The double-disc live album
Symphonica in Rosso documents
Lionel Richie's triumphant live performance at the Gelredome in Arnhem, Netherlands, on September 6, 2008. The show was a triumph for
Richie because he'd scored a Top Five smash hit earlier in the year in the Netherlands with "Face in the Crowd," a duet with Dutch pop singer
Trijntje Oosterhuis from his recent album
Just Go (2008). It was also an honor, for he was taking the stage at one of the Netherlands' premier concert stadiums and performing in part of a series of Symphonica in Rosso shows that had spawned hit albums by Dutch superstars
Marco Borsato and Paul de Leeuw in past years. It's a fine performance by
Richie, who is energetic, engaging, and in fairly good voice, and it's nice to hear him focus on his greatest hits from the '70s and '80s rather than his more recent output. In fact, there are only a handful of songs that post-date the mid-'80s -- "My Destiny" from
Back to Front (1992); "Don't Stop the Music" and "Angel" from
Renaissance (2000); "All Around the World" from
Coming Home (2006); and the aforementioned "Face in the Crowd" -- and they're mostly performed in brief as parts of medleys. Moreover, the symphonic aspect of the show is tasteful and surprisingly modest, adding a lot to some songs (e.g., "Ballerina Girl") but never stealing the show from
Richie and his band other than with a few overtures. It's a pleasure to hear him sing so many of his greatest hits, beginning with "Hello," "Running with the Night," "Lady," "Easy," and "Say You, Say Me," yet at the same time, it's a delightful surprise to hear him and the band suddenly break into Laid Back's "White Horse" (in the midst of "Running with the Night"),
Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces" (as an interlude in the run-up to "Brick House"), and
Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" (as the introduction to "All Around the World"). Dutch fans in particular will enjoy the guest appearance by Oosterhuis late in the show. She joins
Richie for "Face in the Crowd" and stays for a song of her own, "Touch Me There," her breakout hit from 1996, when she was a member of
Total Touch. ~ Jason Birchmeier