|
|
Post by Tempzfanat14 on Mar 5, 2004 15:38:39 GMT -5
Tomorrow at the Paramount Theatre The Temptations & Four Tops will be performing and i finally get to go  i'll take pics for you guys and post them when i get back |
|
|
|
Post by MikeNYC on Mar 5, 2004 15:44:39 GMT -5
Tomorrow at the Paramount Theatre The Temptations & Four Tops will be performing and i finally get to go i'll take pics for you guys and post them when i get back Let us know about GC. |
|
|
|
Post by kalisa2 on Mar 5, 2004 15:55:38 GMT -5
Tomorrow at the Paramount Theatre The Temptations & Four Tops will be performing and i finally get to go i'll take pics for you guys and post them when i get back I'm seeing them tonite in Cupertino, TF  . We'll compare notes! |
|
|
|
Post by Ivory Fair on Mar 5, 2004 23:38:45 GMT -5
Ok, hurry back K .............. I'm ready ................ I don't care it if is only 3pm or whatever where you are .......... I can't wait any longer ................  |
|
|
|
Post by Ivory Fair on Mar 6, 2004 1:58:34 GMT -5
sigh ........... still waiting .............. I guess I could call you, but that would be too simple ...........
|
|
|
|
Post by kalisa2 on Mar 6, 2004 3:44:28 GMT -5
Sorry to keep you waiting Ivory...the show didn't end til almost 11 p.m. Pacific time, and it was over an hour away. So I'm here as quick as I could be. I was surprised that the Tempts opened the show (last time I saw them the Tops opened, so that's what I was expecting). They were wearing their piano key outfits. What's left to say, after all the reviews we've seen? GC was awesome, even better than the last time I saw him (which was good too!). Joe is somethin' else, the man can MOVE like a cat, and has a bottom (vocally  ) that won't quit. I really enjoyed watching him alot! For some reason I was surprised to see, at least from my vantage point, that he looks to be as tall if not taller than Otis. Ron was still pretty much sidelined from his knee surgery but was walking around and did a few little steps here and there. Another surprise to me was how much Otis took over the microphone, talking. The other shows I've seen he let Ron do it ALL (except for plugging his book), but he was front and center a lot tonite. I don't remember what all he said, but he talked alot , I remember that cuz I was talking to a friend just today about how little he usually talks, and then WHAM...he's got the chatties  . The songs I hadn't heard them do at shows before were...well, "The Girls Alright with Me" is one I remember... and I'm not sure if they did "Beauty is only skin deep" the last time, but that was there tonite. Otherwise, pretty much similar repertoire to what I've seen before and read in other reviews, with Terry only singing lead on "Since I lost My Baby" plus the shared lead songs. They closed with "Losing You" and had everyone on their feet dancing! I guess they've removed the "My Girl" singing civilians, or at least for the shorter shows they do when they're with the Tops...it wasn't there tonite. I DID notice during dancing parts of the show that Otis kept glancing over at Joe with a watchful eye. He always seemed to smile at what he saw...as well he should have!! Joe did great, with grace and enthusiasm.  The Tops. Well, after the rousing "Losing You" finale by the Tempts and a half-hour intermission...they opened with Theo alone onstage (which is quite all right with ME ) singing "McArthur Park" (NOT all right). Not the short version, the extended double-sided LP version. Maybe its just me...but much as I love looking at Theo, this almost put me to sleep. They had a hard time pulling up the momentum after that, but finally managed to generate some excitement by the end. I think it was Jane who said she's seen/read that the music is too loud. Absolutely correct. We could barely hear the singing except during parts when the band quit playing. That's too bad. This is the first time I've seen/(heard?) Ronnie McNeir do a lead, and it was very difficult to hear a word he sang on "Just Ask The Lonely". It was even evident when they were talking and joking around and the band was playing in the background. I couldn't tell you a word they said. On quite a few of the songs, I could only tell what it was by what the band was playing since it was hard to hear any lyrics. (as a sad side-note...quite a few of the audience left right in the middle of their show  ) I can't wait to see what TF has to say, since he hasn't seen them before. |
|
|
|
Post by Ivory Fair on Mar 6, 2004 7:50:59 GMT -5
Yeah, they do a lot of swapping back and forth. Even though for a bit there the Tempts were always going on first. Yes, would you PLEASE explain to Hype that the man can sing (despite the lack of twisties in his head.) While not having seen him in person, he's got the approval of my best Tempts' buddies and that's good enough for me. Yeah, that seems to be a hold over from when Levi was there. I'm not sure if it should have been held over, only the fact that Theo doing ANYTHING is ok by me, but I can see your point. Which is why the Tempts need to come on last. I mean, they have fewer non-original members, but at least they've had more practice at it. .......... oh well, apparently the audience was half-filled with people incapable of appreciating "fineness." |
|
|
|
Post by kalisa2 on Mar 6, 2004 10:03:49 GMT -5
Well I wouldn't go so far as to say anything close to "half" left, if that's what you mean. Since we were down close to the front, I really didn't have a view behind me or up on the balcony level to judge numbers. But there were people leaving, is all I'm saying. Now, if you meant approx. half the audience was male and therefore incapable of appreciating masculine "fineness"...LOL, yep you're right. But they weren't leaving because of it. And Theo WAS looking exceptionally FINE! NOW, a peeve: I saw on Ebay tickets going for $230 a pair for "front row center", and listed as "A" row. Fine so far, A was the front row of regular seats. BUT...this venue had an orchestra pit in front of the stage, where all kind of people (I'm presuming city or college big-wigs, they all seemed to know each other) were seated. I would have been HIGHLY ticked off if I'd bought those "front row center" seats and found myself not very close to the stage and with other folks seated closer and security guards preventing my access to that area (as there were). Yes, the Tempts really did need to come on last. I had that sinking feeling when I saw them open, because I remember from the last show that the Tempts were much more engaging and exciting a show, overall. Now, if Tops had opened their portion with a real attention-getter, a better-known hit for them or something, it wouldn't have been quite so bad...but this was a  . (esp. to me ) And I have to say, what we could hear of Theo was wonderful. He wasn't trying to be Levi, he was Theo and he does a great job of it . Why would Hype listen to me? He needs to see for himself. *I* think GC is a great singer (and MrK2 agrees ... he likened him to Ali), and he's adorable with those dimples that he uses so well . His hair is...ummm...unfortunate but has nothing to do with his singing or performing talent. He was also great in the backup, doing some high parts higher than I've heard Ron go. OH, and I think this is the first time I've seen Ron onstage singing in his natural tenor. I forget what it was, but he sang a verse of some song in that range (sorry, I wasn't writing stuff down...but it was a song I wasn't familiar with in the Tempts repertoire). I really like his natural voice better than his falsetto. |
|
GD
Tempt Fanatic
Posts: 43
|
Post by GD on Mar 6, 2004 12:51:15 GMT -5
((Kalisa)) Nice review. Thanks! Does Otis or Theo say anything on stage about Theo's time with the Tempts? No chance they sang anything together (Night and Day?), I'm sure you'd have told us about that.
|
|
|
|
Post by kalisa2 on Mar 6, 2004 13:05:16 GMT -5
((Kalisa)) Nice review. Thanks! Does Otis or Theo say anything on stage about Theo's time with the Tempts? No chance they sang anything together (Night and Day?), I'm sure you'd have told us about that. (((GD)))...<<<sigh>>> now wouldn't that have been great ? ! ! But no...at no time did they share the stage nor was any mention made by either group of Theo's history with the Tempts. No "battle of the bands" either...as I said, there was a half-hour (approx.) intermission between their show segments. The Tempts did not do "Some Enchanted Evening" last nite...Now I could envision them doing that, with Theo walking onstage and doing his part up against GC and 'pushing' each other...THAT would have about done me in!! . |
|
|
|
Post by MikeNYC on Mar 6, 2004 21:39:58 GMT -5
Which is why the Tempts need to come on last. Funny, the Four Tops had the same problem following the Review when the two groups performed in Brooklyn two years ago! After the Review...half the people left.Levi would have kept the people in their seats. |
|
|
|
Post by Tempzfanat14 on Mar 7, 2004 3:04:31 GMT -5
woooo im back right now, it's 11:57PM. let me say that was one good show... except on our show the tops came on first and the tempts second, Ron did alot of the talking today with otis saying something now and then... it was a pretty funny show too.. i took pics i just have to upload them somewhere.. i'll edit this post in a couple minutes
|
|
|
|
Post by Ivory Fair on Mar 7, 2004 8:53:54 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by janebse on Mar 7, 2004 19:52:27 GMT -5
The problem with the sound being so loud that you cannot hear the singing must be something the TOPS want. There is no way they could not be aware that audiences find it difficult to hear their singing. I first observed it in an October 2002 concert with the Temptations. I thought it was something with the sound system. Almost everyone in the audience commented on it. The TOPS came on first that night, but when the TEMPTS came on with Al and the band, there was no problem with the band being too loud. So I then concluded it was a TOPS problem. The problem continued at other TEMPTS/TOPS concerts. Other people both at the U.S. and the U.K. concerts in 2003 mentioned it. Even in their hallowed home ground of Detroit it was a problem.
The TEMPTS and TOPS, long time friends, always alternate who goes first and who goes last. They have been doing these duo concerts since 1983. So Theo has had the experience of doing a duo concert both as a Tempt and as a Top. They do not discuss each other during their concerts. (Actually I feel it would be beneath either one's class to do so. That is not the time or place for such comments. They are not doing a comedy routine or a high school/college "battle of the bands" type of show. They are top-ranked professionals simply doing what they do best.)
And throughout 2003, whenever the Tops went last, there was the same problem of people leaving at some of the concerts.
Now at the Wayne Brady TV show this past week when the Four Tops appeared, the band did not play too loud. IMO the network engineers made sure it did not happen. I just assumed the network engineers made sure the sound level for the band was correct. And I also assumed the network sound engineers were in control of the sound that went out over the network.
|
|
|
|
Post by janebse on Mar 7, 2004 20:05:56 GMT -5
People who went to both of the Tempts/Tops Shows on Friday and Saturday nights reported the same thing. The Tops band was too loud, and sometimes the TOps could not be heard over the band.
Whether the Tempts came first or last, they really impressed the audience. "Like a whirlwind" was one report of how the Tempts took over the stage.
|
|
. We'll compare notes!
