Is there such a thing as good vibes? Darlene Love exudes them, permeates them, is unbending in spreading them, and unrelenting in ensuring we leave BB King’s “saying ‘man, that was the best damn show I’ve ever seen'”. It wasn’t the best show I’ve ever seen, the horns were too loud, and for a former back up singer, Darlene can’t stop belting them, the performance lacks nuance and the band are fine but no more than that ever. But it had moments that were as great as any you will ever hear. First and foremost a Marvin Gaye medley worth mentioning in the same breadth as the one time I saw him perform live on stage at Radio City Music hall.
I wonder why Darlene decided to perform a Gaye medley? It is true her legendary band the Blossoms sang backup for him way back in the time, Spector meets Berry!, but if that was the criteria she could have chosen Sinatra, Presley… you know the drill. But it wasn’t a mistake, in a fine 75 minute set, covering Marvin moved Darlene into a different level of artistry. Without mentioning Ferguson, her “What’s Going On”was beyond fitting and hymnal yet overpowering, the sax tricked out that epochal lick and Darlene knew what to do, every word reached us, all of it hit its target. The minister’s daughter who began her career singing at the Church choir age 10, once noted “We didn’t know we were poor, if we didn’t know we were poor, we didn’t ‘know’ we were black either.” with this version she again doesn’t know she is black, she knows she is human.
I arrived early and was seated in the first row with a retired schoolteacher and digital artist Ron Wohlgemuth, along with his wife and friend. With an encyclopedic knowledge of Motown (“Motown stopped being Motown and became just a record company in 1972”) and 1960s pop, both US and UK, Ron kept me regaled with stories and the two hours before the show started flew by.
No opening act, Darlene hit the stage bang at 8 and played 75 minutes, no intermission, opening with an r&b take on “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and continuing with “Marshmallow World” and “Wait till My Bobby Gets Home”, Darlene shifted seamlessly from one period of her career to another. At 73 years old she looked incredible, like mid way through she had a change of outfits and looked deliriously hot in a tight white dress, great legs, her voice a resounding blast of energy and light.
Darlene’s story is well known by now and while eschewing chronicle for mood, she allowed you to piece together her career with stories illustrating the songs she performed. “He’s A Rebel” brought on memories of selling the rights to the song to Phil Spector for $3,000, “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry” her 35 years of married bliss, “Marvellous” her faith and her father, and, of course, the show closer “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” and her decades of singing it every Christmas on the Letterman show.
The Letterman Show is indicative of the way Darlene’s life appears to have been, her parents let her follow secular music when she was a teenager because she was “a good girl” and her career has been exemplary with the hand of God (or whatever you want to call it) interfering and setting her right when divine interference was necessary. From the Blossoms to the Crystal, where a flop single for the original band had Spector changing the Blossoms name. Fast forward some 40 years and Darlene, already heavily in the public eye every Christmas, became a household name for back up singers in the Oscar winning documentary “20 Feet from Stardom”.
This sense of someone protecting Darlene comes right off stage and into your heart, she seems blessed and she acts blessed. For the entire concert, she is a blast to be around, funny, attractive, energetic, at 73 years of age completely committed to us. It’s a nostalgia trip but also its a trip into what makes life worth living by one of our greatest singers. I started by saying that Darlene belts em too hard but if you could belt em too hard at 73 wouldn’t you?
Grade: A –
