Concert of Colors – Free World Music Festival (Don Was All-Star Revue)
July 14th, 2019-Concert Review-Detroit
by Kenny Kulpa
This was Metro Detroit’s 27th Annual Diversity Festival called Concert of Colors.
It’s 9 days of free concerts, spoken word, documentaries, yoga and this year free Afro-Cuban dance lessons.
It’s all held in Detroit’s midtown area at various locations and a few concerts performed at the world-famous Detroit Institute of Art. One of the highlights of the 9 days of events was the “Don Was All-Star Revue.”
Mr. Was (aka Don Fagenson), four-time Grammy winner and producer assembled a who’s who of Detroit area musicians, it was an all-star studded cast. The theme, Motown’s 60th anniversary.
This year he brought in some of his old bandmates. Sweet Pea Atkinson, Sir Henry Bowen, and Donald Ray Mitchell on vocals and back up.
Luis Resto on keyboards, Oscar and Grammy winner for his work with Eminem.
David McMurray who’s touring with Kid Rock on sax, (what a gentleman-all around nice guy and one hell of a sax player).
A total of 12 musicians on stage, two drummers which I loved, both in complete sync with each other.
It was a packed house standing room only, people were turned away.
There were many highlights from the concert most notably, the only original members left in a Motown act, The Velvelettes.
They performed a couple of their hits, my favorite “Needle in a Haystack” (She-doop, she-doop, la la).
Dennis Coffey one of the great Funk Brothers guitarists started with that wah-wah sound on his guitar, “Cloud Nine” his first song he played on at Motown Records. With the help of Sweet Pea, Sir Henry and Donald Ray Mitchell signing the vocals.
Next “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” which got everyone singing and dancing, the horn section was incredible on that song.
Another highlight was Mitch Ryder doing a slower, bluesy version of Shorty Long’s song “Devil with a Blue Dress”.
Mitch ended the song down on his knee’s crawling off the stage, he needed help getting up. He came back out and said “I thought I was having a heart attack” jokingly, he was all right.
Martha Reeves and the Vandellas closed the show with “Dancing in the Street” which was very apropos for an awesome night of music in the Motor City.
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