POP MUSIC REVIEW : High-Energy Peebles Show at the Cinegrill

Best known for her 1974 hit “I Can’t Stand the Rain,” one of that decade’s best singles, singer Ann Peebles is staging a Memphis soul revival at the Cinegrill, where she opened Tuesday. Her seven-piece band, featuring a blasting, three-piece horn section, played an hour’s worth of tension-packed grooves that are so infectious they’re coursing through your head hours after the set.

Like most of the old soul shows, this one had a lounge-act feel to it at times, with Peebles, musicians and backup singers crowded onto a tiny stage. The choreographed moves seem almost cartoonish now, but this outfit is musically solid and, with a few exceptions, played with a crackling energy. Their reverence for this music came across loud and clear.

Peebles, who was known as the female Al Green when she was working with Green’s producer Willie Mitchell on Hi Records in the ‘70s, isn’t one of those showy singers who indulge in excessive note-bending. Her voice, with its appealing ache and gospel-style inflections, infused subtle, simmering passion into songs such as “St. Louis Woman (With a Memphis Melody),” “Full Time Lover” and “Fear No Evil” from her comeback album “Full Time Love,” released early this year.