When it comes to musicians, the phrase “consummate professional” is bandied around like cheap confetti — but few deserve this sober, serious accolade more than Mr Lionel Richie.
Of course, Richie’s big-hearted stage schtick is anything but severe and sombre — but do not be so easily fooled. To reach the grand old age of 67, and present such a slick pop spectacle night after night after night, requires the commitment of an individual not just talented, but driven, earnest and resolute. The trick, as they say, is making it look easy. And in Richie’s hands, it appears a walk in the park.
Appearing at du Arena on Saturday night, Richie was onstage moments after the billed 9pm start, leading his virtuoso five-piece band through an energetic Running With the Night, markedly rockier than the 1983 original.
The tempo dipped with Penny Lover — also from Richie's Grammy-winning, sophomore effort Can't Slow Down — before things peaked with an arm-waving singalong to Easy, the 1977 anthem Richie penned during his time with Motown group the Commodores, which arguably remains his greatest contribution to the standards songbook of pop.
Richie has spent a lot of time gigging in Vegas of late, and there was a touch of the hackneyed troubadour to his between song banter, appearing onstage to a parody of Adele's Hello, and making a cheeky imitation of Michael Jackson's trademark vocal ticks during piano ballad You Are the Sun, You Are the Rain.
Despite his pre-show pledges of a spontaneous show fuelled by audience requests, it must be noted that the setlist was near-identical to recent global gigs — but we can chalk such boasts down to the “consummate professional thing”.
Saving the best for last the night climaxed with the five tunes any fan would be disappointed not to hear. The phone torches came out for Say You, Say Me, the 1985 US number one which still sparked a fire in many dancing, nostalgic couples.
Disco smash Dancing on the Ceiling was beefed up to stadium-size by a guitarist running on raw testosterone — reason perhaps the song picked up an unlikely nomination for the UK Festival Award for Anthem Of The Summer last year, 30 years after its release (eventually losing out to Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk).
Next came Hello, the iconic calling card which will follow Richie round the globe until the day he dies, before a rousing the We Are the World — the all-star USA For Africa charity single penned alongside Michael Jackson, for which one imagines he would rather be remembered.
Without the theatre of leaving the stage for an encore, the evening wrapped after 95 minutes with All Night Long (All Night), which despite a spirited Latin breakdown, felt slightly tame after the excesses of Dancing on the Ceiling. Moreover, Richie, for the first time felt fallible, his voice breathless and fleeting in the verses. But that is indeed a consummate professional — there is just no way performing this studiously serviced set, time after time, comes without considerable physical strain — but Richie's greatest trick is making it seem so very effort-free.
rgarratt@thenational.ae
