Lionel Richie, Glasgow review: 'soul pop cabaret'

Let Lionel Richie start by saying I love you. There is arguably no swifter way to get a full house onside. Following a thunderous band overture of Hello, the veteran performer rose through a blanket of smoke, a clichéd showbiz entrance befitting the cheesiness of the song. And thus the soul pop cabaret of the Say Hello to the Hits tour commenced.

Richie mock-choked on his mention of his 50 years in music. He teased about the Scottish weather and joked about his ability to remember his words, then really did appear to stumble over the lyrics of Easy.

Often, his vocal sat low in the mix, even on mawkish ballads Penny Lover and Stuck On You. But these were his songs and he was going to own them with a bit of tag team coverage from his band, manifesting Running with the Night in its full Eighties pomp.

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There was no denying the diversity of the catalogue, touching on reggae, Latin, R&B and rock influences, with The Commodores’ smooth Sail On, sunshine optimism of You Are and sturdy funk of Brick House among the more satisfying renditions.

Three Times a Lady may be the monster hit but Truly is the best of his piano ballads, arriving with a touch of old school melodrama, even if Richie quailed to belt it out. At least he had the audience to deputise for Diana Ross on Endless Love, but there was no hiding place on a nicely delivered Still.

Say You, Say Me ushered in the “inspirational” portion of the set, with Richie setting aside the snark to deliver a simple but effective speech on tolerance and humanity before the lighter-waving blowout of We Are the World. Global strife sorted, there was just enough time to party into the night with the carnival encore of All Night Long.

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