At 84, Frankie Valli Proves He Hasn't Lost a Thing to Little Rock Audience

by Alea Jeremiah 
Who says you can't put on an outstanding performance at 84?
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Frankie Valli has lived a full, incredible life and isn't planning on stopping anytime soon. I had the pleasure of experiencing the legend himself in concert on Friday, Nov. 9 at Verizon Arena in Little Rock, Ark. Honestly, this was a concert I never thought I'd have the honor of attending, I'm a huge fan so it was pretty surreal.

At Verizon, they put the stage at about the halfway mark of the floor. There was some floor seating, the lower bowl, and the middle bowl open and it was pretty full. Although, I'd like to note that me being 21, I was pretty much the youngest one in attendance, aside from a few young kids who were definitely dragged along with their parents.

Before Valli came out, they showed a video on the screen which was a huge montage of highlights from his career and life. This was a tad bit emotional, I’m not going to lie, and then he came out and the show really began.

The difference between the crowd of this concert and another concert I might see myself at was that nobody stood the entire time except to applaud for a few songs. Everyone was in their seats the entire time which made it hard for someone like me who likes to stand up and dance.

As for the concert itself, it was amazing. Again, he's 84 and if you can believe it, during his performance of “Sherry,” he hit those notes exactly how he did when it was recorded all the way back in 1962. He is incredibly talented. He was also accompanied by four younger gentlemen, The Four Seasons, who were incredible, as well. Those guys really helped bring Frankie's past alive. It was like I was watching the original group. The musicians he had were equally as incredible, and as a plus, his two trumpet players were local musicians. How awesome it must have been for those guys to get that phone call!

Valli sang everyone's favorites including the aforementioned “Sherry,” “Who Loves You,” “Beggin’,” “Grease,” as well as his popular songs from his solo career. He even performed some covers of a few classics like “My Girl” by The Temptations and “I've Got You Under My Skin” by Frank Sinatra.

Valli ended the concert with “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night),” a very fitting finale, but came back for an encore and sang “Rag Doll,” another popular favorite among the crowd.

One of my favorite performances of the night was “Sherry.” Before he sang it, he talked about the original band and said, "we were just four guys under a street lamp, singing acapella," which is one of my favorite quotes from the Broadway show “Jersey Boys,” based on his career. Speaking of, he did mention how grateful he was for all the supporters of the Broadway smash hit, as well as the movie version. He had a big influence in those and you can tell by the way he speaks about them that he's very proud of how they turned out. In fact, the Broadway musical is how I personally came to love and appreciate the Four Seasons. I saw it when I was younger in Las Vegas and absolutely fell in love. All in all, it was an amazing concert that I would watch a hundred times over!

If you didn't get to experience it live, don't worry, he mentioned multiple times that he would absolutely love to come back here, so you may get another chance. This concert is a memory I'll hold close to my heart forever and I couldn't be more grateful and honored to have been a part of it.