Darlene Love

The Barns at Wolf Trap on 02/14/2023

by Emily Flack

February 15, 2023 @ 3:21 PM

Darlene Love addressing the audience on Valentine's Day (Shannon Flack)

Valentine’s Day is known as the day of love, and for the fully sold out audience at The Barns at Wolf Trap it rang true. They were surrounded by love- more precisely, Darlene Love. Making her Wolf Trap debut performance, this legendary performer dazzled audience goers with her soulful voice and performances of beloved songs that brought the crowd and performers together. A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Love showed just how well deserved the induction was. At 81, her voice may have aged as all voices do, but there was no denying why she was included in the Rolling Stone’s list of Top 100 Singers of All Time. Her voice rang true as she sang hits including “Still Too Soon to Know,” (an Elvis Costello cover), “Wait Til my Bobby Gets Home,” and the crowd favorite “(Today I Met) The Boy I’m Gonna Marry.”

Darlene Love performs "Painkiller" alongside her backup singers (Shannon Flack)

Love’s energy and obvious passion for music invigorated the crowd; while they may have stayed seated throughout the duration of the performance, it felt as if they had been hypnotized by Love’s charisma and joy. Besides her musical ability, Love’s skills as an entertainer rang true. Joking about singing all of her classics (besides her Christmas songs), and explaining just why Valentine’s Day is one of the few holidays on which she agrees to perform, Love’s energy never waned. Another moment which demonstrated Love’s everlasting professionalism was her humility. She discussed starting her career as a background singer for The Blossoms in the 1960s and how that impacts her prolonged respect for the background singers of today. During the song “Painkiller,” which allowed for another moment of humor as Love commented on the number of words in the song, all three of her background singers were given center stage solos, much to Love’s and the crowd’s excitement.

Darlene Love opening the sold out show at The Barns at Wolf Trap (Shannon Flack)

Without a doubt, Darlene Love brought the love to Wolf Trap this week.

Darlene Love at The Barns at Wolf Trap: Tuesday February 14, 2023. Two 45 minute sets with a 15 minute intermission. Darlene has no upcoming performances.