By David Menconi
dmenconi@newsobserver.com

DURHAM – Well, the fifth time was the charm. After standing the Triangle up four times on concert dates since 2005, Aretha Franklin finally showed up, holding forth Thursday night at the Durham Performing Arts Center. And the fact that she was actually good made for a nice bonus.

Franklin brought along lots of backup firepower, of course, a score or so of musicians billed as the Aretha Franklin Orchestra. She made exactly the sort of entrance you’d expect of a diva of her stature, striding onstage in a white fur coat to a breathless introduction: “Your queen, my queen, THE QUEEN of Soul – Aaaaaaaaaaretha FRANKLIN!”

It was an unusual concert, to say the least. Not many shows feature the mayor coming out halfway through to hand over the key to the city, as Bill Bell did Thursday night.

“You don’t need a key, we built this house for you,” Bell said with a gesture taking in DPAC’s plush environs. “So you got to come back.”

Whether she will or not, Franklin made her mark Thursday night, credibly pulling off everything from En Vogue covers to a bit of standup comedy. Franklin will turn 70 next month, and she has undeniably lost a step or two over the years. But reports of her voice’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Besides, Franklin at three-quarters capacity is still better than just about anyone else out there.

Although Franklin never directly addressed her multiple no-shows, she did offer up a song selected for atonement purposes, “I Wanna Make It Up To You.” Her gospel roots were never far away, with many songs – starting with “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” which came up second in the 90-minute set – going to church on the outro. And when she really reached down and wailed, she still made you feel it. “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)” just about melted the house down, and “Chain of Fools” wasn’t far behind.

Best of all was “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” the one song where Franklin sat at the piano to play as well as sing. She started out somewhere between church and honkytonk before quickly taking a turn for the verse into a full-on gospel raveup, complete with call, response and Hallelujah’s to the heavens. Even her band was applauding by the end.

The show closed with “Respect,” Franklin’s longtime signature, and she took her bows as the band vamped on.

“See you next time,” she said.

Promise?

Menconi: 919-829-4759 or blogs.newsobserver.com/beat

Four times, Aretha Franklin has been scheduled to play the Triangle; and four times, the show has not happened for one reason or another. The most recent instance was this past October, when her DPAC show was postponed until Feb. 9. Who knows, maybe it really will happen then -- see below, a statement Franklin just put out.

We'll see. I must confess that I'm skeptical, but I still hope it happens. So c'mon, Ms. Franklin: Show a little respect, and don't string us along.

An Open Letter to My Dear Fans & Friends in Durham, North Carolina:
 
Thank you all for allowing me to pay tribute to one of the nation’s greatest men at the unveiling of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Thank you as well for the support the year before during my hospitalization.  I appreciate your understanding and am now coming to Durham to rock, sock and soul to the max.  Look forward to it and mark your calendars for February 9, 2012 at the Durham Performing Arts Center!  
Love ya,
Aretha Franklin

Well, there's no reason for the Triangle to feel slighted about Adele's Durham show getting called off. Now word has come down that all of Adele's tour dates for the rest of the year, in England as well as America, have been canceled. Here's the announcement:

It is with deep regret that Adele has been forced to cancel her remaining live dates and promotional appearances in 2011. She is to undergo surgery to alleviate the current issues with her throat and a full recovery is expected. As a result, doctors have ordered her to rest her voice and completely recuperate before looking to schedule any work commitments.

Adele's cancellation is part of a run of bad luck this month at DPAC, including postponement of the venue's Aretha Franklin and Loretta Lynn shows. But one has to admire DPAC's verve, because venue management is still in there pitching. The 2012 tour schedule has just been released for another singing legend with a shaky attendance record, George "No Show" Jones, and he's coming to DPAC on Aug. 18. Jones made his NC State Fair show as scheduled this month, so anything is possible.

The diva gods are not being kind to Durham Performing Arts Center this month, with Adele and Aretha Franklin calling off dates. And now country legend Loretta Lynn's show is off. She was to play DPAC Sunday night, but the date has been scotched due to illness according to a post on Lynn's website:

Loretta regretfully must cancel her shows for Ashland KY, and Durham, NC for this weekend, due to illness. Doctors have diagnosed her with the beginning stages pneumonia, and will continue to need rest. Loretta is doing well and is disappointed but feels confident she will be ready for upcoming November dates.

DPAC management hopes to reschedule the date.

UPDATE (10/24/11): Hot dog, they did reschedule it -- to Jan. 8.

Well, it was bound to happen: Aretha Franklin has stood up the Triangle yet again, for the fourth time. Franklin's Oct. 16 show at Durham Performing Arts Center has been postponed, to Feb. 9.

Franklin's track record on local cancellations gives no reason for optimism that the show will happen then, either. But at least this time, there's a plausible excuse. The Queen of Soul was to sing last month at a tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. in Washington, D.C., an event scuttled by Hurricane Irene. That was rescheduled for Oct. 16, necessitating postponement of Franklin's Durham date.

In 2005 and 2006, Franklin was scheduled to play Cary's Booth Amphitheater. Both shows were canceled after tickets went on sale, as was a 2007 date at UNC-Chapel Hill. Maybe the fourth time will turn out to (belatedly) be the charm.

The show is sold out, and tickets will be honored. For details, see dpacnc.com.

Well, you've got to give Durham Performing Arts Center's management credit for nerve. Aretha Franklin has been announced for Oct. 16 at the DPAC, with tickets going on sale next Friday, July 29.

This isn't the first time the legendary queen of soul has been scheduled to play the Triangle, but maybe it will actually happen this time. In fact, she's been scheduled three times this decade -- at Cary's Booth Amphitheatre in 2005 and 2006, and at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2007 -- only to cancel all three shows after tickets had gone on sale.

Fingers crossed it really happens this time. In an ironic bit of timing, her show falls the same week that another performer with a shakey track record of keeping his dates will play the NC State Fair: George "No Show" Jones, penciled in for Oct. 18.

Today on "The Wendy Williams Show," the brassy host (and "Dancing With the Stars" contestant) got an exclusive TV interview with Aretha Franklin -- the first since her reported health issues. (There was some speculation she had cancer, but that doesn't seem to be true.)

If you missed the interview, you can see the re-run tonight on BET at midnight. Or you can watch here. Or here.

But first this: in part 2 of the interview airing Thursday, Miss Aretha gets in a little dig at Halle Berry. Franklin had openly stated that she wanted Berry to play her in her biopic. Berry declined. Wendy asks her about that:

Move over, Michelle Obama's ball gown. It looks like the Smithsonian Institution wants Aretha Franklin's memorable crystal-studded, bow-shaped hat she wore to the Inauguration in its fashion collection as well.

According to a statement from Franklin, the museum has asked that Franklin donate the hat to join other items scheduled to be displayed, including the white Jason Wu gown that Michelle Obama wore to the Inaugural balls.

Franklin, it seems, isn't easily swayed by the request. "I am considering it," Franklin said. "It would be hard to part with my chapeau since it was such a crowning moment in history. I would like to smile every time I look back at it and remember what a great moment it was in American and African-American history. Ten cheers for President Obama."

The hat has become so popular, it even has its own Facebook page and more than 85,000 fans.

Tuesday's snow storm could not have come at a better time. With Tuesday's historic inauguration, many people were likely to be fairly unproductive at work as they took time out to watch Barack Obama take the oath of office and state open-mouthed at Aretha Franklin's hat.

But some people were productive Tuesday. Even as the snow was tapering off, 11-year-old Seamus Burns was shoveling the white stuff off the sidewalk in front of his home in Wendell. His parents should be proud that he would get out in the weather to do that kind of work when most children his age were more interested in snowball fights and making snowmen.

More in the spirit of fun, Craig Pendleton searched high and low for places to sled Tuesday. The Zebulon family finally ended up at Wendell Park, where Craig pushed his children, Abbi and Matthew on makeshift sleds down a ramp which connects the parking lot to the soccer field.

Young Matthew, 5, made the most of his slides, eventually working his way all the way to the parking lot at the bottom of the hill.

Our family ventured out Tuesday night for a snowball fight that took a lot longer than it should have because the snow was so fine we couldn't pack it into a decent snowball. Nevertheless, we were game and after about 45 minutes we were cold, wet and thoroughly exhilirated.

Yes, this year's snow couldn't have come at a better time.

Aretha was among those taking a fashion risk at today's Inauguration with her bow-shaped hat studded in Swarovski crystals.

Apparently, the hat cost $179 and was made by long-time hat maker Mr. Song Millinery in Detroit.

It was big and it was loud. And I liked it. But I think only Aretha could get away with wearing a hat like that. Most of us would be laughed out of Washington if we wore it.