If the Alexandria sky shone a little brighter last night, there was a perfectly logical explanation: Little Richard was in town.

Clad entirely in sequins and rhinestones, the rock-and-roller announced his presence before the sold-out Birchmere crowd by saying: "Hello, I'm the beautiful Little Richard." With an introduction like that, is there any doubt why the audience spent the evening hooting and hollering, along with boogieing in the aisles?

After 50 years in music, Little Richard knows how to work a crowd, silencing requests and comments with a playful "shut up" in between delivering vaguely incomprehensible but nevertheless humorous asides about eating French fries and bacon with Ann-Margret in Vegas and inviting "big, fat, juicy" ladies to dance onstage.

And while his legendary piano may have been the main draw of the evening, his giant band -- nearly a dozen musicians, including two drummers, a fierce horn section and myriad synchronized moves -- was a joy to watch, their take on funk-blues the icing on the cake.

During the 90-minute set, Little Richard performed his classic hits ("Tutti Frutti," "Lucille," "Good Golly, Miss Molly," "Keep A-Knockin'") with verve rarely seen in singers half his age. He also sang "Blueberry Hill" in honor of Fats Domino and delivered a surprising cover of "Lovesick Blues," the song that catapulted Hank Williams to stardom.

He's 76 years old, slightly frail, and in dire need of a hip replacement (he spent the night in a wheelchair), but watching Little Richard bang out piano riffs along with his trademark falsetto "Woooooooo" while charming the khaki pants off of the Birchmere crowd, you'd never know he was in pain.

-- Juli Thanki, June 2009