Review: Lionel Richie, All the Hits World Tour, Hove

There was only one party worth going to in Sussex on Saturday night as Lionel Richie performed at the 1st Central County Ground, Hove.
Lionel RichieLionel Richie
Lionel Richie

The music legend played all his greatest hits as thousands of people packed in Sussex Cricket Club's ground.

And it was an eventful night as one man proposed to his girlfriend while Richie belted out the classic Stuck on You.

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Video: Watch how Lionel Richie reacted to proposal at his Hove concertNot many people have the charisma, energy and stage presence of the 69-year-old singer. It started slowly with Easy but the pace soon picked up with the crowd-pleasing Running with the Night.

One of Richie's best known songs is Endless Love and it was hard to see how he would pull it off without Diana Ross by his side, but he had help from the '10,000 Diana Ross' he invited to join in with him. There's nothing quite like a big crowd sing along.

It was great to see the legend - in his wonderfully sequined jackets - engage with the crowd and you could see him connecting with different people of different ages all night long (sorry, pun intended).

From Hello, to All Night Long, to Say You, Say Me, the crowd joined in with every song but nothing was quite as good or emotional as We Are The World which Richie preceded by mentioning all the singers we have lost over the years including George Michael, David Bowie and Michael Jackson - with whom he wrote the song.

The only shame was the concert did not go on all night long (sorry, did it again!).

It was a great event, kicked off by special guest Shane Filan, and well hosted by Sussex Cricket Club.