REVIEW: Lionel Richie, Say Hello to the Hits Tour at Utilita Arena, Sheffield

All that defying gravity, that rush of blood to the head… at 76 this month, Lionel Richie is still looking and sounding incredible.

Rising, messiah-like, in a cloud of dry ice for his opener – Hello, naturally – and strutting sexily down a runway stage to his huge back catalogue of hits from My Destiny to Stuck on You, he’s still got it.

He’s a living legend, the consummate pro, with a smooth charm honed over more than 50 years in the biz.

“Mighty glad y’all stuck around y’all,” he croons to the crowd in his Tuskegee, Alabama, drawl, referencing a career that has spanned seven decades.

The adoring audience whoops in return, joining in with the lyrics of every one of his songs. It’s a 90-minute singalong.

His look is reassuringly unchanged from whichever Lionel era it was that each fan first fell in love with his hits.

The show begins with a touching video montage of his ‘best bits’ from a career that began in 1968 with The Commodores.

There’s Lionel with his Oscar (for Say You, Say Me, 40 years ago this year), with Diana Ross (their duet Endless Love became his biggest hit), with Michael Jackson (the two co-wrote charity single We Are the World) and always, always, with his instantly-recognisable perfect moustache.

There’s fire, pyrotechnics, laser beams of light, and some brilliantly colourful video projections that elevate this outing from mere pop concert to super spectacular.

Lionel laughs with his band, jokes with the front row, and turns his searchlight on the very back of the arena to make sure all of his fans feel seen.

You get the feeling his patter about Sheffield being freezing cold might just be the same bit of banter he had with audiences in Scotland last week, but it doesn’t really matter. He’s engaging, warm, and utterly likeable.

The show is less tongue-in-cheek and self-deprecating than previous tours.

Lionel still has that knowing cheesiness – “If you don’t get lucky tonight after that, you’re with the wrong people,” he jokes to the crowd of couples following a romantic rendition of 1982 song Truly.

But the gig is primarily a retrospective, a fittingly eye-popping big arena show for a huge international star, an All Night Long chance to acknowledge Lionel’s longevity as the master singer-songwriter, pianist and performer.