Lionel Brockman Richie is an American singer and a song writer, a musician and a record producer. He has been a member of the musical group, the commandos. He released his first solo debut in 1982. Richie has been touring the world performing live to his audience around the world. This document includes notes taken from a DVD recorded in a recent concert on which he performed live in Hyde Park courtesy of BBC Radio. The three hours DVD covers most of his hit singles in his solo music career since 1982 including a soothing theme song ‘say you say me’ which featured in the production of the film “White Night”. Other songs included his ballad (1984) “hello”, a sentimental love song that showed the extent to which Lionel Richie had moved from his R&B roots, and his US number one song “truly” which launched his entire career as one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980 s. in the playlist also included some of his top ten singles like “You Are” and “my love”. Most of these songs hit top ten on the music chart and sold a million of copies. Introducing an equally talented artist Guy Sebastian in the stage created a good change of environment and acted as a bridge of the entire shows as he performed two of his popular songs including “amazing grace”. Also played in the final minutes of the DVD was a marathon mix of songs in Richie’s albums such as can’t slow down, back to front, “louder than words”,” Time”, and his recent album, the renaissance which have taken things back to his old style and have achieved a great success in Europe. The sound track that played in the list of appreciation is the 1984 charity single “we are the world” made the record one of the best recorded recitals I have watched in recent times. In the instrumentation, transposing instrumentation was achieved and well-coordinated. The whole band had a perfect coordination which matched the vocals in the background and also the baritone from the solo artist. They all seemed to have well practiced and everybody had agreed on what a C sounds like. A standard concert pitch was well achieved and most instruments were C instruments. The instruments were well read and played at concert pitch. The pianist, cellist, trombonist, flautist and the saxophonist had c well written and used, though they sounded like they were played at different octaves, they all played a note that the others could well and easily recognize as C. The Bb instruments effect was availed by a clarinet, and a tenor and soprano saxophone. The clarinet seemed to have been written one step higher than the concert pitch. The tenor and soprano saxophone were well utilized with tenor sax transposed up an octave plus an entire step in a major ninth. The alto and baritone saxophone played by the soloist matched excellently with his baritone vocals and was transposed up an octave plus a major sixth. Other instruments used included the guitar, the string bass and a hand chime. The musical characteristics were moderate tempo, not fast, not so slow, the rhythm was regular and very soothing, and the pitch was moderate, not low but relatively high. The melody was very clear, the harmony was constant, the timbre was bright sounding and the texture was unison any sample of forty to sixty seconds manifested a very classical style. All these musical characteristics were measured on the bases of five point scale (Teo). The audience seemed to be in a Perth evening with more than six thousand people in the audience. This seemed fantastic as it sounded. it really was a fantastic way to spend a whole evening in entertainment scene with no disappointment at all. The backstage looked great and well organized and the audience looked comfortable in the great seats of the venue, and in good mood. The erected big screens could give the audience a good view of the stage even when everyone was standing and dancing in excitement. Introduction of Guy Sebastian on the stage was wonderful and his great voice complimented it all, and although majority of the people in the audience mostly celebrated Lionel Richie, he did not disappoint them at all. At his age, he performed at his best in my opinion; he really showed his great voice, charming, witty and his great talent. I also liked the acclamation from the audience which showed his popularity and love for his music. The experience was well worth the time behind the screen watching this concert recorded live. Guy Sebastian came out to huge applause and acclamation and his few minutes in the stage left the audience sizzling and wanting more of his performance. His funky dancing style and moves were amazing. Performing amazing grace as a tribute to the earthquake, flood and other natural calamities victims changed the entire mood with tears running down the audience cheeks. This DVD is quite entertaining and moves time really faster that you hardly realize it’s a three hours long performance. I love Lionel polished and energetic concert performance Having two talented artists on the same stage is an awesome experience and all the members in attendance seemed to have great times. The last song all night long that show Guy back on stage made a beautiful performance and showing such great respect for young and emerging artists like Guy was quite commendable and it really captivated and motivated the audience. To sum it up, outdoor concert performance is quite exciting and entertaining.
