The Motown Event @ Rod LaverArena, Melbourne (16/02/10)

Fri 19th Feb, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Nostalgia gigs are always a dangerous proposition as you watch older performers struggle with their hit songs it’s hard not to be caught between wanting to pay tribute to the performers and actually enjoying the show. It’s not quite like watching Ali step into the ring again, but sometimes it can get worryingly close. Sometimes a performer can best pay tribute to the music they love, or that they originally performed, by realising that they’re simply not up to the task of performing it.

A near capacity Rod Laver settled in for the night as a Motown tribute film, playing snippets of the label’s hits, reminded the punters exactly why they were out on a Tuesday night. Cheers greeting the onscreen appearance of Michael Jackson were expected, though bafflingly the syrupy smultz of Lionel Ritchie won the same reaction. (Has Lionel died and the news only reached Gold FM listeners?)

The capable, though hardly impressive, orchestra was assembled and the night’s MC bellowed an introduction and the label that celebrated itself as “the sound of young America” launched into a night entertaining middle aged Australia.

The brief excitement of hearing the opening string stab of Love Child was quickly replaced by an awkward unease of watching Mary Wilson, who still looks fantastic in her ball gown, struggled with the band through a mess of missed cues and technical issues. Wilson is an original member of the Supremes; but she was always regarded as a backing singer behind Diana Ross and the best voice in the trio Florence Ballard and while she’s a reasonable singer her voice simply isn’t capable of leading the sharp notes required in the Supremes songbook. Motown head honcho Berry Gordy waited till Motown’s 25th birthday celebrations to tell her that she’d finally learnt to sing, but the last twenty five years haven’t been kind to her voice.

As she glared off stage at the source of the sound problems it’s clear that while she never learnt to sing like Diana Ross she did at least pick up a few notes on diva behaviour. The reaction in the front rows as Wilson attempted Stop! In The Name Of Love made the reasons for the full-page ad for Cougar Town in the show’s programme very clear, but like most of the night it was set memorable for all the wrong reasons.

The true stars of the night were the acts that have updated their membership so that they can still perform their songs and allow the audience to pay tribute to the original Motown recordings. The Miracles, Temptations and Four Tops are all down to one original member each, but their performances are truer to the sprit of Motown than their counterparts tonight. While new Miracles, Temps and Four Tops were a welcome addition; the presence of blow-ins to the Motown family such as Joan Osborne and Cold Chisel’s Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes was embarrassing and occasionally simply insulting to the other performers and the audience.

Joan Osborne, who at least has some Motown connection through her appearance in the Funk Brothers doco Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Betty Booped her way through My Guy and dragged the soul night into disco for Don’t Leave Me This Way. Unfortunately she was allowed back on stage for staggering pedestrian versions of Destination Anywhere and Midnight Train to Georgia. Sadly however Osborne wasn’t the low point of the night – a dubious ‘honour’’ that belongs to the pair of Aussies on the bill.

Arriving on stage to the cheers earlier heard for Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie, Jimmy Barnes introduced himself as ‘the only man on the stage that can’t dance’ but quickly added to the list of things he was unable to do – such as remembering lyrics or feeling shame. After a reasonable fist of Money – a rare bluesy moment on the Motown jukebox that’s suited to his belting delivery – Barnes settled into a low crouch to sing Stevie Wonder’s I Was Born to Love Her. Crouching over because the song was so emotionally draining and to deliver a raw, searching rendition? Nope, just crouching the read the printed lyrics at his feet.

As he staggered back to the helpful cheat sheet to guide him through Heard It Through the Grapevine it was hard not to wonder what he thought he was doing up on stage. Perhaps Barnes took the gig just to make sure his daughter Mahalia – a soul singer of some note – was allowed on stage as a backing singer. Keeping with his poor decisions, they chose to duet with River Deep, Mountain High, which was recorded at one time by the Supremes and Four Tops, but is hardly a Motown tune.

Earlier Ian Moss has butchered Stevie Wonder’s Uptight (Everything’s Alright) with a blast of unnecessary guitar solo, but at least he knew the words. However as poor at that was the true nadir of the night came as the terrible trio of Barnes, Moss and Osbourne combined for a broken down version of What Becomes of the Broken Hearted that struggled to reach even a telethon level of mediocrity as Barnes mistook gravel for gravitas and simply buried the classic song in constipated bellows.

Saving the show after the misguided version of Brokenhearted, The Temptations appeared in black and white striped suits with orange silk shirts and provided the highpoint of the night by hitting the stage with Get Ready and delivering a great set including the song introduced by the deep bass of Joe Herndon as “The Temptations national anthem” – My Girl to close the first half of the night. In immaculate gold suits, The Miracles also impressed, offering hits like Shop Around and The Tracks of My Tears with Bobby Rogers – the last remaining original member – shuffling in circles as his younger partners performed the finger-snapping choreography of old.

After the interval, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas (these days the Vandellas are Matha’s sister Delphine and Karen McMurray) were welcomed to the stage to continue the disappointments. As though she wasn’t confident of the crowd’s Motown knowledge Reeves introduced classics like Nowhere to Run and Dancing in the Street by mentioning their inclusion in Good Morning Vietnam or the versions by Bowie, Jagger and even Van Halen. The Vandellas work is among the punchiest in the Motown cannon, with Dancing in the Street adopted as an anthem by the civil rights movement, but Reeves wavering voice simply couldn’t keep pace with the energy of the recordings.

Dedicating their performance to the departed former members of the group, The Four Tops were on hand to attempt to salvage the show and close the night with Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) and Baby I Need Your Loving. Like the Miracles and Temptations their combination of sharp suits and carefully blended harmonies worked a treat, but even for the seasoned performers it was simply too large a challenge to redeem the show.

The whole troupe returned for the encore of The Jackson Five’s I’ll Be There , with Martha Reeves tweaking the lyrics to sing about Motown’s 50th, but the lyrics of the Vandella’s first single, Come and Get These Memories, would have been more fitting – “you’ve gone from me, and left behind so many memories”. The days of old Motown may be long gone, but at least the memories will last; thankfully the memory of the Motown Event will quickly fade.

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