As the final few bars of New Orleans’ funk maestros The Meters’ ‘Handclapping Song’ filter through the Sugar Club’s sound system, the lights dim and the sold out crowd show their appreciation following the appearance on stage by the Queen of Southern Soul, Candi Staton. Having begun her musical career as a teenager in the early 1950’s as a member of a gospel trio, it’s hard to imagine by looking at the lady standing in front of a highly anticipated audience that she is now 76 years of age. Staton starts off tonight’s proceedings with the slow yet funk fuelled…