One of the highlights of NAMM are the events that Yamaha puts on. 2020 was no exception. They put 3 shows and BackstageAxxess were there to cover the All Star show that happened on Friday night. Yamaha usually gets an eclectic group of artists together to perform and give a memorable night of music to its attendees. The shows are held in the plaza outside of the convention center.
Fridays night show started off with a very talented beatbox artist called Verbal Ase. He did a variety of beatboxes and got the crowd energized for the rest of the performers of the evening. Up next was Mr. Talkbox. The Christian hip-hop artist made a few appearance throughout the show. His specialty was the talkbox as he showcased it through his few songs he performed. He also was accompanied by a female and male dancer who kept on moving throughout each of his songs he sang.
Next up was an artist called Avery*Sunshine. Her smile and enthusiasm fit her name as she bounced back between the piano and singing acapella. Her performance was like attending a baptist church service, it was moving and uplifting. One of the younger artists to take the spotlight was Sheléa. She made the Queen of Soul (Aretha Franklin) proud by doing a stirring rendition of a few of her classics via a medley.
Legendary artist Kenny Loggins opened up his part of the show by singing his 1979 hit song “This Is It.” Of course, Loggins had to give the people what they wanted so he donned the guitar and started to play the opening chords to “Footloose.” This got the people dancing and ready for what was coming. Sinbad did a terrific job emceeing in between the acts. He built up the crescendo until Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Earth, Wind & Fire took the stage. They ran through 5 tracks that included “Sing a Song” and “September.” All the artists came back out to sing the James Brown classic “Living in America.”
Yamaha keeps outdoing themselves year after year and this year it was no different. Curious to see what Yamaha has up their sleeve for 2021?
Setlist:
Beatbox (Verbal Ase)
Cold (Mr. Talkbox)
Funkadelic Sound (Mr. Talkbox)
I Just Don’t Know (Avery*Sunshine)
Won’t You Try Love (Avery*Sunshine)
24K Magic snippet (Mr. Talkbox – Bruno mars cover)
Daft Funk (Mr. Talkbox featuring Nathan East)
Workin’ Day & Night (Mr. Talkbox – Michael Jackson cover)
Aretha Medley: (Until You Come Back to Me, Say a Little Prayer, Amazing Grace, Natural Woman, RESPECT -Sheléa)
This is It (Kenny Loggins)
Heart to Heart (Kenny Loggins)
Footloose (Kenny Loggins)
In The Stone (Earth, Wind & Fire)
Sing a Song (Earth, Wind & Fire)
After the Love (Earth, Wind & Fire)
Let’s Groove (Earth, Wind & Fire)
September (Earth, Wind & Fire)
Easy Lover (Philip Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire)
Living in America (All artists -James Brown cover)
We would like to thank Peter Giles & Charlie Banks of Giles Communications for the credentials to review the show.
