Two of the most successful groups in black music history — The Temptations and The Spinners — doo-wopped their way into the hearts of a new generation with their definitive vocals, smooth choreography and world-famous grace when they shared the bill at New York’s newest intimate concert venue — CenterStage at Aviator Brooklyn, on the spacious grounds of historic Floyd Bennett Field.
The Motown legends, whose lush harmonies and funky flair helped shape a new genre of music during the ’60s and ’70s, proved the old stage magic never left them as they regaled the swooning crowd with a string of their sweetest hits at CenterStage’s WCBS-FM September concert series.
With Aviator trainer and fitness coach Sean Riley and Brooklyn’s own Joe Causi as emcees, Temptations’ lead singer Dennis Edwards, of “My Girl” and “I Can’t Get Next to You” fame, joined Bobbie Smith, his counterpart from the Spinners whose heart-stopping falsetto, intricate vocals and lightly funky rhythms produced such hits as “I’ll Be Around” and “Could It Be I’m Fallin’ in Love,” in bringing down the packed house down with their effortlessly smooth deliveries.
“They really had the place rocking, there wasn’t one person who wasn’t singing and dancing along, it was a real, real tight show,” enthused Canarsie resident Ken Braunstein, who said he couldn’t resist exercising his own ivories and toes during the “magical night.”
CenterStage at Aviator Brooklyn [Exit 11S (Flatbush Avenue South) off the Belt Parkway] will present Brooklyn’s Own Eddie Money in a Benefit for The Wounded Warrior Project, September 25 at 7:30 pm; for tickets, visit Frontgate.com, or call 888-512-Show, or 718-758-7556.
— Shavana Abruzzo
