Lionel Richie Charms Soaked Crowd at New Orleans Jazz Fest

Even Lionel Richie couldn't believe what was happening before him. "Seriously, stay outta that lake out there," Richie jokingly told the crowd that, at some points, had been wading through knee-deep water at the 2010 New Orleans Jazz Fest. But torrential downpours and lightning didn't stop people covered in ponchos and umbrellas from seeing the former Commodore close out the first night of the festival.

"My God, I don't have to ask if you're die-hard fans, you're die-hard fans," Richie exclaimed at the soggy crowd. Even he admitted during his set that he phoned promoters from his hotel room to make sure the set was going to go ahead as planned.

For his part, Richie delivered and periodically, the rain seemed to stop for him. Opening up with one of his newer songs, 'Just for You,' the title track off his 2004 album, the iconic soul man took the crowd on a journey through his music career, even going back to his Motown years with the Commodore tracks 'Easy' and 'Brick House.'

His slow R&B love songs -- 'Lady,' 'Penny Lover' and 'Ballerina Girl' -- were balanced out by rocking jams like 'Dancing on the Ceiling,' during which Richie's band even riffed on Van Halen's 'Jump.' If people were wet, it didn't seem like they cared. It didn't matter there was no sun, because Richie provided it on 'You Are the Sun, You Are the Rain.' The crowd sang along on their favorites including the mellower 'Three Times a Lady.' And even after all this, Richie warned, "We're just getting started!"

Richie sat down a handful of times at the grand piano on stage, including for the 1983 hit 'Stuck on You.' "I can't believe we survived the rain, the sleet, the hail, the snow!" he told the crowd when he came back for his two-song encore. "There is a lake and people are dancing in the lake!" With that, Richie closed his set with the upbeat 'All Night Long,' which had the audience dancing a conga line through the muddy festival waters. "When you're out West and it rains, the show is canceled," Richie told the crowd. "When you're down South and it rains, it gets louder."

Lionel Richie on AOL Music