It’s the love month, and Frankie Beverly & Maze and the Isley Brothers want to be a part of your romantic plans. On Saturday, February 18, the beloved Frankie Beverly & Maze, and the kings of the love ballads, and two-time GRAMMY Award winners, the Isley Brothers, will take the stage at the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park in Inglewood.
Longevity is the name of the game for both groups, and you can’t imagine a decade where they were not a part of the soundtrack of your life. In the 1970s, Maze relocated from Philadelphia to San Francisco and, as fate would have it, met and toured with the legendary Marvin Gaye. As the story goes, Gaye encouraged the group to change their name to Maze, and the hits began to roll in.
For its legions of fans, Maze has a distinctive sound that inspires you to get out of your seat and dance the night away. Its iconic leader Frankie Beverly, always resplendent in white (and don’t you forget to wear yours), leads the vocals, and the band’s silky grooves are immediately recognizable. Ask anyone who loves R&B, and they will tell you that you must experience Maze – Live. You want to find a happy place – attend a live Maze show, and you are guaranteed at least one happy dance.
Good fortune has always hovered over the band, and we all remember when the queen of all queens, Beyonce, introduced their unique sound to a younger audience when she paid homage to Maze, releasing her version of their mega-hit, Before I Let Go.
And one more tidbit, a Maze concert sing-along happens spontaneously, and I would encourage you to brush up on their lyrics before coming to the YouTube theater. Who can blame fans as they belt out Happy Feelin’s, Golden Time of Day, Southern Girl, Joy & Pain, We are One, and a list of hits that would take up more space than what’s available for this article.
The point, a Frankie Beverly and Maze concert is an experience that many repeat again and again, and if you are a first-timer, the question is: where have you been?
The music of the Isley Brothers has been a part of our lives for over 60 years. They hail from the ‘Nati (Cincinnati that is), and the current group consists of two original members. Ronald Isley, the lead vocalist, who also performs under the alter-ego of Mr. Biggs and Ernie Isley, the shredding guitarist. His play is described as “effortlessly cool.” Ernie Isley grew up in the same house as the guitar guru, Jimi Hendrix, and credits his success on guitar to the early guidance of Hendrix. And no one can sing a ballad like Ronald Isley, absolutely no one. He is the quintessential valentine’s gift.
The Isley Brothers are single-handedly responsible for some of the greatest R&B love songs. When you think of the popular Quiet Storm programming that swept the radio airways during the early 1970s to the 1990s, a mixture of slow jams played at night, and the songs of the Isleys Brothers were heavily featured.
Their songs have stood the test of time, and concertgoers are in for a real treat.
In 1970, the Isleys won their first GRAMMY Ò Award for It’s Your Thing. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992, followed by a 2014 GRAMMY Ò Lifetime Achievement Award for a myriad of hits: Between the Sheets, Make Me Say Again, Voyage to Atlantis, Footsteps in the Dark, That Lady, Harvest for the World, Choosey Lover, Summer Breeze and a host of other hits.
For ticket information and the perfect Valentine’s Day gift, visit ticketmaster.com.
