It was cold as heck out in Auckland last night but you better believe that funk maestro Nile Rodgers brought the heat to Spark Arena.
To put it simply, Rodgers is the man. And the reason why I ignored both the Civil Defense extreme weather warning and all common sense to brave the elements and get to the show.
As co-founder and guitarist for - in his words - the "R&B, soul, dance, funk, disco, whatever you want to call us," band Chic, Rodgers has laid down some of the grooviest, straight up funkiest, most infectious, guitar licks of all time and devoted his life to getting you shaking what ya mumma gave ya.
So it's appropriate the show kicked off with Everybody Dance. And yes, everybody did. To really hammer the point home they followed that with Chic's first big hit Dance, Dance, Dance (Yowsah, Yowsah, Yowsah).
Chic really are the ultimate party band, their slick and upbeat disco funk all about having fun and cutting loose on the d-floor. And that's exactly how it went down. The seats in the arena were left unloved and really just got in the way.
"Are you ready to take this party to a whole other level?" Rodgers asked after an insane funk odyssey through Get Lucky, his recent Daft Punk collaboration that started with a moving story about his recent fight and victory over cancer - "I believe it saved my life," he would say of the song - and right before the band launched into Let's Dance, the brilliant collaboration that made the already famous David Bowie a true superstar in 1983.
The set list was a true hit fest, and saw Rodgers and his crack band not just running through those legendary Chic numbers but also taking on a sprinkling of the smash songs he's penned for others, including Diana Ross' I'm Coming Out, Madonna's Like a Virgin and Sister Sledge's We are Family.
Looking dapper in a stylish floral white jacket/white pant combo and rocking around the stage with his treasured Stratocaster, Rodgers was beaming as Chic unleashed their own big guns to end a triumphant set with Le Freak and Good Times.
A simple 'Hello' introduced Lionel Richie to the stage. His red bejewelled jacket sparkling as he sat at a grand piano and struck the opening chords of Easy.
And easy, is exactly how he made it look. Richie was effortlessly relaxed, a true showman and something of a raconteur.
Before dropping the hard funk of Brick House, a hit for his former band The Commodores, he joked about the technological advances of cellphones.
"The Commodores never would have been The Commodores if we had a telephone with a camera in it. We'd be in jail that's where we'd be!" he laughed. "Can you imagine? Studio 54 with a camera in a telephone... Everybody's going to jail! Anyway let me get back to the show. I got side tracked."
Richie was a lot of fun. Ad-libbing, cracking jokes, telling stories and playing and singing masterfully.
After Easy he said, "My job is only to do one thing. I'm here to play all the hits. All. Night. Long." and he excelled at his job. His set found room for his catalogue of lively hits and for those slow jams that, as he put it, "made you either fall in love, get married, or get in a lot of trouble".
Amongst others he played Three Times a Lady, Fancy Dancer, Say You Say Me, Dancing on the Ceiling, All Night Long, and, of course a show stopping rendition of Hello.
"Who needs Diana?" he asked as he launched into Endless Love, his duet with Ms. Ross. For her parts, he'd quickly feed the crowd the lines to sing. In theory this sounds completely awful. In practice, it was simply amazing to hear the full arena bellowing those famous lyrics back at him. Even the high parts.
Things got a little cheesy on some of those slower numbers, yes, but that was part of the charm. But when the big screens showed couples hugging and swaying together, before eventually resting on a gruff looking oldie, eyes closed and slow dancing with his woman well, you couldn't begrudge the sentiment.
His band was, as expected, jam hot. At times his bowler hatted saxophonist threatened to steal the show, his blaring sax solos were often brilliant. And special mention goes to Richie's guitarist who looked like he belonged in Guns N' Roses circa 1987 and played like it too.
As a double bill it really doesn't get much better. It was a relentlessly sensational onslaught of smash hit songs performed by two living legends and their respective bands of seriously skilled musos.
From the night's first beat to its final flourish the atmosphere was spirited and just plain fun. Good times? You bet.
*Lionel Richie plays Horncastle Arena, Christchurch, on Sunday night.
