With utterly feigned nostalgia, singer Lionel Richie served his sluggish (if not to say stickiest) hits to a crowd of already won admirers.
It was a beaming Lionel Richie who, despite his 74 years, appeared before them on the Bell Center stage.
In the introduction, a pictorial summary of the great moments of his career sets the tone, a bit like a time machine.
He started singing “Hello”. We have to admit that the voice no longer has the same power. And the ostentatious visual effects can’t make up for the lack of vocal emphasis.
Photo QMI Agency, Mario Beauregard
But he still has the same stage presence. And he bets a lot on it. Because on “Running With the Night,” as well as the group renders it, Lionel Richie spends his time challenging the crowd between the verses and the choruses to sublimate his shortcomings in singing with his talents as an “entertainer.” .
Lionel Richie’s repertoire maintains two constants across the albums: “Sticky Slows” à la Hello or Truly, or unifying anthems to get the party started like “All Night Long” or “Dancing on the Ceiling”.
In this point we are served. Especially since Lionel Richie promises from the first minutes that his show will cover all the hits in his repertoire. From the Commodores to the 1980s.
The audience reacted to the first notes of his hits. We got to see his entire pre-1987 catalogue. Very few singles released after that vintage found a place in the evening’s repertoire.
Since the singer hasn’t produced anything new since around 2012, we can’t blame him for committing to older goals. The crowd saw nothing but fire. He also forgets that Lionel Richie’s voice is no longer the same vehicle that once supported his unstoppable melodies.
Earth, Wind & Fire: Let’s groove en masse!
The disco troupe Earth, Wind & Fire stood in front of him more than convinced. In fact, we’re not really talking about a first part, because the “sing a song” of the tour name comes from their repertoire.
They didn’t swing their guns from the start. They might have had an advantage by disclosing their game sooner. The start did not go as expected.
From Fantasy it really started to soar. After that swept: Boogie Wonderland, Let’s Groove (we would have thought we were in a roulatthek in 1980), September. The Bell Center was swamped with the action of these wild scenery beasts. The three founding members Rob Johnson, Verdine White and Philip Bailey have not lost their enthusiasm.
Earth, Wind & Fire opened for Lionel Richie’s show at the Bell Centre. Photo QMI Agency, Mario Beauregard
In short, fans were treated to the night they could expect and were able to relive some memories by rediscovering a repertoire of unforgettable songs.