Temptations and Four Tops Live. Yay or Nay?
pointman
1,042 Posts
So they're playing here in Houston Thursday and I was just given tickets. Anybody seen either lately and have something to say? 
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but the ticket is usually too expensive for me.
Free tickets =
How bad could it possibly be?
I'm kinda scared I'll see a trainwreck and it'll ruin the Temptations in my mind.
That and I got this other thing going on the same night.
i know i like to cap on white folks a lot but i gotta say this is one of the dopest things to witness. old folks losing their shit over music. like i said, im too poor to hit up a temps/4 tops show, but i have been to the swap meet on certain performaces (hello joe bataan for $1 entrace fee!) and one of the most enjoyable parts of that concert, aside from the music, was watching 50 60 year old women swoon and dance and sing ever word of every song and slow dance with their adolescent kids and with each other oh man, there really isnt much better than that.
you talking to me, or telling him not to go to the show?
The thing that always trips me out about groups like this is when you see them and it appears to only be 1 or two of the original members and then there are a few other guys who look like they are 35. You get that "did that dude age well or is that a new guy" thing.
true. It is great to see people appreciating it so much. I guess it's just always funny to me because the crowds are largely white (on those pbs shows) and it's a bunch of moms losing their shit. But you're right, it's great to see people get so much joy from something and also great to see that the music really meant something to them and had an impact.
Moms in 2030 snapping in glee to at the Soulja Boy and Flo Rida show.
On that note...I've never seen either group live either, but Otis Williams is the only original member left. Everybody else is dead, and Dennis Edwards (the guy who sang lead on their "psychedelic" hits like "Cloud Nine") isn't working with them these days.
And from what I've heard of the Four Tops...Levi Stubbs isn't singing with them, as he has been ill these past few years. But for all the cratediggers in the house, Ronnie McNeir ("Wendy Is Gone") now sings with the Tops. I believe he replaced the member of the Tops who passed away (was it Lawrence Payton?).
Still, if the opportunity came down to me to go, I'd check it out for the hell of it. When I was in Vegas last fall, I saw a Coasters/Platters/Marvellettes show that didn't have one original member between them, and it was good for what it was - a polished oldies show.
(I seriously doubt if any of the audience members knew the originals from the fakes, BTW - this was a casino show, not the Ponderosa Stomp.)
I'm saying not to go to the show. The lack of original members, their age, the audience, the medleys, the ticket price...these all point to corniness. It pains me to say it, but I can't see it doing anything for me.