Concert Review: Mina Moore Presents "Back to Black: A Tribute to Amy Winehouse" at the Dakota Jazz Club

Singer and songwriter Mina Moore.

The U.S. cover of Amy Winehouse's album Back to Black, 2006.

Mina Moore and her band at the Dakota Jazz Club, September 2, 2018. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Last night my wife and I saw an amazing concert—Mina Moore presents “Back to Black: A Tribute to Amy Winehouse” at the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis. Moore had a fantastic seven piece band supporting her—guitar, bass, drums, piano, trumpet, and two saxophones, along with two superb backing singers. Moore sang all of the songs from Winehouse’s 2006 album Back to Black, along with other songs associated with Amy Winehouse. 

Moore opened the show with a version of the Aretha Franklin hit “Chain of Fools,” which started out acapella, with just Moore and her two backing vocalists. Moore has an excellent voice, and while she sounded similar to Winehouse, her performance never came off as mere impersonation. It’s very clear that she loves these songs, and the band did a great job of replicating Winehouse’s mix of retro and contemporary sounds. 

Moore has tremendous stage presence and her self-deprecating wit and humorous asides as she spoke put the whole audience in the palm of her hand right away. She’s a very polished performer who is about to release her first EP later in September. During the concert Moore also talked about assembling the band for these concerts. She said she initially came up with a “list of white men,” and then consciously chose to assemble a more diverse band, including women and people of color that truly represents the talent in the Twin Cities. 

The concert also made me realize how good Amy Winehouse was. I bought a copy of Back to Black, probably in 2008, and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t remember very many of the songs besides the hits “Rehab,” “You Know That I’m No Good,” and the title song. Hearing Moore sing the entire album I was struck by how strong all of the songs on it are. 

For an encore, Moore sang one of her original songs, as well as Winehouse’s covers of “Valerie” and Sam Cooke’s “Cupid,” which was a delightful way to end the evening.