Lionel Richie

What better place to be on the eve of Valentine’s day than in a packed Mediolanum Forum in Milan with the ‘Doctor of Love’ himself, better known as Lionel Richie. Maybe thicker-jowled but otherwise pretty much as you would remember him.

If you have been through the 70’s,80’s and/or 90’s, maybe grooving on the dance floor, smooching in the shadows or broken hearted and alone, either with The Commodores or via his solo stuff, it’s very likely that Lionel Richie has somehow shared the experience.

With a tour called ‘All The Hits, All Night long’, its no surprise you get what you might expect, but being in the presence of a top dog in the entertainment category, is always an endearing experience, such is his charisma and charm.
Sure there is a certain ‘Las Vegas’ kitsch element to the show but the fact is that such is the body of work of these great performers, that genuine moments of spine tingling emotions are inevitable.

For me this happened during ‘Three Times a Lady’, a song that I never particularly found interesting, but that strong, sultry, profound voice of his combined with the added weight of the well known words/lyrics thanks to the passage of time and all of life’s labours, made sure that the heart’s strings were pulled tight till it bled. When he began the encore ‘We Are The World’, truly one of the greatest songs of all time, well, when he sang the opening lines, it was no karaoke moment I can tell you.

A 5 piece band of expert musicians seemed to be having fun on stage and ably maneuvered every hit.

“I haven’t seen dancing like that since the 80’s” said LR at one point and looking around me I would say he was right with the white boys doing the lower lip bite jig and the girls, or ladies i should say, gently swaying but dance and sing along we all did.

If Life is a pack of cards, always searching for diamonds, spades signifying our daily grind, clubs being our search for nightlife with all its joys and dangers, then hearts are all our human emotions of which the greatest one is love.

Well Lionel Richie sure knows about the latter suit. If you are having any trouble of late finding a heart, go see the ‘Doctor of Love’ himself.

SET LIST:


All Around the World
Penny Lover
Easy
(Commodores song)
Ballerina Girl
Running With the Night
Truly
Still
(Commodores song)
Oh No
(Commodores song)
Stuck on You
Brick House/Fire
You Are The Sun, You Are The Rain
Three Times a Lady
(Commodores song)
Sail On
(Commodores song)
Lady (You Bring Me Up)
(Commodores song)
Endless Love
Just for You
Angel
Don't Stop the Music
My Destiny
Say You, Say Me
Dancing on the Ceiling
Hello
All Night Long (All Night)
Encore:
We Are the World
(U.S.A. for Africa cover)