Destra Garcia and Atlantik opened the show, which got off to a late start. The reason given was that Fire Service officials were checking to ensure that there were legitimate rows in the seating.
But the night belonged to La Belle who came straight from the heart. From her first note she had good vibes from the crowd who sang along to some of her major hits including “On my Own”, “If only you knew,” and “Lady Marmalade”.
She conversed easily with her audience about her health, struggles, the break up of her marriage, the loss of family and her victories. It was La Belle, the diva, the messenger singing praises and accentuating the positives. Dressed in a short red dress that hugged her upper legs La Belle put on an act that defied her 61 years and brought back memories of Tina Turner. She hit her trademark high notes, took her voice where she wanted it to go and filled the Plymouth night with delight.
La Belle acknowledged her years but declared she still had the goods.
“This is what 61 is, when you take care of yourself,” she declared. A little way into her act, La Belle took up a mirror to check how she looked. “Every now and then a girl has to check herself before she wrecks herself,” she said to laughter.
She was direct, she reminded her audience on one occasion that she was “menopausing” and that she had diabetes.
“alleluia Jesus!” she shouted at times during her performance.
Before launching into her mega hit “On My Own,” she spoke of the break-up of her marriage which led to the creation of the song, and advised people to get out of unhappy relationships. As she sang, couples who were obviously still happy, hugged and danced. She forgot the words of the almost 20-year-old song but the crowd sang along and gave her a rousing ovation when she ended. “Thank you. I forgot the damn song,” she confessed to the crowd’s amusement.
“I’m so blessed to be here I’m not going to let forgetting the lyrics of a song mess me up,” La Belle declared.
La Belle performed an energetic duet with back-up singer Marilyn Griffith before rendering a song from her forthcoming gospel album: The gospel according to Patti La Belle.
She went down on her knees in praise, then stretched out flat on her back in worship, as she crooned, “What a friend we have in Jesus”.
The dramatic la Belle still had more to give and after checking her time allotment, she delivered “Lady Marmalade”. Following this, she invited some men from the audience to join her on stage, one of whom was local entertainer Kees Diefrenthaller. Kees sang for La Belle and she was impressed with his second attempt.
After “Somewhere over the Rainbow”, La Belle ended her stint with a dramatic flinging of the mike stand, but the crowd would not let her go.
“Miss Patti will return,” she promised.
Natalie Cole followed her friend but the crowd seemed a little quiet at the beginning of her act. She did favourite hits such as “Mister Melody”, “Inseparable”, “Unforgettable”, “I got Love on my Mind”, “This will be” and “Our love”. Cole’s performance was rich. She delivered her songs with ease and sang from her soul. She performed “Calypso Blues’’ which she said was about a young man who left Trinidad to go to America. The song incorporated calypso rhythms and drumming and drew a warm response. She stirred the audience with “Inseparable”.
“Unforgettable” brought more cheers and by the time she sang the line “Hey, Mister Melody” the audience was totally converted and was singing, dancing and grooving along.
