Review Smokey Robinson’s Performance At The Ravinia Festival

      Live Performance Review Name Institution Date     Name: Smokey Robinson
Place: Ravinia Pavilion in Highland Park, IL- Chicago metro area Date: Sunday, September 15, 2017
Time: 8 PM-10PM
Artist musical style- RnB and soul  In Smokey Robinson’s performance at the Ravinia Festival there were three backup singers and the six-piece band accompanied the singer, with some having performed with Robinson over decades. The theme of his performance was the Motown remembrance and he performed some of his famous Motown classics like ‘my girl’ and ‘getting ready’- The music is inspired by R n B and as are the other famous Motown artists Robinson was dressed in a green leather outfit and while the audience was of diverse ages, they were mostly middle to older adults and families. The audience sang along to his famous hits that were composed decades ago. Since the Ravinia Festival goes on over months there are different artists from diverse genres, but since he performed from 8 P.M there were not many extra musical events at the performance. In his return to the Ravinia Festival he was warm as one of the pioneers of modern soul music and he connected with the audience and the songs he chose to perform highlighted his contributions soul music even at 77 years of age his songs were timeless. Even though, Robinson has performed over decades separate from the miracles group, the influence of modern soul and R&B on his rhythm has influenced the slow tempo music
sexiness.  Attitudes displayed as the audience was mostly adult they displayed longing for such type of musical it is relevant even to race consciousness. Smokey Robinson is an old school RnB/Soul musician mainly performing popular songs of the 1960’s and 1970’s.   Even for the soulful kind of music, the way the audience responded to the music reflected the performer’s approach to music to allow the audience to be active participants. Despite Smokey’s age, he is an established performer and the audience was receptive and appreciative of his performance. I feel that he knows to engage the audience as when they sang along to the lyrics of “The Tracks of My Tears” Given his previous performance like at the BET his performance was less intense, but he still connected well with the enthusiastic crowd that they clapped to his songs.  Judging by the mood of the crow, the audience loved what they heart and even without dancers or elaborate dance moves he still moved the audience. Robinson’s performance is not vastly different from studio recording because there is use of musical instruments and not simply computer generated beats. However, because of the use of backup singers and singing to a li...