If you're a regular reader of BRP, you know that I love Motown. And in the Motown world, there is no bigger or better star than Smokey Robinson. Yes, yes, I know that the Motown galaxy includes a lot of stars like Stevie Wonder, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Marvin Gaye, and many others. But when you look at who made Motown into Motown, there are two guys that are primarily responsible: Barry Gordy and Smokey Robinson. When the opportunity to see Smokey live popped up, I was both intrigued and a little wary. I've seen a number of aging stars in the last 5 years or so, and some have been good and some not so much. Stevie Wonder? Yes, very good, although when I saw him at JazzFest, he talked way too much. Hmmmm. Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull? Oh, no, Ian has completely lost his voice and an icon of my youth quashed my good memories of concerts of yore. NRBQ? It's the Terry Adams show, and none of the great non-Adams songs are played. Yes, he's still goofy and fun, but I would never recommend going to see him. Frankie Valli? A good one! He doesn't have his full range, but he can still perform and he brings along new "Four Seasons" who can bring it. To sum it up, it's a mixed bag of experiences. But it was Smokey! What's so great about Smokey? How about the best Motown song ever, Tracks of My Tears? Or perhaps the greatest response song ever - remember Mary Wells singing My Guy? Smokey wrote it, and then he comes back with My Girl, one of the all-time great songs (I've got sunshine/on a cloudy day!). The Tears of a Clown! I Second That Emotion! Cruisin'! Get Ready! Ooh Baby Baby! Going to a Go Go! The Way You Do The Things You Do! You Really Got A Hold of Me! Shop Around! The list goes on and on, many of them performed by others in the Motown world like the Miracles, the Temptations, The Marvelletes, the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, and of course, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. If you haven't figured out that I'm a fan of Smokey by now, you need to stop taking whatever it is you're taking. Nonetheless, I was wary. He was playing at a casino in Coconut Creek, always a red flag. And the dude is 81. 81! How good can he be? Well, how about VERY good! I mean, the guy's voice is the same silky smooth easy-on-the-ears voice that we've known for all these years. It's uncanny that there is no loss of range. Moreover, look at those pictures. He is still slim, can move like a man 20 years younger than he can, and he's still a great performer. Smokey knows how to work a crowd, and that knowledge and experience make him the consummate professional. Motown trained their acts to bring it every night, and Smokey still does. He played the best of the best. Here's one that all the women loved: Smokey was smokin'. I will say that the one drawback was that he didn't play very long. In fact, it was only about one hour 15 minutes in total, which is pretty short. And it was sort of a weird set-up at the casino. It was Florida in November, so the show was outside. That's fine, it was a beautiful night. The show was general admission, and that was fine, particularly when they had plenty of chairs set up. Yeah, seats! But guess where they were? In a parking lot. Well, that's different, right? Still, they had multiple bars, a good stage with great lighting, and the sound was much better than I expected it to be. And the backup band was tight, hot and didn't miss a note. All in all, a very good experience, but not your average concert. I really like that I got the experience of seeing Smokey. No one is immortal, and there will be a day for him just like for all of us. But to see him perform those songs that will live forever, well, it was a special time for me. Onward and upward. I've got more shows to cover, including some other dinosaurs and some up-and-coming youngsters. Don't you love live music in all of its iterations? Yeah, me, too. Catch you on the flipside.
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AuthorMy name is Bill, and I live in the greater Philadelphia area. I love music, and I have a lot of opinions. This site is primarily focused on music, but sometimes I get off track. I hope you enjoy. Archives
November 2020
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