Soul queens Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Dionne Warwick reign over inaugural Fool in Love Fest
By Guest Contributor, Lyndsey Parker
“You know I’m 80 years old, right?” Diana Ross declared at one point, to mass gasps and cheers, onstage at the inaugural old-school Fool in Love festival, which took place Aug. 31 on the blazing asphalt of Inglewood, Calif.’s Hollywood Park.
The 12-hour, four-stage, multi-block soul party was so packed with legends (including Ross’s fellow divas Gladys Knight and past She Rocks Awards honorees Chaka Khan and Dionne Warwick) that “Is Fool in Fest real?” was actually a trending related search on Google when the lineup was first announced. But perhaps Saturday’s biggest revelation was Ross’s agelessness and endless effervescence, as the Supreme breezed through 17 of her career-spanning hits — and, of course, through no fewer than four Tracy Chambers-worthy costume changes, all with color-coordinated folding fans.
Ross the Boss’s 90-minute headlining set on the Love stage was preceded by a documentary-style sizzle reel covering her magnificent career.
This was practically a show in and of itself, building the audience’s enthusiasm to an absolute fever pitch before the queen finally took the stage — resplendent in her Christmas Barbie crimson gown, feather-trimmed cape, and trademark wind-machine-whipped tresses, belting perhaps the perfect opening song, “I’m Coming Out.”
And after that, the Hitsville hits just kept on coming, spanning Ross’s Motown era (“Baby Love,” “Stop! In the Name of Love,” “You Can’t Hurry Love, “Love Child”), filmography (Billie Holiday’s “Don’t Explain” from Lady Sings the Blues, the theme from Mahogany, even a bit of “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz), and more classics from her disco era (“Love Hangover,” “Upside Down”).
Ross was sometimes accompanied by her adorable dancing grandkids, and there moments when her background singers did some of the vocal heavy lifting, but there was never any doubt that she was the star of the show.
Ross positively radiated joy, towards the end of her set asking fans to “move the energy around” the venue by waving their illuminated cell phones and uplifted arms to “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” while she led the crowd in a group incantation of “I’m so grateful for all the blessings in my life!”
She then delivered her triumphant finale: an unexpected cover of She Rocks honoree Gloria Gaynor’s feminist anthem, “I Will Survive.”
“I Will Survive” was actually a fitting battle cry for the day, as fans tried not to succumb to heatstroke on the festival’s sun-bleached pavement, which offered few shaded areas or hydration stations.
But it was worth braving the elements to attend Warwick’s ludicrously early (by festival standards: 12:30 p.m.) set on the Fool stage.
Looking elegant and unflappable in her white summer linens, Warwick brought all the feels as she was accompanied on vocals by her talented eldest son, Damon Elliott. (Meanwhile, at the same time over on the dance-centric Bounce stage, surviving Pointer Sister Ruth Pointer also kept it in the family, leading a current Pointer Sister lineup featuring her daughter Issa and granddaughter Sadako.)
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Like Ross, Warwick also exuded joy, particularly during her final two timelier-than-ever numbers, “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and “That’s the Friends Are For.” (Keep smiling and keep shining, indeed.)
And in the crowd, pop artist Kii Arens, fresh off his whirlwind trip to the Democratic National Convention, distributed his free “Vote Joy” Kamala Harris posters to happy fans.
Also on the political tip, Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett was the surprise presenter for Gladys Knight’s set, telling the roaring Fool stage audience, “This [upcoming presidential] election is the most important election of our lifetimes. And I’m not saying that to scare y’all, but have y’all seen some of my co-workers? Have y’all seen the bleached blonde one? I need some better coworkers. Y’all got some real good opportunities to [vote and] send me some really good coworkers!”
Crockett then announced that Knight was about to “tell y’all a little something about Georgia, because I’m going to have Georgia on my mind Nov. 5,” but then, sadly, Knight did not emerge for another 22 minutes, presumably due to technical issues.
By the time Knight did take the stage, she was only played had nine minutes left only sang four songs, one of which was, oddly, a cover of the Jacksons’ “Shake Your Body Down to the Ground,” which the actual Jacksons had performed on the Love stage just three hours earlier. (Technical problems actually plagued the entire Fool in Love festival, especially on the rotating Bounce stage, where the sound cut out repeatedly during Morris Day and War’s performances, the S.O.S. Band ended up not playing at all, and Cameo had their set cut short less than a minute into their signature song, “Word Up.”)
Chaka Khan, playing a too-short (and “I Feel for You”-free!) set on the Love stage, also dealt with sound issues, seemingly unable to hear herself in her monitors at times.
She was clearly annoyed, but the recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee never let the huge and appreciative afternoon crowd see her sweat –— literally, as she looked impossibly glamorous in her weather-inappropriate black leather — doing her best to showcase her superstar vocals on classics like “Tell Me Something Good,” “Sweet Thing,” “Through the Fire,” “I’m Every Woman,” and “Ain’t Nobody.”
Despite the grueling heat and technical snafus, Fool in Love was a fun, low-riding journey down memory lane, capped off by Lionel Richie’s hits-packed, razzle-dazzle, Vegas-style headlining revue.
But a special shoutout has to go to Nile Rodgers & Chic, whose dynamite divas Kimberly Davis and Audrey Martells kept the good times coming by not only belting the expected Chic classics but also Rodgers’s collaborations like David Bowie’s “Modern Love” and “Let’s Dance,” Beyoncé’s “Cuff It,” a first-time-ever live performance of Daft Punk’s “Lose Yourself to Dance,” queen of pop Madonna’s “Material Girl” and “Like a Virgin,” and Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family.” Freak out, indeed.
