My Review of Martha and the Spinners Show Forthcoming

[daviddesper]

Back home now...it was about a 120 mile trip to get to the show....and I have another family obligation today..........but before the day ends I will type my review of last night's show featuring Martha Reeves and the Vandellas and the Spinners in Charles Town, West Virginia.

I will at least take the time now to whet your appetite and tell you that I did get to meet and chat with Martha at some length and found her to be every bit the gracious lady I expected her to be. More details later........

[luke]

Looking forward to it!

[daviddesper]

Great venue, great seats, great sound system, nearly a full house of very enthusiastic fans. It was my first trip ever there and I guess I went to the show expecting to thoroughly enjoy Martha's part of the evening and then just have to "sit through" the Spinners until it was time to hopefully go out and meet Martha. Well that is not exactly the way it went down...

The show started about 15 minutes late but then a guy that I would later talk to with Martha came out and introduced them. He mentioned all the Motown acts that started with M and said that Martha was pretty much the only one left. She and the girls came out dressed in glittering black outfits......Martha's was floor-length and others cocktail length.

They immediately went into "I'm Ready For Love." Martha spoke briefly between songs and entertained the crowd with some interesting stories. Second song was "Come and Get These Memories," followed by "Nowhere to Run," "A Love Like Yours," and "Jimmy Mack," although I can't be sure they were in that order.

After those five songs, it was obvious that we would still hear "Heat Wave" and "Dancing in the Street," but believe it or not, those were the ONLY two songs left in their set. That is right folks, their part of the show consisted of only seven songs and lasted around 35 minutes.

After Heat Wave, Martha looked off to the side of the stage and said to someone "I'm not ready to go yet...it takes me longer than half an hour," or something to that effect. But no, they only did Dancing as their finale and they were gone with no hint of an encore.

The crowd didn't show any obvious signs of disappointment about such a short set, but I sure was. As for the quality of it, yes her voice is not the same as we loved back in the 60s, but she still entertained and utilized her high register to accentuate the ending of pretty much every tune.

If I would have had a criticism, it would be about lack of movement on stage. All three of them pretty much stayed in one spot, although there was plenty of room to move about the stage. But that did not bother me especially and after all, she did tell us that she was about to turn 77 years old.

After their set, there was about a 20 minute gap with the curtain closed as they switched from her back-up band, which was excellent by the way, to the four-man band that would back up the Spinners.

Since you guys mainly want to hear about Martha, I will not dwell on the Spinners' part of the show, other than to say that it was sooooooooooo much better than I had expected and sadly, it was easy to see why the producers of this particular show considered them to be the "main event."

Of course, let's keep in mind that they have only one original member, Henry, and that the others are quite a bit younger. Anyway, they performed for about an hour and 10 minutes I would say, and if they missed one of their hits, I don't know what it was. Incredible energy and I enjoyed it sooooooo much more than I expected to. The crowd REALLY got into them and there was a TON more dancing in the aisles than Martha generated.

But none of that mattered to me because my goal of the evening was to meet Martha! I easily found her and the girls at a merchandise table and there were maybe only 10 people in front of me in the line. I had on a Motown Museum t-shirt and the same guy that had introduced them commented on it and that served as our ice-breaker.

Martha too commented on it and proceeded to tell me the story of how she landed the gig as secretary that led to her start with Motown. She said it was all because she was "supposed" to call for an appointment, but instead just went down there and they put her to work right away, and the rest is history.

I had brought along the CD insert for the original version of the Home to You CD and she seemed genuinely touched that I had that as opposed to a more generic album of theirs. We talked about her parents, who are shown in the insert, and she told me a story about the suit her father was wearing in the picture and how she had woven that into the story she had told tonight during Jimmy Mack.

I then told her that I had always loved the song "Tell Me I'll Never Be Alone" and she immediately burst into a few bars of it. As she was signing the CD insert, my friend who had come along asked if he could take a picture of her signing it.

We may have misunderstood her, or perhaps she misunderstood him, but she said something that indicated they were selling pictures, which was obvious. So we did not push the issue or ask again so I did leave without a photo of her. I therefore did not get an autographed photo, but all three ladies signed the CD insert, since Lois and Delphine are featured in it as well, which is why I had chosen it.

I only spoke to the Vandellas briefly and asked Lois a question about Shoe Leather Expressway, but I am not sure she understood me, so I chalked it up to the lateness of the evening, the noise of the casino, and the fact that I did not want to monopolize their time. So we left at that point.

But I could not resist circling back maybe 20 minutes later [[this is a HUMONGOUS casino by the way) and they were still there, but the crowd had dissipated and it looked like they were packing up to leave. So I definitely did not want to keep them at that point, but just approached briefly one more time and told her that I thought it was criminal that "Bless You" was not a huge hit. She rewarded me by singing a few bars of that. I got the impression that she really enjoyed talking to someone who really KNEW her music and her story as opposed to the type that probably only goes through the line to say hello as a courtesy and does not know what to ask the artist.

So to summarize.......most definitely a thrill to meet her and I am glad I went. But yet it was SUCH a disappointment to see their part of the show minimized so obviously in relation to the Spinners part of it. I guess I am spoiled by what concerts used to be like........the headliner would do maybe an hour, take a break, and then maybe come back for another hour. So I felt a little shortchanged in that department. I expected the parts to be equal with both possibly participating in a finale but it did not happen that way.

[luke]

Sounds inappropriate to me. They started 15 mins late and had a 20 minutes gap before the Soinners. Vandellas certainly could have entertained in that time. Glad you enjoyed. This was in West Vigiria?

[reese]

Sorry to hear that you weren't totally pleased with Martha. Maybe the shorter running time affected her performance. I've seen her in person many times and have never left disappointed.

And I find it very touching that she stays behind afterwards to chat with the fans. When I saw her earlier this year, I can witness as to how well she related to the fans. I was there to the very end and both she and Mary Wilson were a pleasure to talk to. I also find that Martha really comes out with the stories if you have some vinyl as opposed to cd.

In any event, it is always a pleasure. I was a bit confused by the photo circumstance you mentioned as I've never had any problems having my photo taken with Martha after a show. In fact, this last time, in addition to taking a photo with me, she also gave me a photo of she and her sisters for free.

Re the Spinners, I was a bit skeptical the first time I saw this grouping, with no Phillippe, Bobby, or John. But they won me over fast and each time I've seen them since, they've been great.

[daviddesper]

Yes it was in Charles Town, West Virginia. Not to be confused with the capital city of Charleston, which is in a totally different part of the state. This town is wedged into a panhandle between Virginia and Maryland and is also not more than a couple of hours from Washington, DC. Small town but they draw some big name entertainers because it is one of the largest casinos in the east. Some of the ones in Vegas are not as large as this one.

The photo thing puzzled me too, because both my friend and I took it to mean that she was trying to subtly say "If you buy a photo, certainly I will autograph it for you." But of course that was not what I wanted. I wanted, as most fans do, a picture of myself with her. I would have even shared it with you guys so you could see how dashing and handsome I am!!!

Anyway, I did not push it because I was certainly not going to say or do anything to offend her, after having waited all these years for the chance to meet her. So maybe there will be a next time.

I wonder if maybe she was miffed herself about only getting to perform for such a short time. Maybe agents and promoters work out those details and the "stars" of the show do not find it out until the last minute.

As I said before, in the good old days, you would get two sets, each lasting an hour give or take. But in recent years, even when there was only one artist appearing, the maximum has been more like an hour and 15 minutes. Trying to see it from their side, I can sort of understand because you know it gets hot up on those stages under all those lights.

[marybrewster]

I'm sorry to hear your experience with Martha was not what you anticipated. I've seen her with her sister Vandellas three times and each time I was able to get a photo with them.

Martha is a professional but it sounds as though she might have been frustrated with the venue and that affected her usual charm.

Try and catch her in a non-Casino venue; perhaps there'll be a difference.

[Boogiedown]

Thanks daviddesper for your detailed recounting of the evening. Sounds well worth the trip!
Nice that Martha still attracts an audience and still enjoys performing.

And with that hefty repertoire they've inherited, how could the new 'Spinners' not put on a solid show. [[do they still do the rubberband bit?)

[daviddesper]

They ended with Rubberband Man and threw the props out in to the audience, much like garters at a wedding reception, if that is what you meant.