There Was Lots to Love at 'Fool In Love'

When the promos for the inaugural Fool in Love festival were released, the line-up seemed almost impossible. How could so many soul, R&B and funk greats all be at the same place on the same day (not spread out over two) and how could fans actually get to see them all? Well, they were all there this past Saturday— crooning, grinding and grooving on four huge outdoor stages between Hollywood Park and SoFi Stadium; from Smokey Robinson to Gladys Knight, War to Kool and the Gang, Lionel Richie to Miss Diana Ross, and so many more.  

But as those of us who’ve been around the fest block for a while expected, we did not get to see them all. What we did see exceeded our expectations though. Much is spoken — often derogatively— of "nostalgia festivals," especially since Gen-X driven new wave (Cruel World) and punk (No Values) events have sort of taken over in Southern California, offering a less trendy, more old school alternative to Coachella's evolution into a youth-driven event that's as much about being seen as it is seeing music.

Though big retro bills featuring bands from the 80's and even the 90's were initially seen as has-been affairs by Gen-Z, this is changing as these festivals have proven financially viable and the acts themselves have shown they still have plenty of dynamism on stage when recreating their hits, just like we remember them. Local county fairs are no longer where elder acts acts go to die; they're just another showcase.

Fool in Love was the ultimate showcase, serving to elevate even older music in a focused way. And it offered something different: the romanticism of a past most of us do not remember when the music was new. In other words, foundational music that our parents and grandparents loved, from Motown to doo-wap to disco. For Chicanos, especially in L.A., this is the music our elders danced to at local clubs and bars in the 60s-80s, and dedicated to each other via local DJ Art Laboe on FM radio, from KRLA to K-DAY.

Exposure to R&B, soul and “oldies” came from a few significant sources for me growing up in Los Angeles. As an Angeleno, Lowrider magazine events at the L.A. Convention Center were formative, as were the blasting boomboxes heard on summer afternoons at Griffith Park and at swap meets in East L.A. Later, the R&B legends stages at the Sunset Junction Street Fair in Silver Lake recalled them all. Fool in Love conjured this OG atmosphere and aesthetic in an authentic way, and even when the line-ups didn't have all the original members, the star power was there. 

If we wondered what kind of people would be at the event, and be shelling out upwards of $450 for VIP access, we got our answer when we entered the fest and were guided inward by a procession of beautiful lowrider and vintage cars and a mostly Latino crowd donning the homeboy/homegirl fashion references: fedora and Garcia hats; dickies and chinos; old english lettered logos. There were people of all colors and ages, but it was definitely mostly Latino and older overall with many taking advantage of foldable chairs allowed at the event.

We caught Chaka Khan on the Love stage first, and though the sound quality for her set was spotty, her charisma made the show shine as did her song selections, kicking off with Rufus-era cuts including "Do You Love What You Feel," "Tell Me Something Good" and "Sweet Thing" followed by iconic tracks like "Through the Fire," "I'm Every Woman" and "Aint Nobody." Chaka's still got it, but her backup singers brought extra heft as they did on her exuberant Tiny Desk concert recently.

Over on the Fool stage, the sound was much better. And The Gap Band's Charlie Wilson made the most of it with a hit-packed set that was our favorite of the fest. Gap Band stomps including "Early in the Morning," "Party Train" and "Burn Rubber" were pitch perfect and his take on Pharrell and Snoop Dogg's "Beautiful" (he sings backup on the single) was just that. He even did a Zapp cover "Doo Wa Ditty," which we appreciated since we couldn't get over to the Bounce Stage to see the band later.

Carlos Santana also turned in a sizzling set. "Evil Ways" and "Oye Como Va" are bona fide anthems for Gen-X Latinos, and the guitar god's success for many of us, was our first exposure to rock riffage. Similarly, the slap-happy dance party by Nile Rodgers and Chic, put guitar work front and center, and it was glorious, with "Good Times" and disco hits galore, plus Rodgers' collaborative work with David Bowie, Madonna and Daft Punk.

Though we give kudos to the organizers overall, they made one essential miscalculation. If they ever do this thing again, the layout has to change. At times, it was nearly impossible to get near the secondary stages. The Crusin' and Bounce areas were just as popular as the bigger ones in terms of crowds, but there simply wasn't room to get to them or watch from the audience comfortably. We missed Chicano slow jam faves such as Malo and Tierra as it took too long to get to them. The bottle necks we did endure were pretty brutal to walk through too, but the thankfully the energy, even with so many people smashed together, was good.

When we finally got through the snug and tug of the packed crowd to catch Al Green on the Cruisin stage mid-day, his vocals were sadly, pretty weak. Couldn't see well enough, so we don't know if it was a propped-up, Weekend at Bernies situation as we recall when Sly Stone infamously (tried to) play at Coachella or Brian Wilson played Beach Life, but the set did not do his sultry material justice. Still, the crowd took up the slack. We enjoyed and partook in epic sing-alongs on classics like "Let's Stay Together" and "Love & Happiness," regardless, filling in the blanks that Green left open. 

In order to catch bands on the Bounce stage, we missed the tail end of the headliners and even at the end of the night, that stage was almost impossible to get close to. But War closed it out for us, with "Why Can't We Be Friends" and "Lowrider" and it was a fitting climax, capturing the energy and style of the gathering overall.

Legends all the way, Lionel Richie and Diana Ross both turned in hearty and heartfelt back to back headliner sets full of hits with vibrant video backdrops and more communal choral moments. Ross sang Supremes hits and solo material while Richie leaned into his Commodores catalog, both on the ballad side and the funk side. They both had the crowds enraptured and didn't miss a beat, and Ross, who announced she was 80-years-old, was pure diva. Sadly, a much-hoped for Richie-Ross duet of "Endless Love" was not to be, but it wasn't necessary. The sentiment is kind of what the event was all about.