“Disco Inferno” Incredible Concert and Disco Costume Contest Preview at the Greek Theater (8/19/06)
A Boogie Night in the Inferno—Disco Style!
We had the groovy pleasure of attending the Greek Theater Disco Inferno concert last Saturday evening (Aug 19th), and it more than lived up to its hype! Yes, on a perfect late summer’s night, we were taken back to our childhood in the 70’s; a fun, almost care-free time, especially in light of the current situation of the world.
The first act was the dynamic duo known as A Taste of Honey, who are best known for their classic hit “Boogie, Oogie, Oogie,” which, ironically, is a personal favorite disco song. We instantly flashed back to the days of hot girls wearing sequined tube tops and satin pants dancing with boofy-haired studly guys sporting polyester suits highlighted by very unbuttoned shirts and shiny gold chains (what we might now refer to as “bling”).
After a few more fun songs, the next performer followed: Yvonne Elliman, singer of the legendary disco classic “If I Can’t Have You,” which was prominently featured in another hallmark of the disco era–Saturday Night Fever. Her voice sounded as fresh as ever, and it really made me feel like dancing (of course everyone with legs was standing at this point, as they actually were during much of the entire extravaganza). She also surprised me with another beautiful song, “I Don’t Know How To Love Him,” which was featured in another big 70’s play (and, later, movie) Jesus Christ Superstar.
The show continued with another chart-topping disco trio of the 70’s, the sensational Sister Sledge, best known for their legendary smash “We Are Family.” When hearing this song, we were again transported back to the summer of ’79, when it seemed as if MY family and I heard it every hour “on the radio” (whoa, oh, oh, oh) it was so huge while soaking up the sun (without sun block—you didn’t need it back then the ozone was still so strong) lying out in our backyard pool by day and later barbequing by night. We also reminisced to the way this hit was later used that year as a sports anthem for the Willie Stargell-led World Series champion Pittsburgh Pirates. Also worth noting was how amazingly young and fit these ladies still looked, as well as their next best-known hit, “The Greatest Dancer,” which Will Smith recently used as a sample in one of his biggest hits, “Gettin’ Jiggy With It.”
Perhaps the best known male group (besides the Bee Gees, of course) of the 70’s disco era, The Village People, were up next, and we feel they truly stole the show! Talk about a crowd pleaser! Everybody could be heard singing along to their classic tunes of “In The Navy” (which also featured a nice salute to all our men and women serving in the armed forces) and “Macho Man.” Of course, even these two crowd favorites paled in comparison to this truly “motley crew’s” (sorry Tommy Lee and Vince Neal, these guys beat you to it) biggest hit of all, “YMCA.” If we go to bar mitzvahs and weddings every day for the rest of our lives, we still don’t think you’ll ever see such a big crowd participation in this guilty pleasure of a song! Yes, there they were- the cowboy, the construction worker, the Indian, the biker, the army guy, and the lead singer cop doing their thing as well as ever!
That then leads me to the final act—Chic, featuring legendary musical producer Nile Rodgers on guitar. Their 10 piece group were high energy and their sound was extremely tight. They were so much fun and professional to the best! This head-liner act definitely gave the show a strong finish and left us looking forward to next year’s event. Among their best hits were “Freak Out,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” and “Good Times,” with which they closed out the show (and how fitting, considering that the 70’s, from what we remember, anyway, of our first 10 years on this planet, were pretty much for the most part a lot of good times!). Chic also played many songs during the night that Nile Rodgers wrote for other groups such as Sister Sledge and Dianna Ross.
The packed (probably sold-out if we had to guess) crowd included many fans (such as Lon in his crushed burgundy with zebra-striped lapels and sleeves pimp suit) adorned in disco-style garb such as Afro wigs, hip huggers, polyester suits (pimp and non-pimp), mini dresses, go-go boots, etc.. In fact, there was even a costume contest amongst 5 lucky audience members, with the winner getting to spend the second half of the show in the front row! All in all, another fantastic show that we can’t wait to see again next year!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(323) 817-6108
Chic starring
Village People
Sister Sledge
Taste of Honey
Yvonne Elliman
Pre Disco Costume Contest
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SATURDAY, AUGUST 19 at
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TICKETS ON
Tickets available at all Ticketmaster outlets including Tower Records, Wherehouse Music,
Robinsons-May and Ritmo Latino. To charge by phone, call (213) 480-3232 or (714) 740-2000.
Tickets can also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com or at The Greek Theatre Box Office.