UK Tour review - Soul-patrol

Going to see the Chi Lites? You will have a great time. So said a number of folks in my soul circle.
So I was expecting a good show with loads of hits and a chance for us in the UK to pay tribute to those staples of Chicago Soul from the Brunswick days of Eugene Record and Barbara Acklin, the Chicago of Curtis Mayfield, Gene Chandler and Jerry Butler. So inevitably I was just expecting a very enjoyable oldies show in essence. So a great great time was indeed going to be had.
What I actually saw was a fantastic return to the UK by the present line up of Chi Lites that surpassed anything I had assumed. The sound they recreated ( the fantastic Frank Read lead vocal) was so so close to the original hits all delivered with a vitality and with a seemingly long lost skill of many present entertainers, that being the ability to actually entertain the audience. The ability to put on a show and take the audience along with with songs that got ever increasing whoops of joy to the opening bars of well remembered songs from the devoted audience.
Looking uber cool in orange zoot suits a la Cab Calloway they got applause just for the stage uniforms.
At 51 years as a Chi Lite Marshall Thompson has picked up the baton from Eugene Record and is running with it, taking the lead in many more songs he than he ever did in the 70`s. Also on new songs like "Hold on to your dreams" he took the audience on a soul trip that had many ( including me) wiping tears from their eyes. With the closing stanza he took the UK audience "back to Church" with a powerful emotive performance.
All the hits were there with a well selected set list that also included a couple of Temptations classics that some reviews have questioned the validity of , but for me they fitted in perfectly serving as a way of increasing the sense of contact with the audience. The stand out tunes that got the most appreciative reaction from the capacity crowd were "Power to the people" "Have you seen her" "Homely girl" "I found Sunshine" "Stoned out of my mind" "To good to be forgotten" and of course "Oh Girl".
Along with Marshall the 'last man standing', with 51 years service, was Frank Read with over 25 years service and I was pleasantly surprised to see Fred Simon made up the third member carrying the all important bass duties, as I knew of Fred in his 'Lost Generation' days. As Marshall said ,Fred had only been in the Chi Lites a little over two years but Marshall had known him for over 40 years.
Marshall knew I was in the audience as we had been emailing each other but imagine my delight and surprise that during the closing moments for the show, as a triumphant Chi Lites enthusiastically shook hands from the stage with the fans who at that point crowded to the edge of the stage to thank and greet the great Chi-Lites, he gave a shout out to Soul Patrol.
Twice he called out "Hey Soul Patrol..Where you at?"
I was able to spend some time with Marshall after the show and found him a true gentleman that talked with great knowledge of the music of Chicago and, of course, the Chi -lites history that I found fascinating. His support for Bob and the Soul Patrol members was obvious and he especially asked me to say hi to Bob on his behalf.
So in essence, I was always a fan of The Chi Lites since I first played the siren intro to "(For Gods Sake) Give more power to the people" in the 70's but I am now an even greater fan and happy to be the friend of a true legend, a Chi Lite for an amazing half a century and still out there doing it.
This was the first tour by the group in the UK for over 24 years and I truly hope its not to long before we can welcome them back again to these shores.
Thank you Soul Patrol and thank you Marshall.
Alan UK