Melba Moore is back!

[keefelc]

This past Saturday went to see Melba Moore's new cabaret act. Initially, I was a bit leary. We saw her about 5 or 6 years ago shortly after her nasty divorce, bankruptcy and child custody case. She was struggling (it showed) and she didn't think anyone remembered her hits so she stuck to show tunes. Lately, she’s headed into gospel and touring musicals.

Well, then I found out her new tour was called, “The Return Of Peach Melba,” and that her San Francisco shows would be at one of the best cabarets in the City, The Empire Plush Room. So we took a chance.

I'm so glad I went. :D Melba is back at the top of her game and she has not forgotten her disco roots! In fact, she opened with "This Is It" and followed with "You Stepped Into My Life." Her voice is back in FULL force and she used her multi-octive range with ease. Her last few notes on You Stepped had us wildly cheering.

Next, Melba sang "Love's Comin' At Ya" letting her great 4 piece band (all from SF) go to town. A guy in the front row, obviously a BIG fan, spontaneously broke out singing backup for her, and he was perfect! The song would have sounded incomplete without his great vocals.

Melba also did numbers from "Hair" - her first Broadway show. Did you know she replaced Diane Keaton in the show? She started with "Easy To Be Hard" and then segued into "Aquarius/ Let The Sunshine." One of the high points in the evening.

She talked about her Hush Productions days, especially managing Kashif. Melba flawlessly covered Evelyn King's "Love Come Down" in this section!

She then paid tribute to McFadden and Whitehead, mentioning working with them on "Promised Land" and "Standing Right Here" (unfortunately she didn’t sing these songs). She sang a snippet of "Ain't No Stopping Us Now," then her big hit with them "Falling" (including the long lasting note towards the end - she told us, "See, I haven't been sitting on the couch eating potato chips!";).).

Towards the end of the show, Melba commented about religion in her life. She then changed "Lean On Me" to "Lean On Jesus." My first thought was uh oh, but she then turned the song into a rousing gospel tour de force. All of us in the audience gave her a long standing ovation!

BTW, Rita Moreno was in the audience. I heard Steven Spielberg was also at the show, but I didn't see him. Who would have thought that he was a Melba Moore fan??! :grin:

If you're a Melba fan, you might want to keep an eye out for this show!

[K-Bee]

Any new album to back up this show? We could really use one! :D

[remicks]

****

Thanks for that review Keefelc ! Glad she did well.
I heard her doing an interview on KGO plugging that show and she sounded excited and raring to go !!

How did she look ?

*****

[keefelc]

Melba looked FAB on Saturday night, Remicks, especially compared to when we last saw her at the Fairmont Hotel. As I previously mentioned, she was just starting to recover from the nightmares of her recent life. During the show, she told us she lost her hair due to the stress. She wore a boring and kind of sad wig. Plus, she wore a relatively simple gown that a friend in the cast of Le Miz on Broadway (where Melba had a part) made for her so she could tour.
But that was then!

This past Saturday we saw a reenergized Melba! She hit the stage in a stunning red gown and red velvet cape. She asked us how we liked her gown and she added, “Look! My dress even has a train!” It did! Since it was a bit warm in the club, Melba quickly shed the cape.

Plus, she was wearing glamorous hair and makeup again! If you’ve seen photos of her these last couple of years, she’s become increasingly conservative, almost dowdy, in her appearance. That’s one reason I was initially apprehensive with her new show. I had to wonder if Melba let herself go? Another reason is that her latest album is a gospel album. Seemed to me like she was moving further and further away from her “show biz” roots.

I’ve was so happy to have been proven wrong! :-P

[SandraDee]

When I was visiting New York exactly a year ago I picked up a magazine listing what was happening on the gay scene & there was a feature on how Melba Moore was appearing at some place in NY doing her classic hits. Maybe September is Melba's time of the year for putting on her disco shoes & paying the rent! :D Wish I'd gone now as I love her records, even if her voice can get a tad screechy at times.:???:

[Videoskooter]

Let's throw in one of her best outputs:

"Love's Commin' At Ya"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=md9z-firmBA

[keefelc]

Thanks for the link, Videoskooter! Makes me a bit mad at myself for not bringing my camera with me to the show. I've always thought you weren't suppose to bring them, so I was quite surprised to see several people snapping photos. I would have loved to have captured a little bit of video of Melba & the band's live performance of "Love's Comin' At Ya!" Melba let each band member do a solo.

Sandy, thanks for letting me know Melba has continued to stick with her GLBT audience! As for performances at the end of the year, I guess she needs extra $$$s for the holidays.

BTW, you know who I found surprisingly screechy during a concert? Jean Carne of all people!! This show was quite sometime ago (she was part of a show with Phyllis Hyman headlining and some other performers). I don't know if it was a problem with the sound system, but Jean would hit some high notes that would feel like daggers going through our ears. :-o The sound didn't sound distorted, just piercing. Good thing Phyllis came on after her and her smooth voice made everything better! :D

[SandraDee]

Originally Posted by keefelc

Good thing Phyllis came on after her and her smooth voice made everything better! :D

Yes it has to be said that Phyllis had one of the best voices ever. What a loss!:cry: