Review: Motown at Mission Estate Winery, Napier

For one night, tucked away in the Taradale hills, everyone was young again: those in snappy suits and glittery dresses on the stage and in the mass of glow-sticks spread through the vineyard.

It was a balmy, fragrant Hawkes Bay evening, and perched on the hills of Mission Estate Winery or swaying near the stage the fans gave the big-banger Motown hits everything their lungs had.

Like many in the audience, the evening's smooth-voiced host Charles Davis was inspired by the voices of Motown as a child. He proved the first crowd-pleaser of the evening by holding up a Wallabies and an All Blacks scarf, then proudly fitting the Kiwi one around his neck and tossing the other away.

The first Motown legend of the night, The Supremes' original Mary Wilson, was as dazzling as ever in shimmering red. She laid down one bellowing karaoke singalong after another: Baby Love, Stop! In the Name of Love, You Can't Hurry Love and You Keep Me Hangin' On.

The handsome, black-suited foursome The Miracles followed with finger-clicking hits You've Really Gotta Hold On Me and Shop Around, and they topped their set with The Tracks of My Tears.

Dressed in electric blue and canary, the dapper Four Tops delivered their doo-woop hits including Sugar Pie Honey Bunch, It's the Same Old Story and Reach Out, I'll be There. The audience's energy waned during Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, but picked up for a list of covers led by Ian Moss, Joan Osborne and Jimmy Barnes, including Midnight Train to Georgia and River Deep Mountain High.

One of the founding fathers of Motown, Otis Williams, is still performing with synchronised red-suited five-piece The Temptations. They topped off the evening with 40-year-old hits, including The Way You Do The Things You Do and My Girl.

An uplifting show was made even more special when all performers flooded the stage to sing a tribute to the late Michael Jackson - a moving rendition of I'll Be There. And in keeping with the hit-list programme, they left the hills ringing to Ain't No Mountain High Enough.