Diverse R&B Divas Bring Hits and More To DC Area
Natalie Cole Brings a Touch of "Espanol"
to The Strathmore
Cole, who's suffered health issues over the past few years, was in fine form as she took center stage in a shimmering white gown surrounded by a full band to take on an assortment of tunes.
Despite touring to promote "En Espanol", only three songs from the album were highlighted throughout the evening. The night started off quietly and low key with "Stardust" which then led into a fun "Summer Sun". Two songs off of 2002's "Ask a Woman Who Knows" were showcased as well "Somewhere In The Hills," a number that Natalie had recently covered with Sergio Mendes.
"Quizas, Quizas, Quizas" from the current album led into a few songs that her dad had added his signature style to during his career including the now timeless "Unforgettable," in which a video of Nat King Cole played while Natalie performed the duet with him. Natalie kept the duets going by performing "Acercate Mas," a song that her father had recorded on one of his Spanish albums. She performed it she performed as a duet with his voice filling the music hall via a recorded track.
While "Unforgettable" was a monster classic in 1991, making Cole a household name, she had an incredibly successful R&B career in the 70's continuing into the 80's that she doesn't always seem to focus on during her concerts. When the opening to her '89 Top Ten hit "Miss You Like Crazy" started, everyone recognized it instantly and Cole let loose on the ballad and glimpses of old school Natalie Cole started to show through.Grabbing a stool and sitting down, Cole said to the audience before starting "Inseparable","I wonder how many of you remember this one from even further back? You can probably sing it better than I can," and with the flourish of the opening chords Cole performed a soulful version of one of her biggest R&B hits.
Before bringing the evening to a close, Natalie talked about losing some incredible artists over the past few years and that she wanted to pay tribute to a few that had past recently by doing a medley of their hits which included Luther Vandross' "A House Is Not a Home", Donna Summer's "She Works Hard For The Money", Etta James' "At Last", Michael Jackson's "Human Nature" and Whitney Houston's "I Have Nothing". Following the medley, Cole launched into a powerful, rousing version of "I'm Every Woman" a hit for Houston and the still very much alive Ms. Chaka Khan before going into her one of her most recognizable hits, "This Will Be (An Everlasting Love)".
For her encore, she came out on stage alone and performed "Amapola" from her new album with an instrumental backing track before bringing the band back to jam on "Our Love," complete with all out, get down gospel vocal gymnastics as the song grew bringing everyone up for a standing ovation to end the evening.
SET LIST:
-------
Stardust
Summer Sun
Better Than Anything
Tell Me All About It
Somewhere In The Hills
Quizas, Quizas, Quizas
The Very Thought of You
Smile
Unforgettable (with Nat King Cole)
Acercate Mas (witih Nat King Cole)
Miss You Like Crazy
Inseperable
Tribute Medley:
A House Is Not a Home (Luther Vandross)
She Works Hard For The Money (Donna Summer)
At Last (Etta James)
Human Nature (Michael Jackson)
I Have Nothing (Whitney Houston)
I'm Every Woman
This Will Be
---Encore--- Amapola
Our Love
Natalie Cole performing July 2013 in Warsaw, Poland
Photo by photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk
(Other photos are promotional photos used to promote "En Espanol")
Diana Ross Reigns Supreme at Wolf Trap
Motown diva Diana Ross brought her greatest hits tour to a packed Wolf Trap crowd at the Filene Center August 14 for her first DC area concert since 2010.
While the show was similar to her last stop in the area, Ross seemed in better voice, relaxed and seemed to just be enjoying herself more overall. There was no grand staging except for a few half moon shapes on each side of the stage, no video screens-just the diva, her hits and quite a few of her trademark costume changes.
Shortly after 8pm after a short intro by her band, the one and only Diana Ross emerged on stage to "I'm Coming Out," bringing the sold out crowd to it's feet. Ross, dressed in a shining red gown complete with red cape, worked the stage, greeting the cheering audience before taking them on a journey down memory lane.A cover of "More Today Than Yesterday" by the Spiral Staircase from her last album, "I Love You," had the crowd singing along before launching into a few of her Supremes classics in their full glory. After close to 30 years of doing a rushed medley of hits from her Supremes days, it's been a welcome change of pace the last 14 years to hear Diana taking her time and performing a handful of her early hits in their entirety instead of giving them just a quick nod.
"My World Is Empty Without You", "Baby Love", Stop! In The Name of Love", "You Can't Hurry Love" came in quick succession. "Are you too young to remember this one?" Ross said as "Stop!" started with audience yelling back in unison "No!" and joined in singing. The Motown diva was all smiles as she worked the stage before slowing down for her solo hit, "Touch Me In The Morning".
Ross picked up the pace again with her 11th Supremes number one, "Love Child", before making a costume change and hitting the stage in a sparkly blue number to "The Boss". While Ross left some of the high notes to her background vocalists, she didn't miss a beat and had the audience up on their feet and encouraged chair dancing during her early 80's hit "Upside Down". 
"Love Hangover" led into her overlooked 90's gem, "Take Me Higher" which was followed by "Ease on Down the Road" from her film, "The Wiz". After starting the song, she left the stage for a costume change as her background singers kept the audience up and singing before a sax solo led into a sultry "The Look of Love" with Ross emerging in a stunning black dress with long green coat. 
"Don't Explain" from her Oscar nominated film, "Lady Sings The Blues", was done beautifully, letting Diana's jazz side shine. To end the segment, Ross performed her version of the Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers tune, "Why Do Fools Fall In Love", which was a hit for her when she switched from Motown to RCA. 
While changing into her 4th outfit of the evening, Ross' background singers performed a cover of Kirk Franklin's "I Smile" with the diva entering wearing a long orange gown complete with matching cape. Leaving the house lights up and taking a few moments out to chat with the crowd, Ross beaming said "I see nothing but smiles out there! I love it as I look around when the lights are like this, I get to see your faces, you make me so happy!" she gushed before performing "Do You Know Where You're Going To" leading into her signature, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".
Over the past 20 years or so, Diana has used Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" as her closing song and for this night it was no different. While she recorded a version of the song for her "Take Me Higher" album, it wasn't necessarily a huge hit for her in the States, but it does what a closing song should do-get the audience up dancing, singing along and feeling good.
The house lights came up and while a few had left, the majority stayed and kept applauding, cheering til Ms. Ross took the stage again wearing loose black pants, an over-sized black shirt and Uggs and performed her first solo hit, "Reach Out & Touch (Somebody's Hand)" followed by a reprise of "I Will Survive" to round out the night.SET LIST
---------
Intro
I’m Coming Out
More Today Than YesterdayMy World is Empty Without You
Baby Love
Stop! in the Name of Love
You Can’t Hurry Love
Touch Me in the Morning
Love Child
The Boss
Upside Down
Love Hangover/Take Me Higher
Ease on Down the Road
The Look of Love
Don’t Explain
Why Do Fools Fall in Love
I Smile
Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
I Will Survive
---Encore---
Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)
I Will Survive (reprise)
Toni Braxton Comes Home To Baltimore
It's hard to imagine that it's been 20 years since the 45 year old Braxton first launched onto the musical landscape with her self titled album which spawned such hits as "Another Sad Love Song," "Breathe Again" and "Love Should've Brought You Home." At her first show in the area since 2006, the Baltimore native Braxton had the audience singing along and literally singing with her during the interactive hour and a half set at Pier Six Pavilion.
As the lights dimmed and the band took the stage, Ms. Braxton made her entrance center stage at the top of a small staircase in a flowing pink gown to a standing ovation, "I love you Baltimore! I'm back home ya'll!" she yelled enthusiastically launching into a brief version of "How Many Ways" before making her first costume change of the evening. The next few songs that followed all came from her debut album which is celebrating it's 20th anniversary this year.
Braxton returned to the stage-backed with sisters Trina and Towanda-in a sexy black gown and performed a sultry version of "Seven Whole Days" before going into "You Mean The World To Me" and "Another Sad Love Song" in which she called up two excited fans on stage to sing and trade lines with her, the first of many audience interactions throughout the night.
Taking a brief break, Braxton chatted with the crowd and talked about her new single, "Hurt You" featuring Babyface, which is already a hit on Billboard's R&B Chart. She talked about her Lupus diagnosis and how doctors had told her she wouldn't be able to sing and perform again, but she wanted to prove them wrong and was hitting the road.
Braxton got back into the show performing her first hit, "Love Should've Brought You Home" which was followed with "How Could An Angel Break My Heart" which was met with thunderous applause. "Yesterday" represented the underrated 2010 album, "Pulse" and afterward Toni, Trina and Towanda took a seat on the stairs and performed a brief medley of "Just Be a Man About It" from "The Heat" and "I Love Me Some Him" from her mega-successful "Secrets".
It was during this Braxton asked fans to shout out requests and she happily tried to perform whatever was thrown her way. She didn't remember much of "Come On Over Here", but did a verse and chorus of "Spanish Guitar". After a few lines of "There's No Mean Without You" she did a bit of fan favorite, "Stupid" from "Libra" along with "Trippin" and ended the request portion of the show with Whitney Houston's favorite, "Let It Flow." She gave shout outs to a few people celebrating wedding anniversaries in the audience, as well as a couple who had recently gotten engaged, and called the 3 couples up to dance while she serenaded them with "Breathe Again".
After a video interlude showcasing highlights of "Braxton Family Values," Trina Braxton stepped out into the spotlight and performed her single, "Party or Go Home" with Towanda and fellow sister Traci who made a special appearance.
Toni returned to the stage in a short sparkling blue dress which was involved in a wardrobe malfunction in Jersey the week before when the back half came undone-luckily Braxton was wearing a flesh covered body suit under it. Performing a medley of songs from "Libra" and "More Than a Woman", she had the audience up with "He Wasn't Man Enough For Me" and called guys up on stage for "You're Makin' Me High" including her dad.
Bringing the show to an end, she did a bit of "Between The Sheets" and Notorious BIG's "Big Poppa" rap before going out into the audience singing a bit of her hit single from last year, "I Heart You". She made the comment she can't believe she wanted to retire earlier this year from music and that she was happy she changed her mind.
To close out the evening, Braxton appeared wearing a white gown inside a lighted frame for her trademark song, "Un-Break My Heart". A few lines in, the audience joined in and by the chorus they had hijacked the song which had Braxton giggling at times, smiling, holding out the mic and joining in when she could. You could tell she was just loving all the love from her hometown crowd and was happy to be back in the spotlight where she belongs.
I Heart You (Intro)
How Many Ways
Seven Whole Days
You Mean The World To Me
Another Sad Love Song
Love Should of Brought You Home
How Could An Angel Break My Heart
Yesterday
Just Be a Man About It
I Love Me Some Him
Audience Request Medley:
*Come On Over Here
*Spanish Guitar
*There's No Mean Without You
*Stupid
*Trippin'
*Let It Flow
Breathe Again
Braxton Family Values (Video)
Party or Go Home (Trina Braxton w/Towanda & Traci)
Medley:
Please
Take This Ring
Hit The Freeway
He Wasn't Man Enough
You're Makin' Me High
Medley: Between The Sheets/Big Poppa
I Heart You (Reprise)
--ENCORE--
Un-Break My Heart
SIDE NOTE: ALL PHOTOS BY BRIAN WALMER EXCEPT THE ONES USED FOR THE NATALIE COLE ARTICLE
Natalie Cole in Warsaw: photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk
Natalie Cole in Warsaw: photo - PAP/Jacek Turczyk
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