For the St. Louis stop of The Kinfolk’s Soul Food Festival, R&B icon Gladys Knight’s show closing performance would be the best item on the menu.
More than 3,500 guests piled into the Chesterfield Amphitheater, an unfamiliar venue for urban shows, to get a taste of what the afternoon had to offer.
Many came with the expectation of enjoying local soul food cuisine staples, but only one of the vendors was St. Louis based.
Others anticipated a healthy roster of music for the concert component. Of the five acts on the bill, it would be the old school artists – with that classic level of performance caliber – that would serve as the saving grace.
Urban Mystic kicked the evening off with a couple of his radio hits and tribute performances to Jodeci (“Freakin’ You”) and Sam Cooke (“Change Gonna Come”). Although vocally serviceable, Mystic was barely able to muster an applause from the audience thanks to a completely one dimensional performance.
90’s R&B group Troop didn’t fare much better thanks to the painfully strained vocals audiences suffered through via their early 1990’s hits such as “Spread My Wings,” “Mamacita” and “All I Do is Think of You.”
Fellow male group crooners Silk were the best of the new school acts, but were more focused on serenading and simulated sex acts than presenting a cohesive musical offering.
For many, the musical high notes didn’t begin until Peabo Bryson – and his flawless tenor tone – heated things up with “Feel the Fire.” He continued to engage the crowd with hits like “I’m So Into You,” “Show and Tell” and “Can You Stop The Rain.”
He even brought the crowd’s energy up with a rendition of the Chaka Khan classic “Ain’t Nobody” after gloom and drizzle threatened to rain on the Soul Food Festival’s parade.
Knight picked up where Bryson left off and reminded audiences why she resides among the musical greats.
Her performance kicked off with covers of Sade’s “Soldier of Love” and Mary J. Blige’s “Just Fine.” Knight appeared in top form – both physically and vocally – as she sang and offered moves reminiscent of her “Dancing With the Stars” run.
Covers would remain constant in her 70 minute set, including “End of The Road,” “The Way We Were,” “If You Don’t Know Me By Now” and “I Hope You Dance.”
And though it appears on her new album “Another Journey,” Knight performed the Tom Jones standard “I (Who Have Nothing).
She also paid tribute to Curtis Mayfield, offering personal narrative about working with him and performed a version of “On and On” – written and produced by Mayfield for Gladys Knight and The Pips that was featured on the Claudine soundtrack.
But the evening wouldn’t be without Knight’s signature classics. She performed them pristinely as fans danced along to “Neither One of Us,” “If I Was Your Woman” and “Heard It Through The Grapevine.”
Fans would get a special treat in the form of Knight’s brother, and a founding Pip, Bubba Knight. He kicked twirled and hopped through a mini-set that paid homage to Al Green and James Brown before Knight closed the show with their biggest hit “Midnight Train to Georgia.”
Gladys Knight would leave a sweet and lingering savoring flavor as the final element of a night where classic soul music would outshine anything on the menu.
