Prince of slow smooch
The Age
Thursday March 31, 2011
LIONEL RICHIE Rating: 3/5 Rod Laver Arena, March 29 LIONEL Richie knows how to storm a stage. A frantic house mash-up of Hello and a mini-Vegas of videotaped mirror balls and flashing lights had Melbourne at fever pitch before he air-punched the first note of party-starter All Around the World.Unfortunately, disco madness is not the black prince of romance's long suit. Energy flagged as soon as he took to the grand piano and his small cabaret band sent the first slow smoochers Penny Lover, Easy, Ballerina Girl sighing through the wind chimes of our minds.Richie understands fans' mixed appetites for languid lovers' tunes and '70s Motown sparkle. But the compromise, illustrated by a video best described as a Hallmark screensaver, reminded us that even his Commodores days were more lip gloss than shoe leather.The satisfying crunch of Brick House and the mid-tempo groove of Dancing on the Ceiling were far outweighed by the synth-and-sax treacle of Stuck on You, Three Times a Lady, Say You Say Me (say what?) and Endless Love.So spare was his store of up-tempo relief that he teased out the promise of All Night Long all night long. It finally appeared after the inevitable foreplay of Hello with Guy Sebastian upping palpitations. For their spent and emotional fans, it was close enough to climax.
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