Fool in Love seemed like, well, a foolhardy exercise in live music production when C3 Presents first announced the one-day mega-festival at Hollywood Park in Inglewood. How in the world would such an event even work, with 80-plus acts—including legends Lionel Richie, Diana Ross, Al Green, Smokey Robinson, Santana, Gladys Knight, George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic, and many more—crammed into 12 hours of programming across four stages?
Then again, if anyone was going to pull it off, it was C3. If the Austin, TX-based production company didn’t invent the art form of the single-day fest, it has certainly played a part in pushing its limits. After all, C3 is the brains and brawn behind When We Were Young, the emo festival that has become a staple of the live music calendar in Las Vegas.
Granted, Fool in Love targeted a decidedly distinct demographic. Instead of indulging the nostalgia of Millennials and Generation X, this event leaned all the way into the hearts (and pockets) of music-loving Boomers. So heavily, in fact, that attendees were allowed—if not outright encouraged—to bring their own seating to the parking lot-turned-festival grounds.
Not that the more seasoned set was the only one to turn out for Fool in Love. Fans across generations heeded the call to see some of the greats of R&B, soul, gospel, Latin jazz, and beyond perform live—in some cases, perhaps for the last time.
The Saturday of Labor Day Weekend kicked off with many a Motown alum, including The Spinners, The Jacksons, and The Pointer Sisters. Those lineups, like many on the day, were diminished by time but still brought plenty of hits to bear to their succinct sets.
Dionne Warwick was the first bona fide diva to appear that day. The 83-year-old Rock & Roll Hall of Famer serenaded the early crowd with Burt Bacharach standards like “Walk on By”, “What The World Needs Now is Love”, and “That’s What Friends Are For”, along with a medley of hits, including “I Say a Little Prayer”. For much of her 30 minutes on the Fool stage, Dionne was accompanied by her son, David Elliott. Dionne was hardly the last or only diva to grace Fool in Love with her divine presence.
Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan went back-to-back between the Fool and Love stages, respectively. The former garnered an introduction from Texas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett before diving into a short but sweet set punctuated by “Midnight Train to Georgia”. The latter, known to many as the “Queen of Funk,” ticked through both Rufus classics—including “Do You Love What You Feel” and “Tell Me Something Good”—and her solo hits, from “Sweet Thing” and “Through the Fire” to “I’m Every Woman” and “Ain’t Nobody”.
Chaka Khan — Fool In Love — Inglewood, CA — 8/31/24 — Partial Video
[Video: Broadcast Houston (Culture)]
Diana Ross earned one of the few full-sized sets of the day, and made the most of her extended time on the Love stage. The 80-year-old icon wound all the way back to her Supremes days with “Baby Love”, “Stop! In the Name of Love”, and “You Can’t Hurry Love”; highlighted her solo catalog by way of “I’m Coming Out”, “Upside Down”, and “Love Hangover”; afforded time to her Hollywood hits, including “Ease on Down the Road” from The Wiz and the theme from Mahogany; and paid her respects to her forebears and contemporaries with Billie Holiday’s “Don’t Explain”, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers’ “Why Do Fools Fall in Love”, Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”, and her own version of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell’s “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. All while squeezing in a series of costume changes, no less.
That still left ample opportunity for her male counterparts to strut their stuff.
Diana Ross — Fool In Love — Inglewood, CA — 8/31/24 — Partial Video
[Video: Broadcast Houston (Culture)]
Charlie Wilson was as smooth as ever on the Fool stage, and even introduced his granddaughter to the audience. Fans crammed into the Cruisin stage for back-to-back sets by Smokey Robinson and Al Green. Smokey delighted attendees with The Miracles’ “I Second That Emotion” and “You’ve Really Got a Hold on Me”, and warmed up the stage for The Temptations with a cover of “My Girl”.
Al, too, teased a taste of “My Girl” amid a smooth setlist that looped in “Let’s Stay Together”, “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart”, “Tired of Being Alone”, “I’m Still in Love With You”, and “Love and Happiness”. Along the way, the 78-year-old smiled and traversed the jam-packed stage as he tossed roses into the crowd.
Lionel Richie topped off the festival with his own hit-filled set. The 75-year-old R&B legend led off with “Hello”, mixed in solo hits like “Dancing on the Ceiling” and “All Night Long (All Night)”, and brought back the 1980s charity classic, “We Are the World”. He even reprised a handful of songs from The Commodores—among them, “Easy”, “Brick House”, “Three Times a Lady”, and “Zoom”—hours after his former bandmates put on their own abbreviated set on the Cruisin stage.
Beyond Lionel’s previous compatriots, Fool in Love brought together plenty of other memorable singing groups from the mid-20th century.
Lionel Richie — Fool In Love — Inglewood, CA — 8/31/24 — Partial Video
[Video: Broadcast Houston (Culture)]
The early afternoon sun shone brightly on the succession of The Emotions (“Boogie Wonderland”, “Best of My Love”), The O’Jays (“Back Stabbers”, “For The Love of Money”, “Love Train”), The Whispers (“And the Beat Goes On”, “Rock Steady”), and The Isley Brothers (“That Lady”, “Between the Sheets”), the last of whom were celebrating a whopping 65 years in music.
Perhaps no such group brought more excitement and nostalgia to the table than The Temptations. Fans packed the Cruisin stage to sing along to Motown staples like “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone”, “Get Ready”, “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg”, “Ball of Confusion”, and “My Girl”.
The Temptations — Fool In Love — Inglewood, CA — 8/31/24 — Partial Video
[Video: KINGS OF RNB]
For those seeking Latin rhythms, Fool in Love provided some spectacular options, chief among them Los Lobos and Santana. The latter, in particular, reprised much of their setlist from a performance at the nearby Kia Forum earlier in the week, including beloved earworms like “Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen”, “Oye como va”, “Maria Maria”, and “Smooth”.
Related: Santana Puts Family Legacy On ‘Supernatural’ Display At L.A.’s Kia Forum [Videos]
Disco certainly had its day, as well, thanks to Nile Rodgers and Chic, among others. They got the Love stage crowd moving and grooving to originals like “Le Freak”, “Everybody Dance”, “Dance, Dance, Dance”, and “I Want Your Love” before expanding into Niles’ songwriting repertoire, including Madonna’s “Material Girl”, Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family”, Beyoncé’s “CUFF IT”, Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”, and David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”.
The biggest party of all came courtesy of George Clinton & Parliament-Funkadelic. Years after claiming he’d call it quits, the 83-year-old Afrofuturist pioneer was still at it on the Bounce stage, surrounded by plenty of P-Funk support. He and his bandmates stretched “(Not Just) Knee Deep”, “Flash Light”, “One Nation Under a Groove”, “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker)”, and “Atomic Dog” into a 45-minute set, complete with all manner of dancers and a guitarist who managed to misplace his pants.
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic — Fool In Love — Inglewood, CA — 8/31/24 — Partial Video
[Video: Broadcast Houston (Culture)]
The best set of the day, though? That honor arguably belongs to one of the more modern acts: Durand Jones and The Indications. After a nearly two-year hiatus, the retro-soul band returned to entertain attendees at the Cruisin stage with contemporary R&B favorites like “Circles”, “Ride or Die”, “Is It Any Wonder?”, and “Cruisin’ to the Park”.
This, after the band’s main vocalists—lead singer Durand Jones and drummer Aaron Frazer—piloted their own mini solo sets on the same stage earlier in the day. Altogether, they did the most to prove that the genres comprising Fool in Love do, in fact, have a future beyond whatever expiration may be ahead for the festival’s numerous legacy acts.
Whether that’s enough to warrant a follow-up next year remains to be seen. For now, Angelenos of all ages who made it to Inglewood over Labor Day Weekend can ride high knowing that what they witnessed may well go down as a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Check out a gallery of photos from Fool in Love by Josh Martin below.
The post Lionel Richie, Diana Ross Light Up Inglewood’s Fool In Love Festival With Funk, Soul, R&B Legends [Photos/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
