"It's the show according to Patti LaBelle," the down-home Philadelphia soul legend told the huge crowd Saturday night at the African American Heritage Festival. If anybody in pop has earned the right to play the diva role, it's "Miss Patti," as she frequently called herself during the fun, hourlong set.
Over the course of her 45-year career, the two-time Grammy winner has never enjoyed the critical kudos or record sales of some of her peers, namely Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross. LaBelle is not as stylistically versatile as those legends. And the singer's wild, frenetic vocal approach has always been somewhat of an acquired taste. Still, LaBelle has maintained a long and storied career, giving her fans over-the-top drama that somehow feels genuine.
On Saturday night, LaBelle was almost half an hour late getting to the stage. She later explained that she was waiting on some "bling," or jewelry, to come, a last-minute item to complete the regal gold-and-burgundy cape and matching mini dress she wore. Given that it was more than 90 degrees, the cape was quickly and dramatically tossed off when LaBelle made her entrance. Barely halfway into the set, she ordered stagehands to turn on the fans placed near her mike stand.
The show featured LaBelle's usual schtick: She went on about her hot flashes (the 63-year-old artist has been vocal about her menopause for about a decade now); she kicked off her pumps and changed them (three pairs of high-heels were placed atop the piano on stage); and she hit plenty of volcanic high notes (LaBelle boasts one of the highest belting ranges in pop).
She somehow managed to make the outdoor concert feel as if it were in her living room. During the middle of her set, the singer brought eight enthusiastic male fans on stage to sing and dance with her. One introduced himself as the father of Ray Lewis, the Baltimore Ravens linebacker. The segment was comical but didn't halt the flow of the show.
Although LaBelle's latest effort is a gospel album, The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle, the singer stuck to her secular greatest hits: "Feels Like Another One," her hip-hopped 1991 single; "If Only You Knew," a sultry ballad (and arguably her finest recorded effort) from 1984; and "On My Own," a 1986 smash duet with Michael McDonald (LaBelle was accompanied Sunday by a male backup singer, whose vocals were almost as over-the-top as hers).
She performed mostly truncated versions of her classics, breezing through the first verse before packing each tune with intergalactic notes, backed by muscular and decidedly funky accompaniment from her nine-piece band. Anything LaBelle belts out is drenched in black gospel nuances - plenty of whoops and Holy Ghost fervor.
She brought it all home toward the end of the set, performing a spirited version of the gospel classic "Walk Around Heaven." Even an unlikely segue to "Lady Marmalade," her 1975 No. 1 pop smash about a New Orleans prostitute, still felt like a gospel revival - according to Miss Patti, of course.
rashod.ollison@baltsun.com
