I was sitting on the couch, vaguely paying attention to the T.V. while scrolling entertainment news on my phone, when I came across tickets to see Diana Ross in concert. It was her 75th Birthday concert celebration. I had never seen her live before. My mom, being a huge fan, is the reason I purchased the tickets.
It was a Saturday, February 29, 2020 when she came to the Belk Theater in Charlotte. I love this theater for its size. I have a slight fear of heights which makes going to concerts and other events a little intimidating. But this place has, I believe four levels and seats over twenty-one hundred. I was on the third floor. Had I paid attention when selecting ticket seating, I would have picked better seats. One thing that pleased me was our seats being against the wall. I didn’t have to worry about interruptions from behind me.
It was a great crowd. My guess is because everyone was over thirty. Miss Ross had her daughter Rhonda Ross Kendrick, open for her. She too has an impressive voice. Her set was solid. She sung for maybe fifteen to twenty minutes. Rocking a black leather pant outfit with some black high heel boots. Her songs were inspired by Pop and RnB artists of today like Jill Scott and Adele. Her band, which she thanked at the end of her set, was pretty good as well.
Then Miss Ross made her entrance to a song I was expecting to be her grand finale. The horns for “I’m Coming Out” blasting as she sings with such radiance. Her big luscious hair hanging past her shoulders while she held up her blue bushy shawl over her. She was on from the start. No warm-up needed. A true diva.
She did not sing a lot from her RCA catalog. But once she got into the Motown era, it was palpable the crowd enjoyed it. She even sung some covers she remade that were hits for artists before her. Like, “I love you More Today Than Yesterday” and “I Will Survive”. Then she wrapped up the show with a song I can’t remember. As we were collecting our things to exit, she returned to the stage to give us a choice between two songs that would be her true last song of the night. One was “Endless Love” and I’m sorry but I can’t remember the other choice. Obviously, she wanted to sing this one anyway, and so she did. That’s when the concert ended for real.
I think what I enjoyed most about her concert, was her song selection and that it did not drag on. It started at 8:00 p.m. and ended around 9:30 p.m. She left you wanting more, not feeling like you had too much. She also didn’t do one of my pet peeves- asking the audience to sing along. She knew how to read her audience. She knew when we wanted to sing and let us. But she didn’t not sing because she was losing her voice. Her voice- by the way was- better than I expected. Again, I’ve never seen her live. My mom saw her at the infamous Central Park concert in the eighties, but I did not know much about Diana Ross. Of course I knew her songs. I just didn’t know who she was as a performer. Knowing the radio version and live version of a singer are two entirely different things. She sang every single song from start to finish without cutting a note short or hoping the audience would help her out. She sounded better than today’s pop artists who are half her age.
Had I known that would have been my last real concert for a while, I would have gotten tickets for the front row. With quarantine concerts becoming the norm, I truly cherish the memories from concerts of the past. And Miss Ross added some great ones to my collection.