Rhythm and Blues legend Patti LaBelle and her 10 piece band accompanied her for a sold out show at the Seneca Niagara Events Center this past Saturday night. Patti was looking very fit and ready to deliver what was one of the most memorable shows at the casino in 2011.
The 67 year old was all smiles and in a great mood as she opened up with New Attitude. You may remember the song from the 1984 Beverly Hills Cop movie. The tune also won Patti a Grammy the following year. The next handful of selections started with Patti introducing the song, then went to who covered the song, then ended with You know, Im the one who did this first, earning a chuckle that made Patti even more enduring to the crowd. Also after the first couple of songs, Patti made jokes and said, Oohh that menopause. oh Lord. Its hot, hot up here, which also drew laughter and even made her more enduring.
Her voice was tremendous on all the songs she sang and especially on Since I Dont Have You and “Somebody Loves You.” It was weird after the song Somebody Loves You, about 60 to 70 people got up together to take a photo and/or video. I didnt hear Patti wanting the extra attention, so security had to corral the people back to their seats.
The touching moment of the evening was when Patti talked about losing her three (3) sisters to cancer before the age of 44, her mom to Diabetes and her dad to Alzheimers, as she dedicated You Are My Friend” to them. There was a video that accompanied her singing and showed images of her family and others who she has met along her way throughout her career. The loudest applause were for current President Barrack Obama and humanitarian Nelson Mandela. She controlled her voice beautifully as she lowered her voice to accompany the lower parts of the song 2 Steps Away. Other highlights included when her backup vocalist took the spotlight and sang “I Want to Meet My Jesus.” She blew the doors off of it. Only somebody like Patti LaBelle can feel comfortable having a talent like that take center stage. Also, musical director and pianist John Stanley filled in for Michael McDonald’s part on the song “On My Own.”
She did call up four (4) males to interact with her on stage during her hit Lady Marmalade. It was very funny how she got all of them to try to sing and it flowed within the song as the band continued to play the whole time.
The show was almost sermon like, where she was the preacher and the audience where very keen on the story of what was to be told. Again, a legend in every word that still holds true to this day!
Set List:
New Attitude
If Only You Knew
If You Asked Me To
Since I Dont Have You
Love, Need & Want You
Somebody Loves You
On my Own (with John Stanley)
Right Kinda lover
You are my Friend
I Want to Meet My Jesus (vocals by Debbie Henry)
Lords Side
2 Steps Away
Lady Marmalade
Over the Rainbow (Judy Garland)
Encore:
Earth Song (Michael Jackson)
We would like to thank Tony Astran for allowing Backstageaxxess.com to review the show.
