April 26, 1975 review: LaBelle at Kleinhans Music Hall

 


Another entry on my list of greatest concerts of the 1970s: 

April 26, 1975 

A Glittering LaBelle Group

Shines in Silvery Setting 

          Two questions are floating through Kleinhans Music Hall Friday night. One is: “Where’s the party?” The other one is: “Where’s your silver?”

          For some folks, you don’t have to ask the second question. You don’t ask the two girls sprouting tinfoil tiaras. Nor the guy who’s painted up like he’s the head for some new coin at the mint.

          As for the first question, that’s taken care of by the group LaBelle, who are the ones who said wear something silver in the first place.

          Their opening set, in fact, is titled “Prelude in Silver,” and the three of them glide out like space goddesses a few minutes later than 8:30 p.m. sharp, a concession to the late arrivals in the less-than-capacity crowd.

* * *

BUT IF THIS is fantasy, it’s fantasy with a vengeance. LaBelle sticks Truth in your face with all its existential pointedness and dares you to flinch.

          “The revolution” – Patti LaBelle curls her voice around the word in Gil Scott-Heron’s doomsday song – “the rev-vo-lution will NOT be televised.”

          Their personalities unfold as they act out their numbers. Songwriter Nona Hendryx, the icy intellectual priestess, melts under scorn in “Sister, Don’t You Bother Me.” Tropical Sarah Dash turns a stylish cold shoulder in “Can I Speak to You Before You Go to Hollywood?”

* * *

BUT IT’S Patti LaBelle who’s queen of this universe – bold, bawdy, bounding across the stage, bigger than any part in any song after working 14 years for her first Number One hit.

          In feathers for the second set, called “Nightbirds,” she tears the place up with “Lady Marmalade,” confounding the ushers by summoning half the males in the hall down to her feet.

          The encore, “What Can I Do For You,” is an absolute blow-out – the singers leading their five-man band through the aisles in  a chanting, rhythmic snake dance. After LaBelle, every other party in town is going to have to settle for second-best.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: LaBelle in space-age diva mode – from left, Nona Hendryx, Sarah Dash and Patti LaBelle.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: The “Wear Something Silver” invitation originally was issued in October 1974, when LaBelle became the first rock group to play the Metropolitan Opera House in Manhattan. Like many other factors in the group’s rise to stardom, it was the brainchild of their manager, English-born songwriter and producer Vicky Wickham, who has continued on as Nona Hendryx’s partner and manager.

* * * * *

FURTHER NOTE: All of these transcripts of old reviews and feature articles about the Buffalo music scene can be found in a somewhat more legible and searchable form on my Blogspot site: https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/4731437129543258237.

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