Review: Virtually everything Diana Ross sang, said or did made Charlotte fans go wild
.JPG "Diana Ross — shown performing at the Grammy Awards in February 2019 in Los Angeles — was in Charlotte on Saturday night as part of her “Diamond Diana: 75th Birthday Tour.”")
At one point during a mid-show rendition of her tail-end-of-the-disco-era dance hit “Upside Down,” Diana Ross shimmied sexily to the beat as she smiled, kissed two fingers on her left hand and touched them to her backside.
At another point during the same song, she beamed, clenched her fists and swung her arms from side to side in a dance move that didn’t quite qualify as flossing, but at the same time looked a whole lot like flossing.
Point being: If you walked into Belk Theater on Saturday night hoping that the world-renowned diva was going to act her age on stage, this definitely wasn’t the show for you.
However, if you walked in hoping to be transported back to your youth? If you arrived yearning for an exhilarating and electrifying dose of nostalgia from Ross — who was in town as she heads into the homestretch of the tour she’s titled the “Diamond Diana 75th Birthday Celebration” — ?
Then her 18-song, 73-minute set gave you exactly what you came for.
Now, Belk Theater generally exudes a modicum of formality, and by nature the air can make anyone who rises to their feet before the curtain call feel a little awkward. But this was not an occasion for which fans were going to hold back.
From the moment Ross first appeared onstage — wearing a shimmery emerald-green dress wrapped in billowy tulle that strongly resembled Charlotte Hornets teal — whistles and whoops and vigorous applause spread like wildfire around the sold-out 1,800-seat auditorium.
And it took just one word — “I’m!” — for the noise to become deafening. In fact, the “Comin’!” and the “Out!” were impossible to hear.
Throughout that party-starting anthem (the go-to opening salvo at virtually every one of her shows), her cover of Sprial Starecase’s “More Today Than Yesterday,” and Supremes chart-toppers “Stop! In the Name of Love” (from 1965) and “You Can’t Hurry Love” (1966), fans stayed on their feet.
They didn’t sit till she hit the beginning of solo Motown hit “Touch Me in the Morning” 10 minutes into the show ... and they popped right back up two songs later, after she changed into a dress so glittery it looked like it was on fire and launched into her bouncy “The Boss,” another end-of-the-disco-era hit.
Though her voice sounded strong — and she very clearly was singing live, just in case you were wondering — there were times when her tight band of six excellent musicians drowned out her vocals, most noticeably on “You Can’t Hurry Love.” (Ironically, the band members also drowned out their own moments in the sun, playing too loudly during Ross’ intros of them for me to clearly make out their names.)
I also felt like she rushed through both her first and her final songs. “I’m Coming Out,” originally recorded in 1979 as a four-minute song, was over and done with in 77 seconds; and after building suspense about what she’d perform last, Ross basically just did a verse and a chorus of her beautiful 1981 duet with Lionel Richie, “Endless Love,” before moving to wrap things up.
Still, the little issues didn’t get in the way of the big picture, and in the grand scheme of things, it was hard to wipe a smile off of your face on Saturday night because she wouldn’t stop smiling. And she wouldn’t stop moving.
Ross tango-ed in place, salsa-ed in place, disco-danced in place; she twirled to show off a dress after a costume change, not once but twice; she used her hands in all the ways you’d expect during “Stop! In the Name of Love”; she outstretched her arms and shook her chest with a straight face as she channeled the leader of The Supremes, then pitched forward as she let out peals of laughter.
And during a break in a jubilant performance of “Upside Down,” Ross paused and had the house lights turned up so she could start a dance party with the crowd.
“Alright, now you guys have to move out there! If I can move and I’m 47 —” she said, and if she followed that up with “so can you” I couldn’t tell, because her fans erupted into a cacophony of hoots and hollers. Then in a matter of seconds, she de-aged herself another couple years: “I’ve got another birthday this year — I’m 45!” she joked.
Or at least I think that’s what she said. Again, it was honestly rather difficult to hear what she was saying over the all the cheering.
From Row O in the orchestra, I couldn’t make out a single wrinkle on her face (and my eyesight is pretty solid). And by her own admission, she’s in even better shape than when she came to Charlotte in February 2016 as part of her “In the Name of Love” tour.
“Honestly, you know, I don’t know if you guys know this: Since I was here last time, I’ve lost about 20 pounds,” a lithe-looking Ross told the crowd, which responded with a large helping of applause. “And I never went on a diet either. I’ve been drinking lots of water! It’s healing. You gotta drink lots of water. I’m not kidding! Gets rid of” — and here, she paused to smile and pat her tummy — “all that.”
Though Ross wore the same broad smile all night, she changed outfits several times — from that green one to that red one, then into a platinum number that simulated the sparkle of (appropriately) diamonds, before finishing in an extravagant royal blue gown.
She picked the blue dress for an encore built around a cover of Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” during which she gave each of her four backup vocalists a chance to shine and which doubled as an encore for her daughter Rhonda Ross, the night’s warm-up act. As it ended, she collected a large arrangement of bright-pink flowers from someone in the front row and waved and blew kisses as her daughter escorted her off stage.
The crowd begged for more, and she obliged — but not before a quick tease.
“That last song, that’s the end of the show,” and for a single awkward moment, I think some fans believed her.
“I’m kidding!” she said, grinning. “... I don’t know what else that we might have that would be nice to do. ‘Reach Out and Touch’? Or ‘Endless Love’?” “Reach Out and Touch” got a louder response, but she went with “Endless Love.” (Maybe her ears were ringing, too.)
After doing just the one verse and the one chorus, she pulled a folded-up piece of paper out of her dress and closed the night with words she hoped would resonate.
“I’ve been thinking a lot,” Ross said. “I want to tell you:” — and what came next was out of left field enough that it elicited a few chuckles — “Stop watching television.”
She kept smiling, though, so we did, too. “I know you gotta check in on television; you got to. But try not to watch it all the time, because it just feeds into a lot of fears.”
I’m pretty sure that was an ad-lib, because then she unfolded the note, looked at it and led a prayer-like recitation that had nothing directly to do with abstaining from TV.
“So what I would like you to do is for you to say this mantra with me,” Ross said. “ Everybody you can say it out loud or to yourself, it’s alright. I am grateful.”
I am grateful.
“For all the blessings in my life.”
For all the blessings in my life.
“For there are many.”
For there are many.
“All is well.”
All is well.
“All is well.”
All is well.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
“I love you all so very much,” Ross said before leaving the stage one final time, even while the crowd screamed for another encore that would never come.
But as loud as it got there at the end, the most thunderous reaction of the night had come earlier, in the middle of that rousing dance party/pep talk during “Upside Down,” when she announced that she’s now almost 76 years old then almost immediately corrected herself, with a wink. “I meant to say ‘young.’ 76 years young.”
She wriggled her hips, flashed yet another wide smile, and added: “You have to keep your body moving.”
And she’s certainly going to be following her own advice in the coming months.
On March 26, she’ll celebrate that next birthday, shortly after closing out the “Diamond Diana” tour in Orlando. Just shy of two weeks after that, she’ll start a run of six dates at Wynn Las Vegas’ Encore Theater, followed by three shows on back-to-back nights in Hawaii. Then it’s off to Europe for a month.
With luck, she’ll eventually bring her hits, her smile, her folded-up notes, and her youthful spirit back to Charlotte again before too long.
Diana Ross’ setlist
1. “I’m Coming Out”
2. “More Today Than Yesterday” (Spiral Starecase cover)
3. “Stop! In the Name of Love” (The Supremes song)
4. “You Can’t Hurry Love” (The Supremes song)
5. “Touch Me in the Morning”
6. “Love Child” (Diana Ross & The Supremes cover)
7. “The Boss”
8. “Upside Down”
9. “Love Hangover”
10. “Take Me Higher”
11. “Ease on Down the Road” (Diana Ross and Michael Jackson cover)
12. “The Look of Love” (Burt Bacharach cover)
13. “Don’t Explain” (Billie Holiday cover)
14. “Why Do Fools Fall in Love” (Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers cover)
15. “Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)“
16. “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” (Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell cover)
Encore:
17. “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor cover)
18. “Endless Love”
Théoden Janes: 704-358-5897, @theodenjanes
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 12:10 PM.
