What a day!  This was a birthday treat for which I had already received a whole batch of new soul CD's as presents,  in the morning England won the Rugby World Cup and in the afternoon Blackpool beat Peterborough away.  My mood was excellent before the main event, the Temptations and the Four Tops live at Bournemouth BIC.  It turned out to be a massive centre, probably the biggest indoor concert hall I have been in with every seat pretty well sold out.

It was the Temptations who took to the stage first, ably supported by a fourteen piece band.  The nine piece horn section they shared with the Tops, but the two keyboard players, drummer, bassist and guitar player were their own.  Their current line up was listed as Otis Williams, Ron Tyson, Terry Weeks, Joe Herndon and former Detroit Spinner G.C Cameron.  The big surprise was that only four took to the stage as one of them had been declared too ill to travel.  Whether this was Joe Herndon or Joe Herndon was the replacement was not made clear, but he was certainly the only member of the line-up I hadn't heard of.  Whoever he was he made ample vocal contribution from the wings on account that he had not had time to learn the routines and was therefore unable to take centre stage.

I was far too busy enjoying myself to bother with noting the order in which the songs were performed, but it is safe to say the show included every big hit they ever had.   They cleverly interleaved the slower ballads between the uptempo dance tracks and the funky songs from their psychedelic era.  This was probably done through necessity, because, lets face it, the Tempts aren't spring chickens anymore.  With the energy they were putting into their dance routines they certainly needed to include some breathers in between.  If I am to be critical I could point out that there were occasions when the odd one was out of sync on the dance routines, but there is no doubt that they were well rehearsed and nobody could fault their work ethic.  Maybe Otis's old bones were struggling to keep up, but whatever the reason it didn't spoil their act.  Once they left the stage huge sweat patches could clearly be seen on their turquoise jackets.  As the only remaining original Otis was given his own standing ovation for being a founder member and a true giant of soul music.   Excellent stuff with the group deserving every plaudit they received.

Following the break, the Tops took the stage.  They looked leaner, sleeker and more youthful than the Temptations.  Their line-up included original members Abdul Fakir and Renaldo Benson, joined by former Temptation Theo Peoples who has permanently replaced the deceased Lawrence Payton and Ronnie McNeir standing in for the ailing Levi Stubbs.  From the outset it was clear something was not right as the band struggled to find harmony with the group.  Theo Peoples took the main lead and he often found himself having to shout in order to bring the band in line.  The first five numbers were truly awful, and it was clear that the group were experiencing some technical difficulties.  It was some twenty minutes into the act before any harmony materialised.  Relative to the hard working Temps they were also lazy in their approach and apart from some side to side jolting there was little evidence of any choreography or practised routines.  Both indiscretions might have been forgiven had they planned their programme better, but most of the material was of their lesser known stuff, mainly from their Dunhill years.  They even included a Heatwave number for some inexplicable reason.  Their main Motown hits were crammed into a medley at the end.   I think most of the audience would have preferred the Dunhill material to be the Medley with massive hits like "Can't Help Myself" and "Reach Out" being sung in their full glory.  Technical problems can occur at anytime, but when several thousand people are paying  hefty admission prices every effort should have been taken to sort the glitches out.  I was looking forward to seeing the Tops so much, but in the final verdict, they could have done better.  None the less I hope they are back again next year by which time I hope to see them singing to their full potential.

Other criticism are not of the artists but of the general organisation.   Charging £7 for a 16 page programme is nothing short of scandalous and is clearly ripping off the fans.  BIC must also take some blame.  Many bars were closed during the interval and those kept open were inadequately manned.  I doubt if even half the people seeking refreshment were served before the performance re-started.  If profits were down then they only had themselves to blame.  This should have been a wonderful night to end a wonderful day, but in the end it fell a bit short.  Undoubtedly pleasant, but it had been marred by very avoidable niggles.