Timothy Winton

Once again I have been blessed by a seemingly endless supply of free concert tickets at Hard Rock Live in Hollywood. Two nights ago I took in  a charity performance by Smokey Robinson. The over four hour show also included a quite funny comedian (I can’t recall his name) followed by Tanya Tucker.

In fact Tanya Tucker’s band opened with the Robbie Robertson classic ‘The Weight’ after which she joined them on stage. Tanya played for about an hour and ran through one country hit after another. She also talked quite a bit between songs. Though she seemed like an odd fit for a Smokey Robinson crowd, it was a first rate show. The only song of hers I’d ever heard before was ‘Delta Dawn’ which she closed the show with.

 The star of the show, of course, was Smokey Robinson and the show benefited his charitable foundation. Smokey Robinson may indeed be the greatest of all the Motown artists. He is a sensational showman with a million dollar voice and told many stories between songs about the songs he had written both for himself and many of the other great Motown acts. He played everything from sultry ballads, classic R&B, jazz standards and even rocked on a few numbers. He really worked the crowd and his large band even included a string section from a local orchestra.

It was an altogether enjoyable evening. Next week I may be going to as many as four concerts. I may be taking in Diana Ross, John Legend and Travis Tritt at the Hard Rock. The annual Sun Fest on the inter-coastal in West Palm Beach has Todd Rundgren and Stephen Stills among others on Saturday. I hope it doesn’t rain.