No wonder there was such a downpour on Saturday night as lightning definitely struck twice in Hammersmith earlier with more exposure to the glories of the Motown Divas!

Owen had splashed out on VIP front-row stalls tickets which saw us whisked up to a small room with a free bar - excuse me people - with our fellow front-rowers and we speculated on what treats we were going to be given by our heroes of song!

We were escorted down to the stalls - eeek! - and the show started with Jack Ashford strolling onto the stage playing his tambourine - those in the know gave him the ovation he deserved and the show was off and rolling.

Jack and his excellent Funk Brothers band under the eye of keyboardist John Shipley gave us a few numbers to get us warmed up and again we were treated to great vocals by (I think!) Valencia Robinson and Al/Art (??) and Jeneane Cranert. It would have been nice for them to be introduced along with the other musicians.
As with the Jazz Cafe, the first guest onstage was Mable John, this time dressed in a resplendent white lace gown. She sang her four songs from the earlier show - MY NAME IS MABLE, WHO WOULDN'T LOVE A MAN LIKE THAT, RUNNING OUT and SAME TIME, SAME PLACE - but again she did them with a great charismatic authority that made it impossible to watch anyone but her onstage - it's not every 79 year-old who could chat up her musicians - and be believable while she was doing it!! She exited the stage to a rapturous, standing ovation.Surprisingly next up was Brenda Holloway who had closed the Jazz Cafe show. Brenda was eye-popping in a low-cut silk dress of flounces and frills (on more flounces and frills) but she gave a non-flouncy performance which dripped with class and pure solid soul! I'm still not sure what her opening number is but she followed it up with pure classic Motown: OPERATOR, WHEN I'M GONE, a full-on torch version of EVERY LITTLE BIT HURTS and an uplifting YOU MADE ME SO VERY HAPPY. Like Mabel, she connected effortlessly with the audience, seemingly making the Hammersmith auditorium into an intimate space. Needless to say she exited to a delirious standing ovation.Jack then said when he met the next singer again for this tour he assumed it was her daughter - silver-tongued devil! He introduced onto the stage my own favorite Chris Clark. It was great to see her sneak on from the wings to a huge cheer. She performed the same set as at the Jazz Cafe - LOVE'S GONE BAD, DO RIGHT BABY DO RIGHT, I WANT TO GO BACK THERE AGAIN and DO I LOVE YOU (INDEED I DO) and looked magnificent dressed all in black, which set off her mane of white-blonde hair wonderfully. "Gee this is a big stage" Chris informed us and indeed most of her set was performed closer to the band than the mike stand! Again she was wonderfully 'herself' on stage - grinning from ear to ear, saying a heartfelt thanks to the fans for keeping the music and the performers alive and viable as well as complementing Mabel and Brenda on their stagecraft.

It was fab to see Chris on the large stage where she - as well as Mable and Brenda - deserved to be! She left the stage during the gospel wig-out coda to DO I LOVE YOU so quickly the audience were just getting to their feet but Jack called her out again and she stood and waved by the wings - bless!

We scooted back up to our VIP room for more free booze and a free poster - in lieu of the non-existent brochure - then it was back for more from Jack and his Funkateers then on with the guests: Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence are former members of The Supremes and they were joined onstage by Joyce Vincent who used to sing with 70s group Dawn - well she IS from Detroit.Now as you all know I saw the first - and best - line-up of the 1970s Supremes twice on that very stage so it was with mixed feelings that I sat through their repertoire (the longest of the evening). Poor Lynda Laurence has had my evil eye on her for 30+ years as she took over from Cindy Birdsong thus ending my favorite Supremes line-up and she had an oddly strident voice - Scherrie Payne certainly had the better voice of the two. They did an accomplished and polished routine but it was the act I felt the least about. The 1970s Supremes had a great run of hit singles in this country but they only sang STONED LOVE, everything else was from the Diana Ross era. Now I know they *have* to sing these songs but as they had the longest time on stage they could at least have tailored the routine to at least acknowledge the period which saw them employed! No NATHAN JONES, no FLOY JOY, no AUTOMATICALLY SUNSHINE... they were hardly playing to an unknowing audience - as was acknowledged from the stage, we knew the lyrics as well as the artists did! A missed opportunity.Last but not least we had the dynamo that is Thelma Houston who WORKED that stage - she never stopped moving!! I am still racking my brain to remember what her opening number was but she followed it up with SATURDAY NIGHT, SUNDAY MORNING and a Motown megamix which got us to our feet - finally! We stayed there for her final number which was of course DON'T LEAVE ME THIS WAY which was pure disco heaven!!
After that there was nothing more than to get all our Sisters of Soul back on stage for a rousing version of DANCING IN THE STREET - again with Chris retreating towards the back of the stage!! There was a lovely moment when Brenda showed her a few dance steps! Needless to say they were all cheered and applauded with gusto.

Then we were shepherded first back to the VIP room where we hung around for a bit before being ushered back to the circle bar where the after-show was taking place so it wasn't so much a 'Meet and Greet' as a "Hunt The Star" which is hardly the same thing. For some unknown reason wherever I went, there was Ian Levine bending the ears of the artists, reminding them AT LENGTH about where they had met, what he had in his collection, what he was working on etc. etc. I could hardly get a word in edge-ways with Jack Ashford but he signed my book while shooting glances my way as Levine reminded him of some long-forgotten track - I said to Jack "Is your life flashing before your eyes?" to which he replied "You know it".

I also stood patiently with poster outstretched in front of Scherrie Payne while she chatted away to a guy from a small radio station who was trying to get an interview with her. Her young and gushing rep then joined in and demanded a photo of her with the other faux-Supremes and Freda Payne while a Mutual Appreciation Society was formed. Needless to say I didn't wait too longer after that.
However no such problems with Brenda Holloway who was happy to sign whatever what was put in front of her, pose for pictures, answer fans' questions and give out hugs and kisses with abandon - see Scherrie? THAT'S how it's done. Thelma Houston was also very gracious too.And of course... there was Chris Clark. Instantly surrounded by fans, she won hearts as she chatted away like a chatty thing, smiling and signed, posing and laughing. I edged closer and closer to her and her face lit up when she saw me wearing my signed t-shirt from the Jazz Cafe. She signed my poster and I asked her a question. In between the two concerts I had posted a review on a Motown yahoo group and had seen later with amazement that the head of the label that recently re-issued Chris' SOUL SOUNDS album on CD posted a follow-up saying he had spoken to Chris and read her my review! I asked her if he had done this and she told me she loved what I had written and that it had made her day - that made my night!We chatted for quite a while - and Constant Reader, that remains a secret! I am so glad I had a chance to tell these remarkable women how much there music has meant to me and how it continues to delight and move me.

Come back soon!!