The music of the 1970s is alive and well this Saturday, November 3, 2018 at Lakewood, NJ’s Strand Theater with a concert by the ’70’s R&B and soul groups Tavares and Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes!
Inside the historic Strand auditorium, the audience is ready to rock the night away as emcee, Barry Brown, welcomes the crowd and introduces them to tonight’s opening act — a seven piece cover band from Brooklyn entitled Just Us.
As drums beat and lights flash, the crowd claps, moving to double time as the band launches into their rendition of Eric Burton and The Animals’ “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood.”
With their big sound, Just Us entertains the crowd with songs such as Steely Dan’s “Reelin’ in the Years,” Frankie Valli’s “Bye Bye Baby,” and Chicago’s “Make Me Smile.”
The band really gets the crowd revved up — dancing and clapping along — on their uptempo rendition of Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.”
Following avid applause, Brown retakes the stage to introduce Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes.
After a pre-recorded overture of selections play, the current line-up of Blue Notes — Arthur “Sugar Bear” Aikens, Frank Lee, Ramone Bentley, and Sonny King — takes the stage. In their sparkling black jackets sporting boutonnieres and white pocket squares, the quartet dances while they sing “Tell the World How I Feel About You.”
On the lively disco number, “Where Are All My Friends?” lead tenor “Sugar Bear” — sounding very much like the group’s iconic former lead singer, Teddy Pendergrass — handles the lead as his backup singers dance and pantomime the song’s lyrics.
Next, the quartet segues into the The Blue Notes’ 1972 Top 5 hit, “If You Don’t Know Me By Now,” a number which has the crowd singing along as the performers snap, strut, and side-step as they vocalize.
The audience dances and grooves to the group’s 1973 Top 10 disco hit, “The Love I Lost,” as the quartet fast-steps to the crowd’s delight.
After introducing each another, the crowd applauds when The Blue Notes announce that Judy Melvin — the daughter of founding member Harold Melvin, who passed away in 1997 — is in the house tonight.
Additional highlights of the group’s set include “Don’t Leave Me This Way,” a song which was recorded by Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes but, in 1977, became an even bigger hit for Thelma Houston. As the men perform, audience members dance in the aisles, several mimicking the moves of The Blue Notes on stage.
After thanking all the veterans in the house, The Blue Notes ask for a moment of silence for the victims of the recent shootings in Pittsburgh before poignantly crooning, “The world won’t get no better if we just let it be/We got to change it for you and me” on their 1976 hit, “Wake Up Everybody.”
“Sugar Bear” and Co. finish up their set with a bang performing Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes’ 1975 #1 smash,“Bad Luck,” lights flashing as the guys sing and dance.
The crowd loving their steps, slides, and arm motions, the group has music lovers dancing in their seats before the audience rises for a standing ovation!
Following a short intermission, emcee Barry Brown returns to the stage one last time to introduce tonight’s headliners — Tavares — backed by a live band.
Taking the stage running, the group — consisting of brothers Tiny, Butch, and Ralph Tavares — performs a lively selection of material including their 1975 Top 10 hit, “It Only Takes a Minute.”
Dancing as they harmonize, the audience sings along on the happy, “It only takes a minute, girl/To fall in love, to fall in love” chorus.
Another audience pleaser is the group’s #1 R&B hit, “Whodunit,” where after lead singer Tiny asks, “Who stole my girl from me?” his brothers respond by singing, “Hey, Baretta, won’t you please go get her?”
Launching into their #1 R&B hit which was also recorded by Hall and Oates, the group performs “She’s Gone.” On this number, electric guitar wails while three-part harmonies fill the Strand with the mournful sound of lost love.
Following performances of the bluesy “Remember What I Told You To Forget” and the soulful ballad “Check It Out,” audience members happily dance in the aisles to the disco beat of their 1976 Top 40 hit, “Don’t Take Away the Music.”
Taking some time to talk about their brother, Chubby, who is currently in the hospital awaiting surgery, the brothers assure the crowd, “He’ll be back. We send all our love to him.”
At this point, an unusual event occurs as the siblings interrupt their concert to call their brother in the hospital!
The crowd goes crazy shouting “We love you!” into a cellphone which Tiny holds out to a mic before listening to Chubby on the phone as he talks to his fans.
Following huge applause for Chubby, the concert resumes with the group singing, “Talkin’ ‘bout bad times/Here in these sad times” on the funky “Bad Times,” before brother Ralph switches up the lyrics to “Good times/Can you dig it!”
The group dances and spins on the disco number, “Never Had a Love Like This Before,” and then spotlights their fancy footwork on a spirited cover version of George Benson’s “Turn Your Love Around.”
Trading off vocals and dancing while they sing, the trio claps and hops to the driving beat. After Butch takes a dance solo, he gets everyone involved in the group’s performance announcing, “You got plenty of love — thank you for your love!”
Starting off an a cappella version of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly,” Butch taps on his mic to provide a beat. After a drumbeat kicks in, he comes down into the audience to sing to patrons seated in the orchestra while accompanied by the rich vocal harmonies of his brothers on stage.
The brothers introduce one another and then Tiny, Ralph, and Butch perform their 1982 Top 40 hit, “A Penny for Your Thoughts.” As the guys take turns singing lead, each singer makes his vocal line his own. Hands wave back and forth as the audience happily sings along.
Asking, “Are you ready for some Saturday Night Fever?” Tavares performs a song which both they and The Bee Gees each recorded for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, “More Than a Woman.” The audience disco dances in the aisles to this 1977 hit going crazy with cheers and whistles!
After inviting the members of Just Us and The Blue Notes onto the stage, the evening’s finale features all of tonight’s musicians performing Tavares’ 1976 Top 20 hit, “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel.” As everyone sings, Tiny, Ralph, and Butch dance as they repeat the “Heaven, heaven,” coda. Creating a line dance and jumping in time to the rhythm, Tavares enjoys the party they’re hosting which soon has audience members cheering on their feet!
As music lovers make their way out of the auditorium, we take a moment to chat with several members of the crowd who share their opinions of tonight’s concert with us.
Exclaims Ginny from Brick, “I loved this show! I thought we were just going to see Harold Melvin’s Blue Notes and Tavares tonight, but it was an added bonus that we got to enjoy the music of Just Us.”
Remarking, “I loved them all,” Ginny adds, “And I love coming to concerts at the Strand — I feel so comfortable here I even took my shoes off!” before concluding, “Any seat is a good seat in this house; this venue is the cream of the crop!”
While Darlene from Long Island reveals, “I liked The Blue Notes the best; my favorite song was ‘More Than A Woman,’” her friend, Christine from Staten Island, discloses, “I loved all of the groups, but my favorite song was ‘Bad Love.’”
We also chat with a trio of friends — Kevin, Maria, and Alleyah — who traveled all the way from Washington, D.C. to Lakewood for tonight’s performance.
Comments Kevin, “I liked everybody tonight — each band was unique,” before adding, “And the acoustics here at the Strand were perfect — as a result, I especially enjoyed hearing the pure vocals of The Blue Notes.”
His traveling companion, Maria, acknowledges, “I came here tonight for Tavares, and I loved them! I danced the entire time,” before exclaiming, “It was worth the trip!”
Alleyah concurs adding, “And it was so nice that they called Chubby on the phone; we missed his harmonies tonight, but his three brothers still sounded great!”
Lastly, we chat with Rich from Monroe, who confesses to being a long-time Tavares fan. Recalling, “I saw them back in 1980 and again in 1994,” Rich declares, “Even though it’s years later, the group still has the same energy.”
“I loved that they did all of their greatest hits tonight — and calling their brother showed the true camaraderie they have for one other,” adds Rich, before concluding, “Everyone feels like dancing when you hear this music — it’s just great music!”
To learn more about The Blue Notes, please go to legendarybluenotesft-sugarbear.com. For further information on Tavares, please click on dvpdesign.com/TavaresBrothers. For info on upcoming shows at The Strand Theater — including Kashmir, the Live Led Zeppelin Show on Dec. 15 and Tramps Like Us, The Planets Most Revered Bruce Springsteen Band on Jan. 19, 2019 — please go to strand.org.
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