Today I was "informed" by t'other half that were going Sunday ...just wondering if anyones seen it so I'll know what to expect!!

Seeing it Friday at the NIA.

I'll post up a quick review on Sat.

Seeing it Friday at the NIA.

I'll post up a quick review on Sat.

Ta muchly.

Seeing it Friday at the NIA.

I'll post up a quick review on Sat.

Yes, my wife is going with Tabs , so I'll ask her opinion as well , and post it up here , bet there's a M J tribute ..........Best,Eddie

Yes, my wife is going with Tabs , so I'll ask her opinion as well , and post it up here , bet there's a M J tribute ..........Best,Eddie

Thats what I'm afraid of, if there is might take along an ipod full of chartbusters

We're at Manchester Saturday - Manchester Evening News Arena.

So Far Haven't Seen Any Review From Other Venues (This Week)

im off on saturday and if they start with all that jacksons bollox im walking out

They interviewed Martha Reeves and Walter Orange on Midlands Today, talking about Michael Jackson, so i think there's a fair chance their will be some kind of tribute...

If it is the same as was over here in Germany? there are a few original acts,Contours,Martha Reeves etc plus doubles, and original Motown a and r man(name forgotten) who acts as narrator,for me it was a pretty interesting( allbeit strange company dinner club type do)

Steve

There is " The Magic Of Motown : The 50th Anniversary Tour " scheduled for November at Magna in Rotherham : is this the same tour as " The Motown Legends " ?

Malc Burton

Edited June 27, 200916 yr by Malc Burton

Well as promised a quick review of the Legends tour at the NIA.

Sold out and the venue was rammed.

Running order was the Miracles, Martha, Mary then the Commodores.

Miracles were vocally excellent.

Did the classics, inc. Tracks of my Tears, Tears of a clown and Going to a go go.

Slick and well choreographed.

Next up was Martha.

Well as we all know her voice is shot.

Also gave me the impression she couldn't't remember the words to her hits.

Lots of getting the audience involved singing along to Heatwave, Dancing etc.

Very poor imo.

Mary Wilson next who was the Star of the show for me.

Vocally superb doing all the classics as expected.

Not only that she looked like she was really enjoying herself..

Strutting her stuff and smiling all the way through.

She had people up on the stage dancing with her and just came across as a natural

Particularly enjoyed her rendition of You can't Hurry love.

Really up-tempo and bassy.

Next was the headline act The Commodores.

Did all there hits excluding The Zoo.

Really professional, vocally brilliant and well rehearsed.

Got the audience involved and there act even included pyrotechnics.

Needless to say there were the MJ tributes.

Martha just recounted the first time she saw the J5 at the Harlem Apollo.

Mary was along the lines of when you think about Michael just remember his musical talent and ability.

Most cringe worthy was the Commodores tribute.

They requested a 30 sec silence for a 'fallen colleague.'

Fallen colleague.

Not like he had been in a war, a media circus and publicity feeding frenzy yes but hardly any thing else.

So overall I enjoyed it.

Good value for money as the show was just under 4 hours long inc a 30 min intermission.

Highlights for me were Marry and sharing joint second the Commodores and Miracles.

Such a shame about Martha.

The other 4 occupants of my 'taxi' also enjoyed the event.

My daughter thought it was awesome and she has been to a fair few non soul concerts.

And for her to say that is a testament to a good show.

Hope that will help people who may be undecided about seeing this tour.

Best

Tabs

Many Thanks For The Review, We're Just Getting Ready for The Manchester Arena Tonight.

Pleased That It Is A Good Show, We Were A Little Concerned That No Review Available Anywhere.

Hope you enjoy it.

Forgot to say in my original post that as part of the MJ tribute Mary sang I am Changing from the Dreamgirls movie.

Many Thanks For The Review, We're Just Getting Ready for The Manchester Arena Tonight.

Pleased That It Is A Good Show, We Were A Little Concerned That No Review Available Anywhere.

Went last nite NIA, all together a good nite Mary Wilson excellent, commodores good but went on to long for me. atmosphere excellent all paid tributes to MJ

i saw the show in wembley before jacko died so when mary sang i'am changing it was for florence ballard i thougth that the commodores where good but most of the people wanted the 60s stuff (the hits)which is a waste when there so many good stuff to hear (northern+early 70s)

Hope you enjoy it.

Forgot to say in my original post that as part of the MJ tribute Mary sang I am Changing from the Dreamgirls movie.

Just Returned From Manchester Arena, Really Enjoyed It,

Including Martha & The Vandellas She Was Better Than When She Was On At New Year, Just..

So All In All, A Good Night.

Hi Roger,

Glad you enjoyed it.

Just a good show celebrating the classic years.

Thanks to everyone who posted a review, much better from a soulie than the daily whotsit...a lot more reliable. Really looking forward to it now esp as it might be the last time a lot of these artists undertake a foreign tour (shame about Martha though). Again thanks.

Just back from the show at the MEN Arena.

Thought this might be the last chance to see some of the "legends" live, so made the trip down from north of the border.

Was bit disappointed when I noticed the running order on the wall of the ticket office, with the Commodores receiving

top billing!!!!!!!!

I have just read some reviews of the show in Nottingham, which were quite critical, but last night's was spot on, although

the Commodores hour would have been better halved and the whole cast giving us a half hour finale of Motown classics.

Best part for me personally was deciding to go and stretch the legs during the break and bumping into both Martha Reeves

and Mary Wilson. Awsome.

Hi all been very busy with Bridlington over the last few days but went up to see this show on the FIRST NIGHT at the Newcastle Metro Arena. The darling wife treated me to overnight stay in the Gateshead Hilton , where all the acts were staying. I am going to use Tabs review as a template and add in my comments to compare

Well as promised a quick review of the Legends tour at the NIA.

Sold out and the venue was rammed.

I'd say Newcastle was about two thirds full, around 4 to 5,000 in.

Running order was the Miracles, Martha, Mary then the Commodores.

"Junior Walkers all-stars" were the first act , did they appear anywhere else ?

More like a "Tribute band" with the exception of British Bass player Ernie Mcrone the rest were average.

Miracles were vocally excellent.

Spot on, we know them all personally and with the exception of Bobby Rodgers they were dancing like a bunch of teenagers ! Bobby has just had an operation on his foot and was in quite a bit of pain on Tuesday. Tee Turner is simply brilliant , new lead Mark sounds great as "Smokey" and Dave Finlay is just a total boundless ball of fun and energy-it's the Irish in him !

The crowd were up and dancing from the first note of Tears of a clown and they broke the ice. Simply fantastic !

Did the classics, inc. Tracks of my Tears, Tears of a clown and Going to a go go.

Slick and well choreographed.

Next up was Martha.

Well as we all know her voice is shot.

Also gave me the impression she couldn't't remember the words to her hits.

Lots of getting the audience involved singing along to Heatwave, Dancing etc.

Very poor imo.

Well Tuesday she was note perfect and remembered all the words, really top notch and the voice was in fine form, we did pour 6 pints of Guinness into her after the show, but both her and The Vandellas were fab !

Mary Wilson next who was the Star of the show for me.

Vocally superb doing all the classics as expected.

Not only that she looked like she was really enjoying herself..

Strutting her stuff and smiling all the way through.

She had people up on the stage dancing with her and just came across as a natural

Particularly enjoyed her rendition of You can't Hurry love.

Really up-tempo and bassy.

Totally agree here Tabs, first time I've seen her, God she looks about 35, with a huge personality, I liked the way she mixed the records, Nathan Jones, Reflections, the later stuff she sang on and her own things. A real Star performer and highly recommended

Next was the headline act The Commodores.

Did all there hits excluding The Zoo.

Really professional, vocally brilliant and well rehearsed.

Got the audience involved and there act even included pyrotechnics.

They set the stage monitors on fire at Newcastle "L O L

Far to clever for their own good, as the other said, not one of them was an "Original" member, Brick House was appalling as was the second number, with serious major feedback from the sound system, running all over the stage, swapping instruments around. Set of tossers with their heads up their own backsides!

Then came "Easy" now there is only one bloke who can sing that song and lionel Richie wasn't in the house. After 2 hours of the first set and 30 mins interval whilst the Commodores set up we'd had enough and "Walked" whilst the lead singer warbled his way through Easy.

As we exited the Arena there was a steady stream of people following us out-and that's at £37.50 a Ticket !

Needless to say there were the MJ tributes.

Martha just recounted the first time she saw the J5 at the Harlem Apollo.

Mary was along the lines of when you think about Michael just remember his musical talent and ability.

He hadn't croaked then

Most cringe worthy was the Commodores tribute.

They requested a 30 sec silence for a 'fallen colleague.'

Fallen colleague.

Not like he had been in a war, a media circus and publicity feeding frenzy yes but hardly any thing else.

Told you they were a set of Tossers, they wouldn't even have known him !

So overall I enjoyed it.

Yes Hit after hit once Junior tribute was out of the way,

Good value for money as the show was just under 4 hours long inc a 30 min intermission.

Highlights for me were Marry and sharing joint second the Commodores and Miracles.

Miracles, Mary Wilson, and Martha were all brilliant and very slick and professional

Such a shame about Martha.

As I say she was as good as when I first saw her in 1977 (?) at the Casino and she remembered that show doing the "Northern Soul " dance as well !

The other 4 occupants of my 'taxi' also enjoyed the event.

My daughter thought it was awesome and she has been to a fair few non soul concerts.

And for her to say that is a testament to a good show.

Hope that will help people who may be undecided about seeing this tour.

Best

Tabs

Overall a very enjoyable and slick show & logistically a nightmare If the Commodores are acting like Superstars why on earth don't they just tour on their own ! I'd have taken them out and added The Temptations and made the show shorter!

Rob Wigley

Some pictures from Newcastle Metro Arena

some more

There is " The Magic Of Motown : The 50th Anniversary Tour " scheduled for November at Magna in Rotherham : is this the same tour as " The Motown Legends " ?

Malc Burton

Hi Mate

this was a totally seperate show, Once in a lifetime-legends Live---no mention of the "Motown" Word !!!!!

A well thought out and proffesional tour-working the artists to the max. There are several "Tours" operating to cash in on the Motown 50th at the moment and in the future.

Its really the songs that carry this through.

Rob

Hi there Rob/Karen,

Don't know if this is the `Dancing in the streets' show that we went to in Nottingham a couple of years ago? If it is the same one then I can say that we enjoyed it although it was a bit "handbaggy" so don't expect too much. A liitle bit different from this weekend but enjoy all the same.

Best,

Ian K

Hi there Rob/Karen,

Don't know if this is the `Dancing in the streets' show that we went to in Nottingham a couple of years ago? If it is the same one then I can say that we enjoyed it although it was a bit "handbaggy" so don't expect too much. A liitle bit different from this weekend but enjoy all the same.

Best,

Ian K

No it is a whole different thing, the Dancing in the streets is about the records of Motown with the odd original act thrown in when available, Kim Weston was asked to join , but the show run is very hard, 6-7 shows a week for 3 months its a killer to anyone over 60.

Acts are jobbing backing singers from the UK/US must say most are spot on when singing the tunes. As yoou say good for handbaggers but not for us anorak types on here I suspect !!!

Rob

PS DID Jnr WALKER GET DROPPED FROM THE TOUR ?? did anyone else see him after Newcastle (I think I upset him after the show anyway !)

PS DID Jnr WALKER GET DROPPED FROM THE TOUR ?? did anyone else see him after Newcastle (I think I upset him after the show anyway !)

I doubt it, he's dead. In fact he's been dead since 23rd November 1995

Saw the show in Manchester and all went as expected until Brickhouse old and new versions got played.

Exit half the crowd........................ Not the motown sound they were hoping for.

Overall though as good as you could expect from who was there, with Mizz Reeves playing the crowd.

One thing that does p*** me off is when the 'tribute' bands put their own mark on a perfectly brilliant song. Why not just play it like it was??

Ed

jnr walker played the wembley show he played the opening set, want to know how you upset him dave ??

jnr walker played the wembley show he played the opening set, want to know how you upset him dave ??

He's been dead for years like Dave said.

Enjoyeds first half of the show [ nottingham ] ,music what was wanted ,thought commodors .were to loud and to funky 4 me ,sat there vibrating in me seat ,lasted half hour through there set ,half the crowd had left b 4 me ,

He's been dead for years like Dave said.

wondered if he had a medium thats why i asked! before any one adds it - no i take a ex large.