Marvin Gaye was at one of his last artistic and commercial peaks when he hit Europe in 1976-77, just after high water marks like Let’s Get It On and I want You, and just before his personal travails and divorce recorded on Here, My Dear, just a handful of years before his untimely death. Here, he’s sounding inspired, with a set and band essentially the same as his 1977 At The London Palladium album.
The concert is a celebration of sorts, sounding like a mix of Vegas staging and gospel holy rolling. Most of the material comes across like a seamless medley of sorts on, focusing on early Motown on “Ain’t That Peculiar/Wonderful One/Stubborn Kind of Fellow”, his duets during “You’re All I Need To Get By/Ain’t Nothing Like The Real Thing” and his classic album with “Inner City Blue/God Is Love/What’s Going On”. He sizzles on “Let’s Get It On” and adds grit to “I Heard It Through The Grapevine”. This album reflects the era when an artist could actually work up a crowd, and it was molded lilke putty in the hands of someone like Gaye. The steam is rising to the top.