15 December 2024 (gig)
3 d
Darlene Love is one of the most talented voices of the past several decades. Sadly, she was not always credited as being the voice on some classic songs (case in point, "He's a Rebel" is credited to The Crystals, but it's Love manning the lead singer slot). A gem in the Phil Spector stable of acts where she sang on a myriad of his sessions and lead vocalist with the Spector-created trio, The Blossoms. In addition to all the artists and songs she sang with (too lengthy to list), she was a standout on the iconic holiday disc, "A Christmas Gift from Phil Spector".
Not to mention that she also played Danny Glover's charming wife in the four "Lethal Weapon" films.
Love performed a phenomenal show at The Cabot (the premier concert venue on the North Shore) in Beverly, Massachusetts on December 16, 2024.
The concert was a Christmas-themed show labeled as "Love for The Holidays 2024", and began with "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" and a bouncy interpretation of "A Marshmallow World".
Love spoke of her friendship with Elvis Presley and their shared love of Gospel music. She reminded all that The Blossoms had performed with Presley on his massively successful television program, the "'68 Comeback Special" and Love then recreated the Gospel medley from the special with, "Where Could I Go But To The Lord"/"Up Above My Head"/"Saved".
After a sharp cover of Brenda Lee's "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree", Love moved away from the Christmas theme for a spell. She then did a quintet of 60's-Spector related classics including: "He's a Rebel"; "Wait 'Til My Bobby Gets Home"; "He's Sure The Boy I Love" (which was brilliantly used in the 1990 film, "Goodfellas"; "(Today I Met) The Boy I'm Gonna Marry"; and "Da Doo Ron Ron (When He Walked Me Home)".
Tales of Spector filled the night. At one point, Love said that while he chose her stage name, she eventually changed her name to Darlene Love.
"Grown-Up Christmas List", a David Foster composition, and "All Alone on Christmas" (penned for Love by Steven Van Zandt and used in the film "Home Alone 2: Lost In New York" in 1992) ended the first set.
Returning for a second run, Love focused mostly on Christmas-related tunes.
Serious standouts were Irving Berlin's "White Christmas", an epic "Winter Wonderland" and a cover of Bobby Helms' "Jingle Bell Rock" (which was used as the opening song in the original "Lethal Weapon" film in 1987).
A great moment during the night was when a precocious eight-year-old girl in the front row, whose infectious dancing and energy caught Love's attention, and caused her to lightheartedly sing a snippet of Carl Carlton's, "She's a Bad Mama Jama," to the thrilled young lady.
Another epic moment came when Love revealed the range of her pipes on a powerful Gospel cut, "Marvelous", bringing the packed Cabot crowd to their feet in appreciation.
Love ended the night with the iconic "Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)". While this has been covered by such diverse acts as U2 and Mariah Carey (and penned by Spector and Brill Building greats, Ellie Greenwich and Jeff Barry), Love did the original and has not lost a step in her voice all these many Decembers later.
