I really hate to make negative comments, so I'll start with some positives: there was a nice video at the start of the show that featured Barry Gordy talking about the Motown era; the costumes were great; the venue was good (but VERY cold); it was exciting to sing along with the crowd to R-E-S-P-E-C-T, My Girl, & some other favorites.
I've been to over 200 concerts (most of them original artists & some cover groups) so I do have a lot to compare this one too. Overall, the one word that describes this experience is: disappointing. Motown is one of my favorite genres/eras of music so I was very excited about this concert. Of course, I knew that the original artists wouldn't be there, but I was expecting really good covers of the originals. That didn't happen.
The man who covered Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, & was part of the Temptations & Four Tops ensembles was not good. In fact, it was painful to listen/watch him at times. I felt sorry for him. Some people in the audience even laughed at him. He had some good notes & phrasing sprinkled in from time to time, but overall, NOT GOOD. He was a good actor - playing the part of the singers when he spoke to the crowd, but he was not a good singer himself. The man who covered Smokey Robinson (& Temps/Tops) also had some good notes (& good dance moves) sprinkled here & there, but again, NOT GOOD. The women in the ensembles & the one who sang Aretha were pretty good - not great, but that's okay. For cover artists, I at least wanted "good."The Jackson 5 (one was sick, so it was only 4 of them) included a woman as Michael, & she was very good - great singer, good dance moves. The woman who sang Gladys Knight was not very good. The women who sand Tammy Tyrell & Diana Ross were good. Again, not great, but good enough for cover artists. In addition to the disappointing singing, the band, while good at playing the music while the singers sang, was not good when they were playing without singers. They seemed to take Motown songs & give them a 70's psychedelic sound. Disappointing. The woman who emceed the event & also sang, was okay but not great. As emcee she wasn't polished & her presentation just wasn't smooth. As a singer, she was just okay, not even good. I don't know if they travel with their own lighting people (I assume they do), but there was one time when someone was doing a solo & the lights were down & there was no spotlight. There was one young man in the Temp/Top/Jackson ensembles who seemed to be a good singer but didn't have any solos. When he did sing one line on his own about 4 times, he sounded good but it was difficult to hear him. His mic was not up enough or his voice was too weak to belt out the lyrics. The entire show just seemed unpolished & very amateur. Mediocrity seemed to be the bar. Again, I didn't expect the amazing levels of the original artists, but I did expect to have an enjoyable evening & get my money's worth for the ticket. That did not happen.
If you're wondering if you should buy a ticket for the Magic of Motown, save your money & listen to your records/CDs/satellite/etc. or watch videos on youtube or something! Sadly, it was not worth the admission price.
