And I wish that I had one more chance and I wish to be your pillar of strength...
WHY I LOVED IT
After seeing seven concerts, it was really interesting to hear what people thought about the show. Most of the newer (yet, funnily enough, older) fans thought it was fantastic. Human Nature are great performers and entertainers and they did the classic songs the oldies remember and love really well. Most of the stalwart fans would have liked to have heard more of their original songs.
I could not fault their set-list. Of course, there will always be songs I'd love to hear - b-sides and unreleased album tracks being at the top of that list - but they don't have the luxury of performing those anymore. The majority of their audience is now made up of people who became invested in their Motown sound and I felt they struck the perfect balance between old and new.
There were so many throwbacks for the fans who had been there from the beginning:
- Earth Angel (the song which brought them together as a group in the first place)
- People Get Ready (the song which landed them a record deal with Sony Music)
- Got It Goin' On (which they haven't done as part of their show since the 1997 tour)
- Stay (originally performed in 1999 for Happy Days, then on the 2000 tour)
- Wishes (new version, originally performed on the 2000 tour)
- Counting Down (the piano version, originally performed on the 2002 tour)
During every tour, Mike has a habit of breaking into something "embarrassing", only to have the others forcibly stop him, call him out on it, or beg the crowd not to encourage him; The Love Boat in 1997, Love Is In The Air in 2000, Copacabana in 2002. This year, he broke into La Bamba in the middle of Good Lovin' and, while the others are aloof at first (cue the eye roll, head shake and "Here we go again" glares), they then join him in singing and dancing along. It is an EXCELLENT homage to past shows, an awesome mini mash-up, and a fantastic submission (after eighteen years!) to their youngest member.
They performed at least one song from each of their studio albums, bar The Christmas Album, and all of their Jukebox tracks:
- Tellin' Everybody/Whisper Your Name/People Get Ready/Don't Say Goodbye (Telling Everybody)
- Last To Know/Cruel/Don't Cry (Counting Down)
- He Don't Love You/When We Were Young (Human Nature)
- Always Be With You (Here & Now: The Best of Human Nature)
- When You Say You Love Me (Walk the Tightrope)
- Reach Out I'll Be There/Stop! In The Name of Love (Reach Out: The Motown Record)
- Dancing in the Street/Ain't No Mountain High Enough/ABC/Uptight (Everything's Alright) (Dancing In The Street: The Songs of Motown II)
- Get Ready (Get Ready)
- Got To Get You Into My Life (A Symphony of Hits)
- Sway (Vegas: Songs From Sin City)
The only two songs (from a full list of 40!) that I felt could have been excluded were End of Days and I Only Have Eyes For You. The audience fell a little flat during these two songs and I couldn't justify their inclusion based on that response. However, as they penned the former and the latter is such a classic, they were hardly bad choices.
With 25 years of material to work with, I thought they did an exceptional job in making sure every fan (old and new) would be satiated while still bringing the energy, ingenuity, and showmanship we've come to expect from their performances.
After seeing seven concerts, it was really interesting to hear what people thought about the show. Most of the newer (yet, funnily enough, older) fans thought it was fantastic. Human Nature are great performers and entertainers and they did the classic songs the oldies remember and love really well. Most of the stalwart fans would have liked to have heard more of their original songs.
I could not fault their set-list. Of course, there will always be songs I'd love to hear - b-sides and unreleased album tracks being at the top of that list - but they don't have the luxury of performing those anymore. The majority of their audience is now made up of people who became invested in their Motown sound and I felt they struck the perfect balance between old and new.
There were so many throwbacks for the fans who had been there from the beginning:
- Earth Angel (the song which brought them together as a group in the first place)
- People Get Ready (the song which landed them a record deal with Sony Music)
- Got It Goin' On (which they haven't done as part of their show since the 1997 tour)
- Stay (originally performed in 1999 for Happy Days, then on the 2000 tour)
- Wishes (new version, originally performed on the 2000 tour)
- Counting Down (the piano version, originally performed on the 2002 tour)
During every tour, Mike has a habit of breaking into something "embarrassing", only to have the others forcibly stop him, call him out on it, or beg the crowd not to encourage him; The Love Boat in 1997, Love Is In The Air in 2000, Copacabana in 2002. This year, he broke into La Bamba in the middle of Good Lovin' and, while the others are aloof at first (cue the eye roll, head shake and "Here we go again" glares), they then join him in singing and dancing along. It is an EXCELLENT homage to past shows, an awesome mini mash-up, and a fantastic submission (after eighteen years!) to their youngest member.
They performed at least one song from each of their studio albums, bar The Christmas Album, and all of their Jukebox tracks:
- Tellin' Everybody/Whisper Your Name/People Get Ready/Don't Say Goodbye (Telling Everybody)
- Last To Know/Cruel/Don't Cry (Counting Down)
- He Don't Love You/When We Were Young (Human Nature)
- Always Be With You (Here & Now: The Best of Human Nature)
- When You Say You Love Me (Walk the Tightrope)
- Reach Out I'll Be There/Stop! In The Name of Love (Reach Out: The Motown Record)
- Dancing in the Street/Ain't No Mountain High Enough/ABC/Uptight (Everything's Alright) (Dancing In The Street: The Songs of Motown II)
- Get Ready (Get Ready)
- Got To Get You Into My Life (A Symphony of Hits)
- Sway (Vegas: Songs From Sin City)
The only two songs (from a full list of 40!) that I felt could have been excluded were End of Days and I Only Have Eyes For You. The audience fell a little flat during these two songs and I couldn't justify their inclusion based on that response. However, as they penned the former and the latter is such a classic, they were hardly bad choices.
With 25 years of material to work with, I thought they did an exceptional job in making sure every fan (old and new) would be satiated while still bringing the energy, ingenuity, and showmanship we've come to expect from their performances.