MUSIC REVIEW: Diana Ross, Summer Pops, Liverpool

Jul 14 2008 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post

Diana Ross, Summer Pops, Liverpool _320

SEEING Diana Ross grinning her mile-wide smile, luminous in a froth of tangerine tulle with the opening chords of Where Did Our Love Go thrumming away, was a spine-tingling moment.

It felt somehow historic – here was a platinum-plated Motown legend, singing one of her most celebrated hits at the Echo Arena.

And, from the second Miss Ross shimmied on stage, she had a grateful and dressed-up-to-the- nines crowd eating out of her tiny and perfectly manicured hand.

From the lively opener, I’m Coming Out, they were on their feet and responding to her every command. Where Did Our Love Go? segued seamlessly into a pitch- perfect Baby Love, then to Stop, Can’t Hurry Love, to Touch Me in the Morning and Love Hangover. The hits just kept on coming.

A quick change saw her re- emerge draped in a wide-sleeved gold, spangly robe for a flirtatious It’s My House and a clutch of current songs, including the unexpectedly haunting What About Love, which sat well with her back catalogue. A foray into the 70s brought the breathless Upside Down and sinuous Ease on Down the Road.

For the most part, she let the music and her outfits do the talking. Her next costume change was into an impossibly tight, off- the-shoulder black and nude number with a swathe of roses seemingly covering her modesty, and her age-defying figure and supreme confidence generated an admiring buzz of admiring chatter round the auditorium.

She blew gracious kisses at the crowd and occasionally just offered herself up, arms wide, for its adoration. At times she did seem a touch bemused by the Liverpool audience – doing a little impression of the pint in hand robotic dancing of members at the front ("I love it!") and accepting tributes including flowers and, bizarrely, a computer generated photo of her sister Rita in a plastic envelope, with a polite "ah and you know my family".

After a perfect rendition of Billie Holiday’s Don’t Explain, it was back to full-on diva, with a sparkly lemon yellow gown and voluminous tulle wrap. Why Do Fools (Fall in Love), the theme from Mahogany and Ain’t No Mountain High Enough had the crowd in raptures, ending appropriately enough with Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.

The crowd hooted and stamped for an encore, eagerly anticipating Chain Reaction, so far conspicuously missing from the set. Ross emerged in her final and most surprising costume change yet – a short black vest and spandex leggings.

After belting out a few more bars of I Will Survive, she quit the stage, leaving the crowd hovering uncertainly. Surely that couldn’t be it?

But it was and, like Ms Holliday, Ross didn’t offer an explanation. That’s divas for you.

emma.pinch@dailypost.co.uk