BY TER STAFF
Lionel Richie brought decades of hits to the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, IL last night. As part of his headlining Hello Tour, the ‘All Night Long’ singer scheduled a two night residency for the popular summer destination, and he did not disappoint.
Delivering as many jokes as he did number one records, Richie instantly poked light-hearted fun at the Chicago-area festival. “I’m told there are another 400,000 of you on the grass. This is the strangest seating arrangement I’ve ever seen in my life,” Richie joked with the crowd.
“When they said there’s another group of people somewhere else, I said ‘what kind of place is this?’ This could catch on in my neighborhood. I just play in my living room and you all sit outside and buy tickets.”
Making fans laugh at what makes Ravinia so great and unique (an outdoor festival which consists of a pavilion and extended lawn area where many fans don’t have a direct view of the artist), Lionel Richie also had us cracking up with his battles with bugs between performances, even causing one fan to toss bug repellant onto the stage, a first for Richie. But while the jokes were worth the price of admission alone, the night wouldn’t have been complete without hearing the singer’s catalog of hits.
From his classics with the Commodores, like ‘Brick House’ and ‘Easy’ (which kicked off Tuesday’s performance), to his solo hit singles like ‘All Night Long’ and ‘Hello’, there was no shortage of classic performances throughout the night. With a performance that good, one night is not enough, so thankfully Lionel Richie will bring night two to the Ravinia tonight (6/12).
Check out our photos from night one of Lionel Richie’s two night residency at the Ravinia Festival below and check out Ravinia’s remaining schedule here.
Photos by Dan Garcia/The Early Registration
The Early Registration 