Fans from their 20s to their 80s were thrilled by a dazzling light show complete with pyrotechnics and flame throwers that kept the pace high from start to finish with absolutely no pauses, lulls or other distractions. Richie’s easy humour pleased the Birmingham crowd greatly with banter ranging from the cool British weather to a plea for world peace. Name-dropping illustrious collaborators such as Diana Ross, Richie showcased a catalogue of hits that would be the envy of most other artists.
Warm up for the evening came in the form of the rapidly establishing Brooke Combe. Scaling up her act from the intimate spaces of her earlier solo tours demanded a much larger stage presence than the stage layout permitted, with the giant thrust stage reserved for the dramatic presentation of Richie and his tight-knit band. However, the thirty minute set went down well with the audience and her generation-spanning Motown/soul/R&B fusion sound was an ideal match for what was to follow.
Richie wasted no time with slow build ups, ego-serving introductions or teasing walk-ons. The lights came up, the audience exploded and were dropped straight into the big one - ‘Hello’. That was, after all, the title of the tour and the song that any true Lionel Richie fan was waiting for.
Many retrospective tours by such established artists feature a mix of big hits and lesser known album tracks to make up for the obvious yet sometimes embarrassing fact that there actually weren’t that many hits. Not so with Lionel Richie; it was big hit after big hit after big hit. There was hardly time for the audience to draw breath after singing their hearts out to one when they were slammed into the next. The show was literally jam-packed with songs that you would know and love and left so many more unsung with only the available time limiting the set list.
The band are worth a special mention too - each musician putting in a tremendous performance that ranged from fun banter with Richie to powerful, charismatic solos that filled the enormous stage, both sonically and visually. All in all, a perfectly matched music machine that lifted Richie’s showmanship to the level needed so take advantage of such a large venue.
Richie’s style spans Motown, country, pop and more with everything from the songs you’d smooch to as the nightclub is winding down to the songs that would have you jumping onto the dance floor as soon as you heard the opening bars. The second song of the evening, ‘Running With the Night’ was a perfect example, with the 1977 Commodores number one hit ‘Easy’ demonstrating both Richie’s impressive range as a musician and his remarkably evergreen longevity. It’s a song that sounds as fresh and relevant today as it was nearly 50 years ago.
Slower, smooch-along songs such as ‘Se La’, ‘Sail On’, ‘Truly’ and ‘Still’ nestled alongside the song that, back in 1978, hit number one in the UK and would absolutely guarantee any young hopeful a night of romance - ‘Three Times a Lady’.
Picking up the pace, the whole crowd were on their feet as the arena shook and swayed to ‘My Destiny’, ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’ and the song that had kept the audience waiting all night - ‘All Night Long’.
One criticism of the show? It wasn’t enough. The audience could easily have gone all night long.
Peter Freeth
@genius.photo.pf / genius.photo
Images: Peter Freeth
