I was so excited to attend his concert at The Theater at MGM National Harbour. It’s very rare to be able to see true music legends, so I jumped at the chance when I found out he’d be performing nearby. (The start time of the show was pushed back by about a half hour, due to an accident on the bridge—very considerate since about half of the 1,800 sold-out seats were still awaiting their patrons.)
Once things started, they got rolling quickly. Having never seen Smokey before, I feel like I got to hear every hit that I wanted from him, The Miracles, and even some cover songs. We also got a sampling of some songs from his newest album “Gasms.”
The 83-year old legend shuffled back and forth across the stage, giving his audience a show. There were some moves similar to the now-viral videos of him shimmying and hip-thrusting. But, I will say, despite his age, the man can hold a low-squat while talking to audience members for much longer than I think I could…with no effect.
Smokey is also known for a lot of banter accompanied by a smattering of stories in between songs when he performs. He truly likes to interact with his audience during the show, and some of it is quite humorous! At one point, he recognized the 21st wedding anniversary for SiriusXM Radio’s Cayman Kelly and his wife Kamila who happened to be in the audience.
During the show, Smokey talked about Stevie Wonder. He called him his brother and he joked about how flowery and long-winded Stevie could be when he’s only just trying to say “hello.” He also joked about how Wonder is always on “Stevie Time” and just shows up on his own schedule. Then, he talked about running into Stevie at a Motown Records Christmas party where Stevie said he was looking for some input on some music he and Hank Cosby created, but he didn’t have the words—so, they ended up collaborating—which ended up being a lead-in to “Tears of a Clown.”
Smokey then called out to a woman in the audience asking her name; and then he joked that she had a possessive boyfriend because, as soon as he’d started interacting with her, he said the guy “rubbed her thigh and was like, ‘Mine, mine!!!’” He then began singing “I Love Your Face” from his 1991 album “Double Good Everything.”
Robinson reminded the crowd that he had a new album out, called “Gasms,” and joked about the name. He said that the audience could take whatever they wanted from the name and that “it means whatever you want it to mean.” (Ummm…Smokey, I think we know what you want it to mean…LOL.) He then performed the first single out from the album—“If We Don’t Have Each Other.” He spoke about his album release “Timeless Love” and thanked people for giving it love, whether it was getting it via cd, downloads, streaming—“however you listen to it these days.”
Smokey then talked about growing up in a household where there was always music—”gut buster blues, jazz, gospel, soul.” He teased the audience about vinyl records and how it used to be the only way to play music, reminiscing about playing 78s and 45s, which then went on to evolve into 8-track tapes; he joked about the 8-tracks being garbled at certain parts of songs when you played them.
After a slight song order mix-up, Smokey said, “Okay, everything I said before that!” and then went into his newest single. It was a nice, smooth jam utilizing his ability to hit the higher notes. He also announced that he was working on an album that was completely in Spanish; he said, “You can say almost anything in Spanish and have it sound romantic.” He then goes on to laughingly say “tacos…and burrrrritos” (while drawing out the Rs). He also said the Spanish phrase for “giving you the look.” This man is still pretty fiery and sensual…and so are his songs. Thank goodness the audience is of an older generation, or we might have a bunch of new babies nine months later. Smokey Robinson’s silky voice is definitely baby-making music.
For the show’s finale, Smokey sang “Cruising”…which was accompanied by what I’ve coined the “sexy Smokey dance.” (The lady in front of me was definitely into it, screaming, “Yassss!”) He then asked for a volunteer from the audience. A woman named Odessa came up from the crowd, dancing the entire way. She was quite a character and got the audience screaming. Then he brought up another woman named Hailey. He had the two split the Theater and lead a sing-along competition with the crowd to see which side could sing the loudest. I’m not sure who won in the end…I think we all did. The show was a blast!
Words & photos by: Deanna Escobar