Sugar Pie Honey Bunch: Tribute to the Motown Legends

Sugar Pie Honey Bunch comes to the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre on Friday 25 September, a tribute to the Four Tops and the golden era of Motown. It's staged by the vocal group Soul Satisfaction, and the whole thing is built around the Four Tops' run of hits from the sixties and seventies. You'll hear 'Reach Out', 'Baby I Need Your Loving', 'Walk Away Renee', 'Same Old Song', 'Loco in Acapulco', 'Standing In the Shadow', and 'Bernadette' — the big ones that defined their sound.

It doesn't stop with the Four Tops, though. The set pulls in tracks from the Temptations, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Marvin Gaye, and Ben E. King, so it's a broader look at the Motown sound than just one group. The performance is a concept-style show, and it's not affiliated with or endorsed by the original artists or their estates. Soul Satisfaction handles the vocals, the harmonies, and the high-stepping dance routines that went with the Motown era.

There's a bit of a pedigree behind the group, too. Eddie Holland, one of the songwriters from the Holland-Dozier-Holland team who wrote so much of the Motown catalogue, has described Soul Satisfaction as one of the most professional and tightest vocal groups he's seen. That's a fair bit of weight coming from someone who actually wrote the songs they're covering.

It's a tribute show, so it's about the songs rather than the original artists. The Four Tops' hits take centre stage, with the other Motown names filling out the rest of the evening. Tickets are £37.25, and the show starts at 7:30pm on Friday 25 September at the Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre.