By Terry Sweeney
When Berry Gordy took out that famous 800 dollar loan to start Tamla Records in 1959 he couldn’t have dreamt that 60 odd years later the music he created would still be moving audiences all of the world, but here we were on a rain-swept Wednesday night in Liverpool listening to his greatest music and the Motown legacy carries on.
This year three of Motown’s all-time greats, Diana Ross, Lionel Ritchie and Stevie Wonder have been performing in the UK, and for those who couldn’t make it to watch one of their shows, The Magic of Motown covered music by all three, and more.
The show opened with the band playing the opening bars of Please Mr Postman by the Marvelettes. This was their debut single and the first Motown song to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles in 1961. The first of seemingly endless Motown number 1’s in the US, the UK and across the world, From the moment that the familiar lyrics ‘oh yes, wait a minute Mr Postman. Wait ,wait Mr. Postman’ rang out in the darkened auditorium the audience started partying. The Liverpool audience were up for a good time last night and the singers on stage, backed by an excellent band, didn’t disappoint
They roared through a cracking set list of songs from all of Motown’s heavy hitters; The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Isley Brothers, Smokie Robinson, Lionel Ritchie, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Marvelettes, Martha & the Vandellas and The Jackson 5.
The show contained fantastic lead and backing vocals, wonderful music, aided by multiple costume changes, mixed all girl and all boy sets, with the occasional duet or single piece. The singers were exceptional all night, with only the occasional over-emoting on the outro hitting a flat note with me.
Highlights of the show included:
- ‘Sugar Pie Honey Bunch’ and ‘Reach Out’ by the Four Tops
- ‘Just my Imagination’ and ‘My Girl’ by the Temptations
- Stevie Wonder’s ‘Sir Duke’ and ‘Superstition’
- Marvin Gaye, with and without Tammi Terrell on ‘You’re all I need to get by’ and ‘Heard it through the Grapevine’.
- Smokie Robinson and the Miracles with ‘Shop Around’, and ‘Tears of a Clown’.
- Diana Ross & the Supremes with ‘Baby Love’ and ‘Stop! In the name of love’.
- Lionel Ritchie’s ‘All Night Long’ and ‘Dancing on the Ceiling’.
- Jackson 5 with ‘Rockin’ Robin’ and ‘ABC’
- ‘Heatwave’ by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas.
- ‘Please Mr Postman’ by the Marvelettes.
At the interval the ‘Four Tops’ were mingling with the crowd in the bar during the interval drinks.
The second half of the show continued where the first half left off, with great music, call and response with the audience, and singing along to all the choruses. People were dancing in the seats and the aisles, if not the streets, and the girls from Queen Mary High School in front of us were on fine form singing and dancing along to Motown’s finest.
The singers were top-notch; no one would pretend that they measured up to Stevie, Marvin, Levi Stubbs, David Ruffin, Martha Reeves et al-but then who does?
At the end the singers asked if we’d like to have them back next year, and they got a resounding yes. The night finished with the cast of the show taking a selfie with the Empire audience in the background.
The Empire has already mailed to ask for feedback on the performance, so let’s hope they act on what we’ve fed back and book The Magic of Motown for 2026.
To find live music events happening in the Liverpool city region take a look at our What’s On Listings.