Post by ClassicSoul on Feb 7, 2006 11:19:48 GMT -5
Celebrity factor lags at vaunted party
February 6, 2006
BY DAVE HOEKSTRA STAFF REPORTER
DETROIT -- The "Throwdown in Motown" was kind of a meltdown.
The Saturday concert celebrating a new online venture called MotownLegendsCasino.net was one of the more anticipated Super Bowl XL parties. The bill at the historic Masonic Temple was supposed to feature rapper Nelly, John Legend, the Four Tops, the Dramatics, the Funk Brothers and others.
Some, including eight-time Grammy nominee Legend and the Funk Brothers, made it. Others, like Nelly, didn't.
Then there was the Ludacris factor. The rapper was in town and appeared for an "Entertainment Tonight" segment, but did not perform.
The temple was the largest Masonic building in North America when it was built on the north end of downtown Detroit in the early 1920s. The place was three-quarters full on Saturday with people who paid between $93 and $1,000 for a ticket. The audience was mostly local and urban. The Super Bowl celebrity factor was low, outside of Anthony Anderson of "Kangaroo Jack" fame. When Anderson helped introduce the Miracles (with one original member, Bobby Rogers), he shouted, "Who needs Smokey Robinson?" (Robinson was headlining his own show at the Music Hall Center.)
This show did need some integrity, and it was provided by Legend.
Legend delivered an intimate half-hour set solo on piano that established a sanctified landscape for his vocal range. He began with an extended version of "Let's Get Lifted," followed by "She Don't Have to Know," which when stripped down recalled the lilt of vintage Stevie Wonder. Legend debuted a new deep soul ballad, "Again," that is scheduled for his September record, but the set's winner was "Ordinary People," where Legend keenly dovetailed every note into the heart of every woman in the audience.
These kinds of grooves are super soft for a Super Bowl audience. The "Ordinary People" remix has become a classic in strip clubs. And according to the Detroit News, more than 30,000 people have crossed the border this week to hit the Windsor, Ont., strip clubs and smoke Cuban cigars. Legend was definitely in the right place at the right time.
The Throwdown's only other worthwhile set came from the Dramatics.
This five-piece Detroit vocal group has evolved more than the Miracles, Four Tops and others. Their hourlong set featured twirling choreography, ocean blue suits with rhinestone embellisments and hits that ranged from "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" to "Doggy Dogg World," which they covered in 2001 with Snoop Dogg. The Dramatics' secret weapon is lead singer Larry Reynolds, formerly of Chocolate Syrup. His pliable vocal style helped build the transition to latter-day Dramatics hits like "Hey You! Get Off My Mountain," which the group covered. Reynolds also was able to steer the group and the audience into effective covers of James Brown's "Sex Machine" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag."
It helps to be a VIP
Around 10:30 p.m., an announcer walked onstage to say the show was being moved downstairs to where a mini-casino had been built for a pre-concert VIP party. Here, the more than 3,000 people were supposed to have seen Martha Reeves, the Former Ladies of the Supremes and "hip-hop groups," according to the sudden announcement.
But then Detroit real estate developer and Motown Legends Casino founder Herb Strather walked onstage to say, no, not everyone was invited downstairs -- just investors and VIPs.
Throwdown in Motown fans were dazed and confused, and most walked outside where the snow was coming down. I retreated to the Majestic Theatre and bowling alley complex near Wayne State University and took in the warm Detroit vibe.
Like the Dramatics, the city put its best foot forward for Super Bowl. During Saturday's snowstorm, I stood in line for a beer in a balcony lobby of the Masonic Temple. Detroiters glumly looked out the window. Here was Motown in an international spotlight, and there was snow, wind gusts and the Miracles onstage with a lead singer who sounded more like Little Anthony than Smokey Robinson. One gentleman in the concession line forced a positive outlook and said to no one in particular, "Well, we need the snow," like it was rain for his crops.
Link
February 6, 2006
BY DAVE HOEKSTRA STAFF REPORTER
DETROIT -- The "Throwdown in Motown" was kind of a meltdown.
The Saturday concert celebrating a new online venture called MotownLegendsCasino.net was one of the more anticipated Super Bowl XL parties. The bill at the historic Masonic Temple was supposed to feature rapper Nelly, John Legend, the Four Tops, the Dramatics, the Funk Brothers and others.
Some, including eight-time Grammy nominee Legend and the Funk Brothers, made it. Others, like Nelly, didn't.
Then there was the Ludacris factor. The rapper was in town and appeared for an "Entertainment Tonight" segment, but did not perform.
The temple was the largest Masonic building in North America when it was built on the north end of downtown Detroit in the early 1920s. The place was three-quarters full on Saturday with people who paid between $93 and $1,000 for a ticket. The audience was mostly local and urban. The Super Bowl celebrity factor was low, outside of Anthony Anderson of "Kangaroo Jack" fame. When Anderson helped introduce the Miracles (with one original member, Bobby Rogers), he shouted, "Who needs Smokey Robinson?" (Robinson was headlining his own show at the Music Hall Center.)
This show did need some integrity, and it was provided by Legend.
Legend delivered an intimate half-hour set solo on piano that established a sanctified landscape for his vocal range. He began with an extended version of "Let's Get Lifted," followed by "She Don't Have to Know," which when stripped down recalled the lilt of vintage Stevie Wonder. Legend debuted a new deep soul ballad, "Again," that is scheduled for his September record, but the set's winner was "Ordinary People," where Legend keenly dovetailed every note into the heart of every woman in the audience.
These kinds of grooves are super soft for a Super Bowl audience. The "Ordinary People" remix has become a classic in strip clubs. And according to the Detroit News, more than 30,000 people have crossed the border this week to hit the Windsor, Ont., strip clubs and smoke Cuban cigars. Legend was definitely in the right place at the right time.
The Throwdown's only other worthwhile set came from the Dramatics.
This five-piece Detroit vocal group has evolved more than the Miracles, Four Tops and others. Their hourlong set featured twirling choreography, ocean blue suits with rhinestone embellisments and hits that ranged from "Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get" to "Doggy Dogg World," which they covered in 2001 with Snoop Dogg. The Dramatics' secret weapon is lead singer Larry Reynolds, formerly of Chocolate Syrup. His pliable vocal style helped build the transition to latter-day Dramatics hits like "Hey You! Get Off My Mountain," which the group covered. Reynolds also was able to steer the group and the audience into effective covers of James Brown's "Sex Machine" and "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag."
It helps to be a VIP
Around 10:30 p.m., an announcer walked onstage to say the show was being moved downstairs to where a mini-casino had been built for a pre-concert VIP party. Here, the more than 3,000 people were supposed to have seen Martha Reeves, the Former Ladies of the Supremes and "hip-hop groups," according to the sudden announcement.
But then Detroit real estate developer and Motown Legends Casino founder Herb Strather walked onstage to say, no, not everyone was invited downstairs -- just investors and VIPs.
Throwdown in Motown fans were dazed and confused, and most walked outside where the snow was coming down. I retreated to the Majestic Theatre and bowling alley complex near Wayne State University and took in the warm Detroit vibe.
Like the Dramatics, the city put its best foot forward for Super Bowl. During Saturday's snowstorm, I stood in line for a beer in a balcony lobby of the Masonic Temple. Detroiters glumly looked out the window. Here was Motown in an international spotlight, and there was snow, wind gusts and the Miracles onstage with a lead singer who sounded more like Little Anthony than Smokey Robinson. One gentleman in the concession line forced a positive outlook and said to no one in particular, "Well, we need the snow," like it was rain for his crops.
Link
