Gladys Knight was fantastic. Seriously. It was well worth coming out to LI a couple days early just to catch the tour, which is playing Nashville on August 7 - a night I have a little bit of a conflict.
She's well into her 60s but has obviously been performing consistently for decades, as her voice is still incredibly powerful and seemingly with its full range. She played a couple of Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald songs, as well as rousing renditions of both "Best of a Bad Situation" and "Neither One of Us". I left a little early to beat the traffic out of the lot, so I don't know what the encore was...may Google a little later.
WOW. I'm still a little shocked at how good she was. Reminded me of Tina Turner a little.
The venue itself - Capital 1 Theater in Westbury - had great acoustics and was way cool, featuring a rotating stage in the round. The crowd was really diverse, age and ethnicity wise. I had a great time talking to a woman from Trinidad and her friend.
Loved it. The real surprise, though, was show opener Peabo Bryson - who's been famous for a cavalcade of 70s hits on the radio for years now. Also a really wonderful performer. Helped that his third song was a cover of "Set Them Free." He later did a version of Sade's "King of Sorrow" that brought down the house, as well as a few of his own songs.
If you're a soul fan, check this one out. Nothing like seeing vocalists who've been performing for decades and can demonstrate how it ought to be done.