Luther Vandross Tribute Show Hits Indigo at The O2 Tonight

Luther Live & Velvet Voices plays Indigo at The O2 this evening, Saturday 12 September, the London stop on a national tour that runs into next summer.

It is a full band theatre show rather than a single tribute act, built around Luther Vandross and Alexander O’Neal and widening out from there.

What Is on the Setlist

The billed material covers Never Too Much, Shine, Give Me The Reason, Dance With My Father, Criticize, Saturday Love, If You Were Here Tonight, Sexual Healing and Give Me The Night.

So the show moves well past Vandross. Marvin Gaye, Bobby Brown and George Benson all get covered, which makes it more of an 80s and 90s R&B revue than a straight tribute.

Vandross died in 2005 at 54, after a heart attack. Nearly all of the material here comes from a catalogue that stopped growing two decades ago, which is a large part of why shows like this fill theatres.

Who Is Singing

Gamal John fronts it, billed as the Britain’s Got Talent gold buzzer rule breaker.

The promotional material carries three judge quotes. Alesha Dixon calls him an absolute superstar, Simon Cowell calls it a masterclass, and Bruno Tonioli says he was gobsmacked and speechless. Those are marketing pull quotes from the show’s own publicity rather than press reviews, so treat them accordingly.

Timings and Tickets

Most dates on this tour start at 7:30pm and run around two hours. Check your own ticket for tonight’s time at Indigo, since O2 campus events sometimes run to their own schedule.

The show is suitable for all ages.

Ticket prices across the tour sit between £27 and £32.50 at most venues, with larger theatres running premium tiers considerably higher.

Getting to Indigo

North Greenwich on the Jubilee line, then a short walk across the O2 campus. Indigo sits inside the dome itself rather than being a separate building.

The venue holds around 2,800, so it is a fraction of the arena next door and considerably easier to get out of afterwards.

If You Miss Tonight

The tour has plenty left, and several dates are within reach of London.

• Sat 26 Sep, Catford, The Broadway Theatre
• Fri 9 Oct, Colchester, Charter Hall
• Sun 18 Oct, Dunstable, Grove Theatre
• Sat 24 Oct, Stevenage, Gordon Craig Theatre
• Sat 14 Nov, Potters Bar, Wyllyotts Theatre

Further afield this autumn: Darlington on 16 September, Blackburn on the 18th, Peterborough the 19th, Newcastle on the 24th, then Bolton, Basingstoke, Aylesbury, Leicester, Bedworth and Redditch through to late November.

New Wimbledon Theatre gets a date on 28 January 2027, with Cheltenham, Southport, Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena and Blackpool Opera House all booked through to May next year.