The Divas of Motown at Hammersmith Apollo

The week of shows at the Jazz Cafe by the Ladies of Motown culminated on the big stage of the Hammersmith Apollo on Friday night with the Divas of Motown show. We paid extra for the VIP seats in the front row, including immediate access to the hall and a private room with free drinks and a free small poster (um, yes indeed, folks). The main thing was, of course, that there'd be a meet and greet with the stars after the show and that's what made it worthwhile.

We were escorted down to the hall and seated before the band walked on stage, fronted by Jack Ashford (in a red sparkly jacket this time) and his singers opened the show. And then the first star of the evening appeared, Mable John, in a sparkling lacy frock rather than her admiral's uniform from the Jazz Cafe. Once she was on stage she controlled it, walking slowly back and forth across the stage, talking to us, singing with her still powerful voice, joking, teasing the 'pretty guitar player' and reminiscing with Jack. She sang the same songs as at the Jazz Cafe, including 'My Name Is Mable' and 'Who Wouldn't Love A Man Like That' (only one version this time). And then she was gone, relishing the standing ovation, I hope.

Next up was the marvellous Brenda Holloway looking fine with her hair up and party frock tight in all the right places, and she was welcomed with a great wave of applause and love and quite a few shouts of 'Brenda!'. She opened with a song I didn't recognise, prowling and strutting across the stage, singing to us with a big smile on her face the whole time. And then she moved on to her big songs with her wonderfully rich voice, 'Operator', 'Every Little Bit Hurts' and 'When I'm Gone'. At one point someone shouted out for 'Land of A Thousand Boys' and Brenda joked that she'd sing it if she could remember it. In-between songs Brenda shared tales of Motown and her life - who'd ever believe that she has 17 grandchildren? She (really) looks more like she's in her 40s rather than 60. Her final song in a too-short set opened with her story about losing her boyfriend at the time that led to her writing 'You've Made Me So Very Happy' with Patrice. And then with kisses to the audience, touching a few hands and a big curtsy, she vanished from the stage to another standing ovation.

And then it was time for Chris Clark. By now we were all in the right mood and she was greeted with an ovation as she shyly came on stage, dressed all in black just as she was all in white at the Jazz Cafe. Chris stayed back in the mid-stage area near Jack and band, commenting at one point that it was a big stage, but, as soon as she opened her mouth for that first note the crowd were hers. She sang 'Love's Gone Bad', 'Do Right, Baby, Do Right', 'I Want To Go Back There Again' (commenting that this summed up her feelings for her Motown days) and the marvellously happy 'Do I Love you (Indeed I Do)' with her mighty gospel choir ending. And then she was gone! She left the stage while the backing singers were still giving it some heavy gospel singing but the audience stood up anyway to give her her just desserts of a standing ovation and she came back out onto the stage aways, looking a bit shy and flustered but she'd earned it.

We were then treated to a couple of songs from the band before half-time and back to the VIP room for more drinks and everyone very 'up' from the first few performances of the evening. On the way back we called in at the merch stand but there wasn't much for sale really, which was a missed opportunity. And back into the hall.

The second half was, again, opened by a song from the band and the excellent singers, and then on swanned the former ladies of The Supremes, resplendent in sparkly dark blue outfits, Scherrie Payne and Lynda Laurence (with a third lady whose name I can't remember who used to be in Dawn). Much as it was fun to see them up there doing their well-practiced routines and swapping lead vocals between them, it was also a little bit odd that most of the songs they sung were from the '60s but they were Supremes in the '70s yet they only sang 'Stoned Love' from the '70s. That made them feel a bit like a tribute act rather than the real thing. They put on a great show, though, with the best reaction to 'You Can't Hurry Love' and 'Stoned Love' as well as to an extended medley of Supremes hits. And then off they swept, a mass of sparkling outfits and big hair leaving stage-left.

Next up was Thelma Houston, all in sparkly black and hair in an interesting dread 'do', powerhousing across the stage and whipping up the audience even more. I don't really know much of Thelma's back catalogue but plenty in the audience did and gave her her just reward. The lady never stopped pacing across the stage and pulling dramatic shapes she got the audience to our collective feet with a great medley of '60s Motown hits before launching into her signature song, the discotastic 'Don't Leave Me this Way' and that's when I got excited - that was a real Disco star up there a few feet away from me! And what a show she puts on, pulling us to our feet by sheer force of personality and her great voice. She said that 'Don't Leave Me' was being re-released again in a new version so I'll watch out for that. And then she was off with her own standing ovation.

Jack told us that the ladies would give us an encore without us having to demand one and on they came, one by one, in performance order, with Mable first, then Brenda, Chris, Scherrie and the Supremes and then Thelma leading them in a collective version of 'Dancing In The Streets'. As they came on we could see Brenda holding Chris's hand and showing her some dance steps, which was a lovely sight, my two favourites together having a bit of fun. A collective standing ovation later they were all gone amid wide smiles and much waving and the show was over, leaving us all with happy memories of some of the real stars of Motown. They might not have been that big back in the day but, as Brenda mentioned, they were brought back and kept alive through the Northern Soul scene, great songs and great performances from some great ladies who still have the voices and personalities to keep existing fans happy while gathering new fans all the time.

Of course, it wasn't over for me and Chris, since we were due to meet the ladies after the show. Back to the VIP room to wait, wandering round the upstairs bar that was sealed off for the private meet and greet and the bar was already quite crowded with various liggers and hangers on. And then the ladies appeared, instantly surrounded by fans and liggers, all wanting something signed, a photograph and a short word with the stars. It must've been a bit bewildering for them but they were courteous and free with smiles, autographs and happy to be photographed.

Chris Clark had the biggest crowd around her at the top of the stairs (I worried about her standing there) so I thought I wouldn't add to it and headed for Brenda, and, when it was my turn, congratulated her on a great show, got a CD signed and my photos taken with her (I've had my arm around Brenda Holloway - yay!). Then Chris Clark, and she signed the photo of herself and Chris I took the other day, chatting away to Chris. And then Jack and Mable and Thelma, just a brief word of thanks for the show. I missed the Supremes because they seemed to be having fun chatting to themselves and a coterie of fans around them. It was interesting listening to snatches of conversation from other people as they talked to the stars, such as the bloke saying a new 'Cellarful Of Motown' compliation will be released next year with two new Brenda songs from the '60s (that Brenda was surprised at!) and Ian Levine (as he made sure people knew) trying to monopolise the stars for what seemed like business chats (that's what phones are for, Ian, not fan do's). And then back to Chris to have my photo taken with her and say 'thank you' again and then out into the midnight rain and a taxi home, with some great memories stored away and some photographs of the big night...