REVIEW: An Evening with Dionne Warwick: The Enduring Elegance of a Musical Icon
6/20 @ The Egg, Albany
Photos by Elissa Ebersold
“You almost forget how many hits [Warwick] is responsible for, each song leaving you wondering, ‘That MUST be the last one!’”
The Empire State Plaza’s Center for the Performing Arts—or more simply, The Egg—is set to undergo a major renovation soon, leaving us without its formidable influence for six to eight months. (Let’s hope it’s the former.) Under Executive Director Diane Eber’s tutelage, this project is one of many to make an already exemplary venue even better. And while we will miss the programming during this time, the saying is - quite exactly - you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs.
To honor this looming respite, The Egg hosted the legendary Dionne Warwick on one of its final nights, complete with a reception for special guests before Warwick brought her One Last Time tour to our fair city. The show was part of The Egg's "last hurrah" before renovations begin.
From the moment anticipation electrified the auditorium, it was clear that experiencing Warwick live is more than a concert – it is an immersion into living music history. For decades, her voice has woven through the fabric of popular culture, telling stories of love, heartbreak, and resilience. And though Warwick is 84 years old, there was nothing to show for it other than wisdom, charisma and wit.
But first, The Capital Region Jubilee Ensemble opened the show. The ensemble is comprised of music ministers and singers from the Metropolitan NTM Baptist Church and the Sweet Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church and set a joyous and soulful tone for an unforgettable night. Having that homegrown talent and spirit represent the district was nothing short of sanctified.
When Warwick took the stage, she flowed through the first half of her set with a slight crossfade you might find on your streaming device settings. Not waiting for the applause to end, she gave a powerful one-two punch that you couldn’t recover from before three, four and five landed. You almost forget how many hits she is responsible for, each song leaving you wondering, “That MUST be the last one!” because where do you go from here?
She told a few stories after the first seven or eight songs, and took time to graciously introduce her boffo band who are as sharp and tight as only a legend of her caliber deserves.
Highlights included “I’ll Never Love This Way Again”, which she invited the audience to join in singing. They responded accordingly but seemingly withdrew to not miss whatever improvisational direction Warwick was going to take. We mustn’t influence or pigeonhole an icon. At the end, the audience was thrust to its feet for the first of many ovations.
She began a story about a young man who used to be her duet partner before he left music to become a police officer in LA, then a deep-sea diver in Honduras, then a licensed pilot, each time with a phone call to inform her of the latest pivot. She spoke of him with such pride that it wasn’t a complete surprise that she then revealed he was her son and invited him to join her on stage. Genetics did not fail this man.
They sang together on “I Say A Little Prayer For You” (surely THIS was the finale?) and bantered back and forth for the last note of the song where she kept remarking she was not ready yet as she swayed back and forth. Her son, David Elliot, stood behind the piano to give his mother all the attention while encouraging her to hit the note he knew she could hit. And boy, did she.
Warwick excused her son for “What The World Needs Now Is Love” which engaged every audience member inside and out, before he returned to the stage for the finale, “That’s What Friends Are For”. Here, she was once again reaching for notes—perhaps inspired again by her youthful spawn—in an attempt to peel the shell off of our beloved Egg and make it easier for the renovations to begin and tremendous shows like this to come back as soon as possible.
Thank you, Dionne Warwick, for favoring us with your company and the apropos, symbiotic swan song for this iconic occasion.
