Lionel Ritchie: At the Top of His Game (Photos)

Lionel Richie has been performing on stage since 1968, and is currently a judge on American Idol. The man knows what he is doing, and he does it well. He was all dressed in black, wearing an orange silk (or satin) sports style jacket bedazzled all about with sparkles, and “hello!” across the back since this is his “hello!” tour.

His show came to the Harvey’s Outdoor Arena at Stateline Saturday night, August 17, 2019. Lionel appeared on the darkened stage through a thick cloud of smoke and flashing lights.

He played a seventeen song set of his hits both from his days with The Commodores and his solo career. He entertained the crowd with stories and jokes between songs, and even mugged with the band and crowd frequently – usually in faux distain for something going on. With a huge video screen and multiple cameras at hand there were plenty of shots of audience members to be had. It was kind of like a kiss cam at sports events, but more of a dance cam in this case.

The crowd was mostly female (go figure), and he had them in the palm of his hands. There was a lot of squealing going on and I’m pretty sure it was because of the music. He had a very good and very young band with him that did justice to his songs.

“Hey, guys. I’m just warming them up. Now you need to take them home!”

At one point he said he could see plenty of men looking at their women going crazy over the show, and then they would look up at him with a little anger in their eyes.

Then he says, “Hey, guys. I’m just warming them up. Now you need to take them home!”

He was funny.

Lionel Richie is a very talented artist. He has earned and deserves all his success. Truth be told, I’ve never been a fan of his music. It’s not my ‘cup-of-tea,’ and I didn’t really enjoy it that much live, but the crowd loved him, and that’s what it’s all about. He did his job, and he did it well.