On Thursday night the Royal Concert Hall came alive with Motown’s Greatest Hits – How Sweet it is featuring the incredible Formations. As the audience took to their seats Motown was already playing and the atmosphere was already buzzing; with most people drinking (and probably breaking their dry January attempts for the first time) they were already dancing in their seats, you can’t help but love a bit of chair dancing.
From the outset it was clear that the production was going to be top drawer, the smoke was already being pumped out and highlighted by multi coloured spotlights over the audience, filling the hall with that classic Motown feel. Then the lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as the band joined the stage, four brass, a drummer, two electric guitarists and a keyboardist. Then the five suited singers smoothly slid their way on and dove straight in to Papa is a Rolling Stone instantly impressing the audience with an enticingly beautiful a cappella start that just showed that we were in for a good night.
They followed this with Cloud Nine and Standing in the Shadows of Love which got the whole crowd clapping, the power of the Formation that took the lead on this song was incredible, he completely filled the acoustics of the hall. They each took turns in taking the lead for each song, they each had different styles and were all talented, but the dude that sang Shadows of Love was unbelievable. All of The Formations were ridiculously cool and sexy, they were performing these dance routines that could’ve been cheesy but they just weren’t, they made them suave in a way that not many people could pull off, not only could they all dance but they all had equally talented voices.
I Can’t Help Myself was up next sang by a bit of a flirt who got people out of their seats and dancing in the stalls and up on the balcony. He built a great rapport with the audience, the interaction was lots of fun, and he got everyone to shout out “The Formations”.
They moved onto Smokey’s classic The Tears of Clown and then into a sing along rendition of Easy Like Sunday Morning, followed by a version of What Becomes of the Broken Hearted that put Robson and Jerome to shame. After the calm came the party with All Night Long that got virtually everyone up dancing in the stalls, balconies and spilling out on to the side aisles, it continued with Grapevine, Tracks of my Tears, Sir Duke, Very Superstitious, Signed Sealed Delivered and Everything is Alright before breaking for a well-deserved interval. The energy of the guys was very impressive; they seemed to have endless stamina, dancing continuously whilst singing effortlessly. It was lovely to see the people of Nottingham genuinely loving, appreciating and losing themselves in the show.
After the interval and a change of suits the audience got straight back into it as the Formations performed Loco in Acapulco, Rhythm of the Night, Love Machine, Thousand Kisses, My Imagination, Twist Again, I love you Yes I do and then into a medley of Motown hits before a breathtaking version of My Girl. By this point chairs were just obstacles for the crowd that were all up on their feet and spreading out. Before leaving the stage they performed a Jackson 5 medley and the slightly less Motown but equally classic Dancing on the Ceiling.
The predictable encore ensued with How Sweet it is, Love Train and ending with them just showing off their versatility by performing End of the Road originally by Boyz II Men. Which was the only negative about the night, for a motown show to end on a non traditional number, having said that it was still amazing and the most fun I’ve ever had at the Theatre.
They attracted a good mix of ages; it was easy to spot what looked like three generations of families and I dare anyone to claim that they didn’t leave the Theatre smiling. For more shows check out www.trch.co.uk and for more information on The Formations visit https://www.facebook.com/howsweet.co.uk?fref=ts
Review by Josie Opal
