My Grandmother Escorted me to My First Concert, The Ms. Patti Labelle!
“Say My Name”. “Patti Patti”. Let’s talk about it.
I’m sitting home on YouTube scrolling through reels and I come across the beautiful voice of Our Honorable Queen Mother Patti Labelle. After being mesmerized with her voice for a minute or two I had a thought…“It would be nice to go to a Patti concert “. I immediately began to look and see if there was a concert somewhere close and if it didn’t cost too much, maybe I can go. Fingers crossed…
Our Living Legend
Queen Mother Patti LaBelle has been a staple in the music industry for decades, earning her the title of “The Godmother of Soul.” From her chart-topping hits in the 1960s to her current Grammy-winning collaborations, LaBelle has had a long and successful career.
Her career began as a member of the group Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles. The with popular hits, including “Lady Marmalade” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” In a solo career, Queen Mother, released her debut album, “Patti LaBelle,” in 1977. The album was a huge success, spawning singles such as “If Only You Knew,” “Love Need and Want You,” and “New Attitude.”. The solo career skyrocketed and as several more hit albums were released in the 1980s and 1990s, including “Winner in You” and “Burnin’.”
In 2004, her first gospel album, “The Gospel According to Patti LaBelle was a huge success, topping the Gospel Albums chart and earning QM her first Grammy Award. She has continued to release gospel albums, including her most recent album, “Bel Hommage,” in 2017.
Throughout her career, she has received numerous awards and accolades; Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, numerous Grammy Awards, several honors for her humanitarian work, the NAACP Image Award, the Starlight Foundation’s Humanitarian Award, and the BET Lifetime Achievement Award. She has also made several television and film appearances, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, “The Parkers” and has had small roles in films like “A Rage in Harlem” and “Boomerang.”
At the age of 73, LaBelle is still performing and recording music and touring. Her voice is as powerful as ever, and loyal and devoted fans. Queen Mother LaBelle’s career is nothing short of legendary, and she is an inspiration to many.
Let’s state it. Ms. Patti Labelle is a living legend and if there was anyone to spend my money on, it’s her. There aren’t many artists that I would pay to see in concert. I would opt to go to a comedy show first. But , if there was an artist who deserves my money and presence, it would be the likes of Patti and dem’ (respectfully).
But here I am googling Patti Labelle in concert. Would you believe she was performing in my city in less than 2 weeks? I got excited and honored that my very first live music (indoor, formal) concert is going to be the Legendary Patti Labelle and I would be able to see her perform. *Side note- My very first concert was Buju Banton’s Prison Release Concert in Jamaica in 2019. A blog post is coming about that trip.
I contained my excitement, while I clicked my seat choice, then waited for the price to pop up. The tickets ranged from around $100- $700(vip). Our seats were great, so far. I got more excited knowing I could afford it to go. I was disappointed that the good seats were as expensive as they were, at first. But it is, “The Miss Patti to The Labelle” so I’d better recognize.
When You’ve Been Blessed
I secured to seats thinking, “WOWW, my Grandmother would love this”. So I called her and asked her to take off for that day and she obliged. My Grandmother is not the type to take off work at the young age of her age, and I was happy and grateful she was trusting me with her time. I kept the secret of where we were going, hoping to surprise her on the day. My Mother and my Uncle are the only people I told (close to her). They were excited, said she is going to love it, and promised to not tell her. Grandma tried to trick my Mother into telling her, but caught on. Grandma laughed guiltily when my Mother’s tone revealed she cause see through her trick, my Mother shared with me later.
If You Don’t Know Me By Now
The week before, we went searching. My first thought was to surprise her with a beautiful dress, but Grandma is very particular, so that was not going to fly with her. So, off to the department store we went, together. With all my excitement, started to prepare in my mind. I would take her shopping to get a nice outfit and shoes, get her hair and nails done the day of, and have my sister beat her face(makeup), to perfection.
Somebody Loves You Baby (You Know Who It Is)
Grandma tried on her favorites. She tried on dress after dress after suit. Until we finally decided on her look for the concert. And she looked fabulous! We planned to go to another store the next day because she wanted options. I was fine with that. I love shopping, especially with Grandma. She is such a joy. Here are some of the other looks she tried on.
Ain’t No Way
Me on the other hand, I brought at least 15 changes into the dressing room, and ended up taking not one piece home. In my opinion, the selection of clothes these days are less than satisfactory in quality. They are cheaply made with cheap fabrics and they give you a false representation of how the clothes will fit on you, plus, they don’t last. In this particular store, this was the case. I have plenty of choices at home. I will be closet shopping!
Stay tuned for posts from the concert and what we both decided to wear to see Lady Marmalade.
