Live, Laugh, Love, Lionel
Lionel Richie’s career has spanned over sixty years, bringing the boogie to large crowds of grandparents, parents, and children alike. When the gig first appeared on the slate for the Hydro this year, the entire culture team of this publication was eagerly jumping at the premise of spending a night with a timeless icon that defined what we now consider 80’s classics. It was no surprise that the floor of the Hydro- newly converted to include a seating area to cater to the expanse of age groups present in the space– was packed to the brim.
As the rapidly growing soul artist, Brooke Combe, took the stage to get the audience warmed up with an exceptionally groovy set, it was clear that though we were the youngest people on the floor, we would unironically be having as much fun as a thirteen year old girl watching Benson Boone. As he emerged in a cloud of smoke to sing, Hello, transcendence doesn’t even begin to describe the feeling in the room. The words flew from people’s mouths like untapped muscle memory. The crowd was so loud at times it was difficult to even hear Lionel himself.
Balancing his setlist with a solid amount of Commodores media in addition to his solo material, it was very much a tour to celebrate each age and era. Easy was a huge crowd pleaser that had everyone growing collectively nostalgic for warm days and a simpler time. As new mother’s held the hands of their young children while simultaneously dancing with their own mother’s, it was indescribably sweet. From the perspective of this young woman, trained by my mother in this essential discography since age seven, I couldn’t help but wish she was in the room to take part in this collective experience.
Se La and Stuck On You, maintaining the high spirits in the room, which were periodically interrupted by fun banter, as Lionel failed to understand how a place could be so rainy and cold in the summer month of June. The Brick House and Fire medley could have quite honestly burned that place to the ground. As pyrotechnics emerged from the stage and the full jazz band followed Lionel down the catwalk, it was clear that they were in fine form.
Singing Three Times A Lady, and Destiny, he encouraged the men in the room to at least make it to third base with their wives as he supplied them with all of the necessary material to do so. An honorable mention for the first verse and chorus of Endless Love, that he has patiently been asking Diana Ross to perform on stage with him for years with no success, though my request to be a stand-in went tragically unacknowledged.
A personal highlight was hearing Say You, Say Me, live on the piano. In 2011, the song was used in an animated children’s film, Rio, in which the protagonist –who is a bird– hears this song playing and pauses to say “Oh Lionel Richie. ” Suffice to say this was my general sentiment for the entirety of the beautiful ballad.
The end of the show was punctuated by a powerful conversation surrounding ‘othering’ and having strong compassion for those around us that lead directly into We Are the World. Though the topic did not seem to resonate with those in the room who likely needed to hear it the most, it is something that inevitably encapsulates itself in your memory.
The big finish was the seemingly endless rendition of All Night Long (All Night) with a chorus that he most definitely looped two times over when the song was supposed to end. It’s inconceivable to boogie harder than the moves that were taking place in those exact moments. At the age of seventy five, Lionel Richie’s two and a half hour show is not something I think I could do at the age of twenty two. I would be fortunate to see him again to hopefully to secure a mother and daughter moment for myself.