The Magic of Motown Usher Hall Edinburgh 12th March 2023 Review
“The Magic of Motown” revue show by producers “Entertainers” was at the Usher Hall Edinburgh delivering to the audience exactly what the show title promised would be there. This show is one of many themed musical tribute shows that Entertainers do, but if you are expecting some sort of attempt to be the original artist on stage then be prepared for a surprise or two. Yes this show stays close to the original look and sounds of Motown legends like Diana Ross, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Jackson 5, and others, but the real tribute is to their music whilst also allowing the “Magic of Motown” team of performers to add their own identity to these songs.
This show features many of the musicians and performers of its sister show “The Story of Soul” (which I reviewed last week) and both have a heavy touring schedule. By default that means that some nights just hitting that connection with an audience will be a little more elusive than others and the on stage performance a little different somehow. Tonight all these elusive elements seemed to come together and from the moment the team took to the stage with “I’m Coming Out” they were off and running with this audience and that formula of non-stop hit song after hit song kept things that way all through the show as the vocalists and musicians, including that all important element of Motown songs, a horn section, effortlessly moved in and out of the golden years of the 1960s and the very different sounds of the 1970s and beyond.
From an opening show song from 1980 which many people consider the final decade of the “original Motown”, the sounds swiftly changed to the very early years of “classic Motown” with The Marvelettes and “Please Mr. Postman” from 1961 (a song helped no end by The Beatles cover version on their second studio album), and then some classic Smokey Robinson songs, the two very different “Tears of a Clown” and “Shop Around”.
As I watched an audience that seemed to cover all age groups, from those who were old enough to maybe hear these songs as new sounds first time around to a far younger age group who were discovering the Motown sound fresh to their ears, I wondered just what made these songs, many now over 50 and 60 years old, stay so popular over the years. Their assimilation into a wider “pop culture” by their use in films, television and advertising over the decades has given these songs a backdrop into the soundscape of people’s lives that few songs will ever achieve. So many great artists over the years have also recorded these songs and added their own voices to them. If there was a secret, maybe it was in the songwriting, maybe the performers themselves, something in the studio production, the Motown “house band” (aka The Funk Brothers), or even just our reactions when we hear these songs played. Who really knows in the end, but whatever it was, this show does re-create a little of that magic on stage too and a lot of great memories for many people in the audience along the way.
The format of this show also allows us to focus on the songs of these artists by spending a little time with some of their best known hits, and “Entertainers” do bring a show to town when they do something like this and one look at just even the sound and lighting tech on stage tells you that this show has a good production budget.
As classics songs including “Superstition”, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (please someone do the original Gladys Knight version someday), “Baby Love”, “ABC”, “I’ll Be There”, “Jimmy Mack” and so many others sounded out throughout the Usher Hall, we were all reminded of just how many classic songs came from Motown artists over the years and, for me anyhow, how many more there could have been if we had time.
Interestingly, to me too (well to the record collector part of me), that a few songs performed tonight, including the Bee Gees written classic for Diana Ross “Chain Reaction” were actually recorded after the artists left the Motown record label. Still, does that matter as it is a great song and it fits so well into the classic sounds of the original Motown and Tamla (in the USA) record labels.
The Magic of Motown is what it is, an entertaining show recreating a little bit of the magic of the sounds of Motown for an evening, and tight choreography and a team of on stage talent certainly make this a great night out for many people. For me, just a few tiny tweaks such as dropping the fake dreadlocks and dark glasses for the Stevie Wonder songs would make this an even better show. We simply don’t need this, we all know who Stevie Wonder is and we all at this show know his music too.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This show features many of the musicians and performers of its sister show “The Story of Soul” (which I reviewed last week) and both have a heavy touring schedule. By default that means that some nights just hitting that connection with an audience will be a little more elusive than others and the on stage performance a little different somehow. Tonight all these elusive elements seemed to come together and from the moment the team took to the stage with “I’m Coming Out” they were off and running with this audience and that formula of non-stop hit song after hit song kept things that way all through the show as the vocalists and musicians, including that all important element of Motown songs, a horn section, effortlessly moved in and out of the golden years of the 1960s and the very different sounds of the 1970s and beyond.
From an opening show song from 1980 which many people consider the final decade of the “original Motown”, the sounds swiftly changed to the very early years of “classic Motown” with The Marvelettes and “Please Mr. Postman” from 1961 (a song helped no end by The Beatles cover version on their second studio album), and then some classic Smokey Robinson songs, the two very different “Tears of a Clown” and “Shop Around”.
As I watched an audience that seemed to cover all age groups, from those who were old enough to maybe hear these songs as new sounds first time around to a far younger age group who were discovering the Motown sound fresh to their ears, I wondered just what made these songs, many now over 50 and 60 years old, stay so popular over the years. Their assimilation into a wider “pop culture” by their use in films, television and advertising over the decades has given these songs a backdrop into the soundscape of people’s lives that few songs will ever achieve. So many great artists over the years have also recorded these songs and added their own voices to them. If there was a secret, maybe it was in the songwriting, maybe the performers themselves, something in the studio production, the Motown “house band” (aka The Funk Brothers), or even just our reactions when we hear these songs played. Who really knows in the end, but whatever it was, this show does re-create a little of that magic on stage too and a lot of great memories for many people in the audience along the way.
The format of this show also allows us to focus on the songs of these artists by spending a little time with some of their best known hits, and “Entertainers” do bring a show to town when they do something like this and one look at just even the sound and lighting tech on stage tells you that this show has a good production budget.
As classics songs including “Superstition”, “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” (please someone do the original Gladys Knight version someday), “Baby Love”, “ABC”, “I’ll Be There”, “Jimmy Mack” and so many others sounded out throughout the Usher Hall, we were all reminded of just how many classic songs came from Motown artists over the years and, for me anyhow, how many more there could have been if we had time.
Interestingly, to me too (well to the record collector part of me), that a few songs performed tonight, including the Bee Gees written classic for Diana Ross “Chain Reaction” were actually recorded after the artists left the Motown record label. Still, does that matter as it is a great song and it fits so well into the classic sounds of the original Motown and Tamla (in the USA) record labels.
The Magic of Motown is what it is, an entertaining show recreating a little bit of the magic of the sounds of Motown for an evening, and tight choreography and a team of on stage talent certainly make this a great night out for many people. For me, just a few tiny tweaks such as dropping the fake dreadlocks and dark glasses for the Stevie Wonder songs would make this an even better show. We simply don’t need this, we all know who Stevie Wonder is and we all at this show know his music too.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com