Let me start by saying I am a huge Motown fan. Who isn’t? But the Motown 50 show doing the round of Australia is just not quite right.
For starters, it is not the Four Tops, the Temptations, the Supremes and the Miracles. It is one Top, a Temptation, a Supreme and a Miracle, none of which were the lead singer on the original songs.Martha Reeves was good, she was very good, but she is also the only original lead singer in the show.
Martha deserves special mention. She was the most entertaining act of the evening, connecting with the audience and telling a few stories along the way. She reclaimed her biggest hit ‘Dancing In The Street’ telling everyone how Marvin Gaye wrote it for her but making mention of great versions over the years by acts like Jagger & Bowie and Van Halen.
Motown 50 came across as more Vegas than Detroit. It lacked soul. It was kind of sad that the two most soulful performances from the night came from the Aussies - Ian Moss and Jimmy Barnes. Barnes voice blew everyone away. He is singing good these days. Mossy, now that is a bluesman. You felt his version of ‘What Becomes of the Broken Heart’ and his guitar made it his own.
Australia’s Chong Lim was the bandleader. Stuart Fraser (Noiseworks/John Farnham) was on guitar. Mahalia Barnes and Lindsay Field (John Farnham) were on backing vocals. While behind John Farnham they are perfect, the truth is the Motown sound, as documented in ‘Standing In The Shadows of Motown’, came from the session musicians known as the Funk Brothers and this clearly was not the Funk Brothers.
Mahalia joined her dad Jimmy on ‘River Deep Mountain High’. It was a magnificent performance but why was it even in the setlist? It is not originally a Motown song. It was Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound.
Joan Osbourne was one of the best voices on the night but not being part of Motown history made her presence, while better than most of the Motown acts, kind of irrelevant.
The version of ‘I’ll Be There’ as a tribute to Michael Jackson was the show’s highlight and got the best audience response.
If you go along for the sing-a-long you won’t be disappointed but do not go along expecting a replication of the Motown Sound.
Setlist:
Mary Wilson
Reflections
Baby Love
Stop In The Name Of Love
You Can’t Hurry Love
You Keep Me Hanging On
The Miracles
You Really Got A Hold On Me
Shop Around
I Second That Emotion
Tracks Of My Tears
Joan Osbourne
My Guy
Don’t Leave Me This Way
Ian Moss
Uptight
John Osbourne, Jimmy Barnes and Ian Moss
What Becomes of the Broken Hearted
The Temptations
Get Ready
Just My Imagination
Ain’t To Proud To Beg
My Girl
The Way You Do The Things You Do
Intermission
Martha and the Vandellas
Heat Wave
Jimmy Mack
Nowhere To Run
Dancing In The Street
Joan Osbourne
Destination Anywhere
Midnight Train To Georgia
Jimmy Barnes
Money
I Was Made To Love Her
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Jimmy and Mahalia Barnes
River Deep Mountain High
Four Tops
Baby I Need Your Loving
Bernadette
It's the Same Old Song
Walk Away Renee
Reach Out I’ll Be There
I Can’t Help Myself
Encore with everyone
I’ll Be There
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
