Well this was a strange one. Diana Ross is, of course, an icon, a diva and someone I have never been lucky enough to see in the past. So I was greatly looking forward to seeing her perform at Durham County Cricket club ground which is a few miles away from my home, at Chester-le-Street. So a group of us: me, carer Elaine, Jan and Elaine’s daughter Sophie went along to experience Ms Ross. It had been raining during the day but by the time we arrived it was warm and dry, although the plastic seats were soaking wet!
When I say was a strange concert, it was not what most people expected. Diana came onstage just before 9 PM and announced that she was going to perform the show in her “Uggs” (a reference to her Ugg boots, I guess). She was wearing a tartan lumberjack coat; none of the usual diva glitzy costumes. She opened the set with “Chain Reaction” and then launched straight into a collection of 1960s Supremes classics: “Baby Love”; “Stop! In the Name of Love” (everyone holding their hand up in a Stop position; you know what I mean); “You Can’t Hurry Love” and (my particular favourite) “Love Child”. 
All sung perfectly; Diana’s voice was really strong and she was clearly enjoying herself. For some reason she had decided to miss out all the glitz, strip back the show to its basics and deliver what, for me, was the authentic Diana: just as I remembered her on Top of the Pops when I was a kid. Wonderful! These are treasured “melt down” moments.
It took me back 50 years to when I saw David Bowie on the Ziggy Stardust tour at Sunderland Top Rank. For some unexplained reason he decided not to wear Ziggy make up or gear, came onstage in a pair of Levi’s, T-shirt and leather jacket and belted out a collection of his own songs, Velvet Underground tunes and other classics from the 1960s. Many people went home disappointed that night; I knew I had seen something special and treasure that performance to this day. This was the same: a special evening with an international star, 78 years old, looking and sounding great.
Diana continued with “Theme from Mahogany”, a great cover of “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” and “Ease on down the Road”. Then a couple of songs from her new album 
Thank You and closing song (of course) “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. Then she waved to the crowd, walked off stage leaving her excellent band and vocalists to close the show. She was onstage for just over an hour. No encore (which is apparently usually “I Will Survive”), just some great music on a nice evening with everyone singing along.
Now a lot of people were apparently disappointed, and I understand why. However for me I felt privileged to witness a concert by a true star, just having fun and singing a few songs for us. The stars from the 1960s seem to go on forever; more power to their elbow. I think we may never see their like again. Thank you Ms Ross for a great show.
Archive for the ‘Diana Ross’ Category
3 Jul
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