WITH a career stretching back to the soulful 70s, Lionel Richie has played an unimaginable number of live shows, and admits he can’t remember many of them.
However, his opening night for Nocturne Live at Blenheim Palace, will, he said, go down in history – and not for the best of reasons.
Bounding on stage in front of a capacity crowd of 10,000 fans on Wednesday, the pop and soul legend enthusiastically greeted the crowd and burst into his opening number to the sound of... silence. Earlier crackles in the PA had escalated into a full-on sonic failure, plunging the stately home’s packed Great Court into a mute, puzzled hush.
After a burst of activity from his heroically calm team of sound engineers, the problem seemed to have been fixed... only for it to go down again moments later.
“The good news is it happened at the beginning of the show,” Lionel said cheerfully, emerging on stage for a (lucky) third time as service was resumed.
“The bad news is it happened again. I want you to pretend like it never happened... you have to act like you’ve not seen me yet – and I’m as thrilled to see you as I was 15 minutes ago!”
Unfazed, unflustered and with the easy wit of a standup comedian, he leaned into the microphone and confided in the crowd.
Picture courtesy of Nocturne Live
“There aren’t many shows I can remember... but I will remember this one!” he announced.
“I was a bit nervous, especially when people were saying ‘why is the sound not working?’. I had to say ‘how the hell am I supposed to know? I’m in a castle in the middle of the countryside!'.”
Then, gazing at the rich facade of architect John Vanbrugh’s 18th century masterpiece, he quips: “I have put in an offer on the house!”
It may not have been the ideal start to a show but it was the perfect introduction to a performer whose decades of experience have forged the consummate professional – razor sharp, spontaneous and funny.
And, as he burst into bombastic opener Running with the Night, it was clear he has lost none of his skill as an artist. Neither has the Alabama-born showman lost any of his energy, throwing himself into a dynamic set which veered from punchy and funky to sweet, soulful and sincere. Without the production polish of the studio, his voice at times veered to the raw, but that only added to the air of authentic passion.
All the hits were there – even the ones we might have forgotten about or, in my case, didn’t know were his. Swinging Atlantic Records and Motown numbers from his days with The Commodores were followed by hushed piano ballads and swaggering 80s pop bangers.
“I feel good now I’ve recovered from my nervous breakdown!” he dead-panned, dazzling in a sequined jacket, before at least two costume changes.
A laid back Easy eased away any lingering worries, and Commodore tune Brick House funked up an audience who had long since abandoned their seats – the real fans thronging the aisles, to the star’s delight.
There was as much yin as yang, though, with love song Three Times a Lady and the gorgeous Sail On soothing us as the glow of a perfect golden sunset faded away.
Slow burner My Destiny hushed an audience reverentially hanging on his every word.
He couldn’t resist teasing us as he introduced ballad Endless Love – his duet hit with Diana Ross – by hinting that the great woman was backstage and waiting to come out, before confessing he had been asking her to come on tour with him for years only to be repeatedly rejected.
It didn’t matter though, because we were there – chaps singing along with Lionel while the ladies took Diana’s lines. It was great fun. And while the star must’ve done it countless times before, he seemed to enjoy it too. In fact, he seemed to be having a whale of time throughout – pointing at people who caught his eye in the crowd, and even bantering with one unsuspecting couple to express faux-sympathy with a middle-aged husband who he suspected of being picked on by his delighted wife. It was joyful.
Then, with darkness having fallen it was on to the big-hitters: charts belter Dancing on the Ceiling, Hello, Say You Say Me, and, after a call for unity and an end to division, a rousing rendition of the USA for Africa anthem We Are the World.
He left the stage for the briefest of breaks before signing off in a one-song encore with All Night Long. Of course.
The love for Lionel as he took his final bow was palpable.
He had another Nocturne Live show to put in the following night (mercifully free of any technical hitches, it turned out), but for the beaming crowd – some of whom burst into a mass singalong while streaming out of the courtyard – that was it. But it was a night to remember.
Like Lionel, none of us will forget that show – though in our case, for the very best of reasons. There are still a few genuine musical icons out there, but there aren’t many capable of throwing a crowdpleasing show like Lionel Richie.
There may have been 10,000 of us, but it felt like he was playing to each of us alone - and that is the mark of a true legend.
5/5
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