It was a night of gospel, politics, and black American history at Indigo2, the glossy, overlit but welcome new venue nestling alongside the O2 Arena, which has opened with an adventurous booking policy. It was an inspired move to match those extraordinary gospel veterans, the Blind Boys of Alabama, against the great Mavis Staples, who has mixed gospel with everything from soul and blues to rock, though it was a shame they didn't get to perform together.

The Blind Boys came on first, led by Jimmy Carter, a founder member of the group who first formed in a blind school back in 1939, and have gone on - as he constantly reminded the audience - to win a batch of Grammys. Death and illness have inevitably changed the band's lineup, but their glorious harmony work was still there, along with contagious enthusiasm and slick presentation.

Mavis Staples was far less predictable. Daughter of the great Pops, she joined her father and family in the Staple Singers before launching her own career. At 68, she is still a rousing, powerful performer, and still taking chances. She was backed by three singers, including her sister Yvonne, and a trio led by guitarist Rick Holmstrom, whose edgy, swamp-blues playing on JB Lenoir's angry Down in Mississippi set the tone. She went on to tackle rock classics by Buffalo Springfield and the Band, giving stomping Staple Singers favourites such as Respect Yourself, a gutsy makeover before taking on her father's powerful civil rights protest ballad (Why) Am I Treated So Bad? which was much admired by his friend Martin Luther King. Hers is still one of the great American voices.