Miss Diana Ross

Diana Ross
Fox Theater
St. Louis, MO
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Section Balcony 03, Row A, Seat 125
$67.50

A lot of the music that I love comes from the time period before I was born or when I was too young to appreciate it. I learned a lot from listening to classic rock radio or delving into albums and CDs, reading books about the era, or listening to older fans. I wasn't exposed to Motown this way. I never went out of my way to listen to these recordings, but I know a lot of Supremes songs, just by picking them up through popular culture.

When a St. Louis show was announced for Diana Ross' retrospective tour, I was curious. She is legendary, and this would be a good opportunity to see her. I actually do have one of her albums. One of the nice things about being known as a record collector is the donations...people give me records they no longer have use for. One coworker gave An Evening With Diana Ross on LP a few years ago. Roy and I listened to it before the tickets went on sale to see if we really wanted to go. Plus, the show was at the Fox Theater, which is always nice.

We got tickets in the pre-sale, front row of the lower balcony, center section. These were great seats. We had a full view of the stage, mostly full view of the large screen behind it, and also a good view of the fans sitting in the orchestra pit. We brought binoculars too. I normally find them distracting during concerts; I'd rather be bopping around to the music than sitting still to look through them. I thought this show would be more about observing the performance than really getting into the music, and there would be a lot to see. We had fun watching the crowd too - this was a dress-up occasion for a lot of people there.

The show was scheduled to start at 7:30pm, but it really started another fifteen minutes after that. No opening act. The band took the stage and started playing an instrumental. I counted - it was an 18 piece backing band: 4 piece horn section, 5 piece string section, guitar, bass, drums, percussion, keyboard, piano, and three backup singers. The stage was set up in different tiers, so we could see them all clearly. Diana Ross appeared via a lift on the back of the stage and then walked down some steps to the front.

It was a dramatic entrance. She wore a sparkly dress with a big chartreuse wrap. I only mention her clothing because it was a big part of the show. Diana Ross changed into 4 other sparkly dresses in different colors throughout the concert. For all the concerts I've been to over the years, I've never gone to a big pop show with costume changes. It certainly gave us something to look at throughout the show. I used the binoculars the most when she made her entrances. Every time I looked at the legend close-up, she was smiling as she was singing.

The first couple songs didn't do much for me. I didn't think the sound was very good. Diana Ross' vocals were buried in the mix. I hoped the whole show wouldn't be like this. The third song Reflections was the first to really pull me in to the music. I wasn't familiar with it before the show, but it had that snappy Motown beat and harmonies that I expected from a show like this. The first portion of the show also contained songs You Can't Hurry Love, Stop in the Name of Love, and Love Child. It really was cool to watch live such an iconic moment of Diana Ross holding up her hand for "Stop" like the Supremes used to do. That is real musical history there.

Ross left the stage during Love Child to change her gown. The band kept playing and went into a cuban-sounding jam. I liked that quite a bit.

The next portion of the show featured more disco-sounding songs. I had heard I'm Coming Out and My House before, but they're not really in my musical world. Thankfully, during these songs, there was more visually going on. The screen showed pictures of the Supremes and other scenes from Ross' past. She invited a couple fans up to dance with her. One little girl was smiling so big, I didn't need the binoculars to see it. She also played Ease on Down the Road, which I remember from watching The Wiz on TV when I was little.

My favorite part of the show was the next part. Diana Ross sang a few jazzier songs. The backing vocalists weren't used and only some of the band members stayed on stage, so it was a less full mix. I think these songs highlighted her voice the best. There wasn't so much aural competition.

There were other songs later on that I knew like the theme from the movie Mahogany, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, Endless Love. There were a few that I knew but didn't associate with Diana Ross: Why Do Fools Fall in Love and (ugh) I Will Survive. I turned to Roy during that one and said "Disco still sucks". Roy pointed out that at least it was being playing with real instruments.

Diana Ross refered to this herself. She didn't say much during the show and didn't do much to introduce her songs. But before the encore, she mentioned that this was "real music" and introduced her entire backing band. I wonder how it is for a pop singer who has been active so long. She's probably gone from being backed by an orchestra, to rock band instrumentation, to synthesizers and computers, and now back to live musicians. I don't know if she plays any music herself or always got to choose who was playing with her, but hopefully, she can tour with the sound she wants now at this point in her career.

(I do have to admit, I once saw Brian Wilson on his SMiLE tour play with a similar sized backing band. It remains the best sound I've ever heard at a concert. Every instrument could be heard distinctly, but blended together well. The sound here wasn't nearly that good. After the first couple songs, I didn't feel like I was lost in the mix at least.)

I didn't know the songs from the encore. Diana Ross came out in my favorite of her costumes, sweatpants, a zipped up sweatshirt, and sneakers. She told us she was leaving when this song was over, and she was dressed for it. There were a few songs I would have liked to hear that she didn't play: I Hear a Symphony, Baby Love, You Keep Me Hanging On. The show had a great presentation, great production values, and it was a lot of fun. Plus, it ran for just over an hour and a half. It was over around 9:20pm, and we got home well before 10pm on a Sunday night. It is so nice going to a concert and not having to recover from a late night.