scoop-necked mini-dress – ending about six inches above her knees. The hem of the skirt was stiffly wired and black crinolines, which we’d catch an occasional glance of, pouffed it out a little like a ballet tutu but it showed off amazingly firm and well-shaped legs – a la Tina Turner. Six-inch sparkling stilettos, a size too large titillated her audience, which was comprised of drag queens, and gay men as usually dominate a diva’s concert. Before the night was over, she’d go through about five or six pairs of shoes, kicking them off across the stage when she could no longer tolerate the pain. This has become a Patti Labelle signature.She burst right into belting out ‘A New Attitude’ spanning octaves with ease making me fear for any delicate crystal in the vicinity as she hit those amazing high notes. I know my eardrums pulsated. Our seats, in the front row of the River Rock Theatre made us ‘up close and personal’ as Patti launched into a tale of her tribulations at the airport earlier that day. Not only did one of her suitcases get lost but tragically, the bag containing all of her stage makeup didn’t arrive.
”So, I told my girl to call up the black drag queens in Vancouver and get me some - - - and one of them came right over and left a whole case for me”. She primped as she talked and re-settled her kissy-curl wig.
“Is the drag queen in the audience?” she asked – and a large pleasant-faced broad-smiling black man jumped up almost directly behind us. He was not in drag but dressed conservatively in casual pants and a dark loose shirt. Patti thanked him profusely and asked his name.
“Willy - - Willy Taylor” he replied.
“….and what do you do in Vancouver?” she questioned further.
“I do you!” said Willy to the audience’s uproarious laughter.
“Are you a Patti Labelle impersonator?” she shrieked with delight - - and sure enough, he was. I overheard later from a large group of gay men that he does regular shows at the ‘Majestic’ in Vancouver. Now, I don’t have a clue where it is but I’d love to see Willy ‘do’ Patti.
“I’ll talk to you later” Patti said and broke back into song, covering her old standards and others but I felt as if she relied a bit too much on her backup, who were very talented but I wanted to hear her. I guess at 63, she needs some help.
She never left the stage. No costume changes but lots of dabbing at her ‘glowing’ face, checking makeup in a hand held mirror, re-alignment of her wig and of course the many shoe changes and even bare feet when she just couldn’t bear the pain. She lapped up the “I love you Patti’s” that revolved through the theatre and seemed to treasure the flowers, stuffed animal and even a book (in a Border’s Books plastic bag) that were presented to her, taking time to thank each donor. She was always willing to touch a hand when an avid fan approached the stage. Now that’s something I don’t understand – what is it that makes someone want to touch a star? I do remember when I was 15 my passionate desire to touch Elvis…….but for gawd’s sake, I was 15.
Lots of talk – folksy tales about her life. She spoke openly about her diabetes and about all the friends she’s lost to cancer and other diseases; tears rolled freely and she choked back sobs as she relayed the stories. And depression - hers….another subject shared. I don’t think she’ll ever be able to retire – she’s far too needy of her audience.
“I need four men” she announced, as the band struck up Lady Marmalade “four men who can sing and dance”. She pointed to Willy “You’re one” she said. She also gestured to a man two seats over from us. He was a huge guy – 350 lbs or more, I’d guess. “I like the way you look” she cajoled, as he fought his embarrassment. Luckily for him, a fourth guy bounded onto the stage. There was a flight attendant, a Patti impersonator, a businessman and one who didn’t do much at all. In turn they sang “Voulez vous coucher avec moi – ce soir?” right to Patti and danced on command. All were pretty good – some better at singing and some at dancing – all were gay.
As she left the stage for the final time, she lingered, her arms full of the flowers and gifts, her little finger trailing the plastic book bag and she stared at her audience with love as the thundering stamping and applause begged her for just one more. A poignant moment.
You might wonder what this has to do with our travels ------ well, I’ve wanted to see Patti Labelle live for many years and she’s never performed in Vancouver before nor in Las Vegas while we’ve visited which is on a fairly regular basis. She often appears in the Toronto area – the eastern venues are her favourite, I guess – and I figured that I’d have to time a future visit to Toronto with a Patti concert. But when suddenly I heard she was coming to town, we delayed our journey south by a couple of weeks. Strangely, this worked out well as we missed the blizzards in Southern Oregon and Northern California and squeezed through the mountain passes in a window of mild weather.
No comments:
Post a Comment