Pop : Gladys Knight: Pip-Less Songs Are More Work

Gladys Knight has been working without the Pips for a while now, but the experience is still hard to handle for those with vivid memories of the old days.

Two women and a male took over the doo-wop backup chores at Knight’s concert Saturday at the Universal Amphitheatre, but her old partners the Pips did more than just sing. They were foils for Knight’s amusing quips, her colleagues in cutting up. The fun generated by the comedic interplay is gone. And no one could surround and complement Knight’s voice the way the Pips could.

Knight has to work harder to connect with the audience these days, something that happened immediately and effortlessly in the Pips era. But her show works because she’s still a terrific singer. Since the old Motown days she has continually smoothed out her style, sanding off those rough gospel edges and turning into a very soulful pop singer. Instead of using all-out attacks, she now delivers her message in a more mature way, through subtleties and nuances.

This was essentially a Las Vegas-type show, complete with her hits, assorted Motown oldies and schmaltzy ballads, like “Wing Beneath My Wings” and “Beauty and the Beast.”

The pop-R&B; vocal trio After 7 opened the show and was plagued by sound glitches--mostly annoying feedback. But that wasn’t their only problem. Despite the considerable vocal talent of Keith Mitchell and brothers Kevon and Melvin Edmonds, their set was never more than just passable.

This is a modern, R-rated version of a 1960s doo-wop group, mostly crooning sexy, romantic ballads aimed at female fans in their late teens and 20s. For several reasons, they never connected with the audience at a gut level.

One problem is lack of killer material. Another is facelessness, with no one projecting a dominant personality. After 7, which relies heavily on cliches from the 1960s Motown era, simply isn’t distinctive enough.