Here at One on One, we’re all about trying to expose the truth.
Does Calvin Harris really get all the girls? Is Brandon Flowers human, or is he some sort of super-chiselled animatronic dancer? And why didn’t Brendon Urie just pull the goddamn door shut and sneak away quietly? We may never know, and that pains us.
Sometimes, the truth hurts. It’s taken us a while, but we’re willing to admit that Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood is actually not a very-good-pop-song. We hate to say it, but Fall Out Boy’s cover of the Ghostbusters theme song is… Well, it’s kinda terrible. Facts are facts, and we can’t argue with them, and that’s just the way the world works.
Occasionally, though, we’ll argue with them anyway. There are some things that a lot of people believe to be true, but we’re more than willing to disagree with them. Jordin Sparks’ Battlefield didn’t deserve to be a globe-straddling smash-hit single? Wrong. Nickelback are an entirely terrible band? Wrong, wrong, wrong. U2 haven’t done anything worth listening to since 2005? We hate to break it to you, dear reader, but you’re as wrong as wrong can be.
‘But surely there must be ONE thing we can tell you that is completely, undoubtedly, unquestionably true!’, you say?
Hmm. Frankly, we’re not sure, but we’ll hear you out anyway. What could you possibly claim to be so rigidly true, so set in stone, and so indisputable, that we couldn’t possibly argue with it?
‘…Lionel Richie isn’t cool’.
…
Oh. Um… Well, we can definitely see where you’re coming from. If you go to a nightclub on a Saturday night, you probably won’t hear one of his songs. Teenage girls don’t scream when he walks onstage. He’s not got a six-pack, he’s not BFFs with Taylor Swift, and he’s not going to be popping up on a Calvin Harris single anytime soon. These are all facts, and we’re not going to argue with them.
You could say that all of this is indisputable evidence that he isn’t ‘cool’. Fair enough, we suppose. That’s one version of events, and you’re more than welcome to believe it. The truth, however, is a bit more complicated than that.
You don’t believe us? Okay. That’s fine, but at least let us explain.
In all honesty, the truth is that it doesn’t matter if he’s not ‘cool’. When your back catalogue is as good as Lionel Richie’s, you can afford to not be ‘cool’. Sure, Diplo might have lasers, smoke machines, and Justin Bieber on speed-dial, but he’s never written a song as good as Dancing On The Ceiling. Rihanna might be selling out stadiums six times a week, but she doesn’t get to play Easy every night. JME and Skepta might have Boy Better Know, but… Well, they’re not quite The Commodores, are they?
Lionel Richie’s two-hour set at Cornwall’s Eden Project was quite possibly one of the best live shows we’ve ever seen. We don’t want to go overboard here, but it really did have everything. His six-piece live band were tight and energetic, his light show was enough to blind us, and his set-list was absolutely amazing.
Like, seriously; it’s really, really hard for us to pick a highlight of his set. An early rendition of Easy has got to be up there, but we’ve always had a soft spot for Dancing On The Ceiling. If you pushed us, we’d probably plump for Hello: there aren’t many songs that can have a 6000-strong crowd singing along from the moment the first note is played, but the sound (and sight) of a full-to-capacity Eden Project bellowing the words ‘hello? Is it me you’re looking for?’ towards the visibly delighted Richie is not something that we’re going to forget in a hurry.
Do you see what we’re saying?
Lionel Richie is cool. There’s a reason why 100,000 people went to see him when he played Glastonbury. There’s a reason why everyone – yes, including you, dearest reader – knows at least a couple of his songs, and there’s most definitely a reason why (even after a nearly fifty-year career) Richie’s in the middle of yet another mammoth UK arena tour.
It’s because Lionel Richie is still an effortlessly entertaining performer. He’s a showman with a catalogue of hits that’s bigger than most artists could even dream of, and his charisma and charm is enough to ensure that each and every member of the crowd leaves the Eden Project with a grin on their face.
He may not be ‘cool’. He may not be current.
And, although we cannot confirm this, he may well not be on Taylor Swift’s ‘long list of ex-lovers’. However, he is a talented performer who knows how to put on one hell of a show, and he’s written more than a few songs that we – and, in all likelihood, you – would consider to be absolute classics.
What could be cooler than that?
While you’re here, why don’t you check out these fan photos from the show?
