September 21, 2019 at the Big E (Eastern states exposition) fair in West Springfield, Massachusetts.

Review:

Every year, The Big E brings in over 1.5 million people to enjoy the fair and all of its festivities. That includes the daily concerts at both the free court of honor stage as well as the Xfinity arena for the pay shows. Sometimes the act at the court of honor stage does two shows, sometimes just one.

In the case of Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr., they did one show per day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. My wife and I, along with our friend George, attended on Saturday, making us part of the day's record breaking attendance of 176,544 people. Obviously, not all of them came to see this show.

Their opening number was Everyday People, the Sly and the Family Stone tune. I was hoping for nothing but 5D and their own hits. That was not to be, obvious from the first song. Billy was sounding fantastic from the beginning, Marilyn started sounding a little off, but her voice got stronger as the show went on.

Next, they did Up Up And Away. I assumed this would have been their obvious opening number. It sounded good.

Next, they talked about how they won 4 Grammy awards with that song, and then how they got their 7th with their next song, You Don't Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show), their own duet, and second release after leaving the Fifth Dimension.

Billy then mentioned his old friend Percy Sledge, performing his biggest hit, When A Man Loves A Woman, in tribute. I wasn't crazy about it but the audience loved it.

For the next song, Marilyn mentioned their marital longevity (50 years), and then went on to sing Wedding Bell Blues.

Their next song was their follow up to You Don't Have To Be A Star, called Your Love. It was new to me, and I enjoyed it.

Then, they took the audience on a Stoned Soul Picnic. They were helped out by some female background singers, to fill out the 5D sound, but the magic just wasn't there for this one.

Then came (Last Night) I Didn't Get To Sleep At All. Not one of my favorites, but it sounded good.

Billy then talked about one of their new cds on their website, their long marriage, and dedicated the next song, You Are So Beautiful, to Marilyn. I could have done without it, but again, he sounded good.

Billy mentioned growing up in St Louis, and decided to play us some blues, with his version of Z. Z. Hill's Down Home Blues. It was great.

Marilyn followed, saying she was raised in L.A., and how growing up she always liked torch songs. She was delighted to be able to record One Less Bell To Answer... never one of my favorites.

They then closed the show with the obvious choice, Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In. It was also missing the 5D magic, but was ok.

After a 35 minute wait, they came out to do autographs, and some fans disregarded the artists requests to do all photos with the duo coming out in front of the autograph table. One fan I witnessed going behind the duo, seated at the table, visibly upsetting Marilyn. They also capped autographs at one item, to keep the lines moving. The first guy in line had about 20 photos for them to sign.

For 75 (Marilyn) and 81 (Billy) years old, the duo still look and sound quite well. Overall I really enjoyed the show.

Other songs I would have loved to have heard live were:

Paper Cup
Carpet Man
Sweet Blindness
Workin' On A Groovy Thing

Last edited by StereoTom (September 23, 2019 12:19 am)