LaBelle’s Unique Show of Force: Power and Precision

There is no other singer in the world like Patti LaBelle. In fact, she’s more than a singer. She’s a force of nature.

As the headliner on Thursday at the Pantages Theatre, LaBelle attacked every song she sang until she beat it into submission. That implies overkill, but somehow when LaBelle does it, every shiver-inducing vocal inflection lands with beauty and precision.

Disarmingly, the 55-year-old soulstress talked and joked with her near-capacity audience almost as much as she sang. Completely at home on stage, LaBelle is so lacking in show-biz pretension that she can make a concert setting feel as intimate as an impromptu family gathering.

The consensus may be that Aretha Franklin still has a firm grip on the Queen of Soul crown. But as she powerfully emoted on “Isn’t It a Shame” and ventured into a rafter-shaking rendition of Deborah Cox’s recent R&B; hit, “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” LaBelle confirmed that her own talent is second to none.

On the other hand, opening act Chaka Khan just seemed to be going through the motions during her set. Clad in a curve-hugging velvet jumpsuit, her voluminous hair as leonine as ever, Khan was most engaging during her between-song banter. Noting that she was only 16 when she began singing professionally, Khan said that she counters those who say they grew up on her music by replying, “No, you grew up with me.”

Not performing anything from “Come 2 My House,” her new album on the Artist’s label, Khan stuck to her Rufus and post-Rufus hits, including “Through the Fire” and “I’m Every Woman.” The high point of her set was when she left the stage for a costume change and keyboardist Frank McCall performed a lush, jazz-inflected “For All We Know.”