Richard Marx only plays the finest London venues when he comes over to the UK. Building on some memorable acoustic shows at the Union Chapel in Autumn 2022, he announced a fuller UK tour which culminated in this show at the Royal Albert Hall – a return to the scene of his first major show here in 1989, in the days when he still sported that magnificent mullet.

There was another American legend as support in John Oates, seated and acoustic with only a cajon and percussion player for company. The majority of the set was solo moments with an Americana vibe including opener ‘Arkansas’, the title track from his new album ‘Reunion’, ‘Keep Pushing’ and ‘Get Your Smile On’. They were all decent but a little laid back and their delivery undermined by an oddly muffled sound.

There was a solitary Hall and Oates great in ‘She’s Gone’, but plenty of covers including a John Prine song ‘Long Monday’, a Smokey Robinson medley including ‘Tracks Of My Tears’ and an uptempo rearrangement of ‘Wonderful World’. The two long-time collaborators have of course fallen out and are communicating only through the courts, but this underwhelming set was just as lacklustre as Daryl Hall’s at Hyde Park last year, suggesting that they would be better off hanging together than hanging separately.

Richard Marx came on in full electric mode, leading a four piece band. Whereas John Oates had been let down by the sound, this time the problem was with the lighting, specifically a spotlight that bathed his face in a ghostly white and it was ironic that the video screens – surely unnecessary at a venue this size – provided a clearer view.

After opening with the modern, even indie-ish ‘Believe In Me’, from 2022’s ‘Songwriter’ album, he rattled off a trio from his golden period of hits in ‘The Way She Loves Me’, ‘Take This Heart’ and ‘Angelia’, with off stage keyboards. However, the atmosphere, compared to the very special one at Union Chapel, was disappointing, being polite and muted at best.

A newer song ‘Only A Memory’ had a synthy pop feel before an old associate and a man very familiar with the Albert Hall, Eric Clapton’s bassist Nathan East, joined for ‘Keep Coming Back’ where the soul influences were dialled up and Richard’s falsetto was convincing.

‘Too Late To Say Goodbye’ was rearranged to be just played by Richard and the tousle-haired J. Blynn on twin acoustic guitars that combined together very well. After he played ‘When You Loved Me’ to a video backdrop of collaborating with his three sons, Richard told an interesting story about how the boys agreed the family should write together as a 60th birthday gift with a difference. The result, ‘Days to Remember’, was really good pop rock and a project they could be proud of.

Showing his other side as songwriting handmaiden to a dizzying variety of stars, he took to piano for ‘Dance With My Father’, written for Luther Vandross, before teasing with a snatch of Justin Timberlake and playing ‘This I Promise You’, which N’Sync had a big hit with, and then a Keith Urban song ‘Long Hot Summer’ which unexpectedly was one of the harder rocking of the night.

After that diversion, we were into hit territory for the rest of the night, beginning with that great story song ‘Hazard’, with some twangy guitar work from J. After humorously pleading that we did not ruin his ballads by singing along and playing snatches of ‘Maneater’ and ‘Summer of 69’, ‘Hold Onto The Nights’ and ‘Now And Forever’ were beautifully delivered by his perfectly pitched voice.

However the night now called for something edgier which we got with ‘Satisfied’, the band jamming out and Nathan making a return and by ‘Endless Summer Nights’ the seated floor and progressively more people in the stalls were getting to their feet. ‘Should Have Known Better’ was a full on rock out with J. playing speedily and pulling poses.

In a near two hour set time had flown by towards the curfew, but the encore was inevitable as Richard took to piano, teasing with a touch of ‘Fly Me To The Moon’ before a moving version of his big hit ‘Right Here Waiting’ culminating with his coming back out front to lead a full band climax.

I’ve joked about this before but there seems no end to Richard Marx’s talents – caustically witty, well preserved, and a family man. But above all its his talent as a songwriter and singer, which again stood out on an excellent night even if the muted atmosphere somewhat took the edge off the night for a while.

Review and Photos by Andy Nathan

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Power Plays w/c 9 December 2024

In this sequence we play ‘The Best of 2024′ GRTR! reviewer selections

Featured Albums w/c 9 December 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2024 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2024 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2024 (Singer Songwriter)