100 Nights was powerfully hot. Finally, Jones invited women from the audience to dance with her up on stage, creating a celebratory culmination to this amazing emotional experience.