Al Green keeps things short, sweet and oh-so-soulful in homecoming concert at Meijer Gardens (video)

It’s nowhere near his biggest hit, but when Al Green sings “Tired of Being Alone,” he fuses all of the elements that have made him a Grammy-winning superstar of soul: that unmistakably sensual voice, a fiery, preacher-imbued stage presence, those spine-tingling falsettos, and yes, a potently catchy hook.

Green also started writing that 1971 hit – his first bona fide Top 40 single – while still living in Grand Rapids, the town where he was raised and where his R&B magic took root.

That only made Monday night’s performance of the tune at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park that much more compelling and masterful, with Green massaging, captivating and energizing his sold-out, hometown audience as only Green can.

With heaping help from a 12-piece band featuring saxophonist Davye Stewart, who opened the steamy but breezy night with a breezy set of smooth jazz played to a backing track, Green made his first Grand Rapids concert in almost a dozen years a surprisingly short but uplifting and celebratory feast of nostalgia, and well, plenty of love.

HIGHLIGHTS: “Tired of Being Alone,” “Love and Happiness,” “Here I Am”

“I love it, baby, I love it, I love it, I love it,” a gleeful Green gushed early on, after a sultry rendition of “Simply Beautiful,” performed by the singer in a black tuxedo with red bowtie and vest.

And later, after wrapping up the one-hour show with his traditional, audience-lifting “Love and Happiness” and once again tossing red roses to fans in the audience: “I love you, Grand Rapids. From the bottom of my heart, I love you.”

The get-up-and-groove-to-the-beat segment of the capacity crowd of about 1,900 clearly believed him, even if the 66-year-old Green spent just under an hour on stage, likely disappointing and denying some fans the full, three-course meal of his beloved hits and popular album tracks.

Nevertheless, his infectious, ear-to-ear grin and loving attitude seemed to make up for the homecoming show’s brevity, not to mention the crisp, tight performance by his musical ensemble, which included a couple of Green’s daughters as backing vocalists.

Quote of the night: “After all that’s happened, I’m still standing. It’s good to be in Grand Rapids.”

It seems that Green, whether as minister or legendary Rock and Rock Roll Hall of Fame soul singer, immediately commands respect, attention and a healthy dose of adulation, thanks partly to those passionate-but-controlled screams and sexy falsettos that haven’t aged a tiny bit since the last time he graced a Grand Rapids stage.

Whether getting praise-worthy on a particularly rousing rendition of “Amazing Grace” or kissing a front-row fan during a jazzy take of “Let’s Stay Together,” his first No. 1 hit, Green straddled the charismatic approaches of his biggest influences: part Jackie Wilson, part Sam Cooke, part James Brown.

While he kept things short and sweet (suggesting at one point that he needed to keep the concert moving along in case the rain might return), he also managed to squeeze in many of his most engaging tunes – “Here I Am,” “I’m Still in Love With You,” “Love and Happiness” – along with a medley of Motown hits such as The Four Tops’ “I Can’t Help Myself” and The Temptations’ “My Girl.”

He did it all with a voice that still makes him, as one Rock and Roll Hall of Fame official told me, “the world’s greatest living soul singer.”

“I think some people are wondering if the Reverend’s still got it, if Al Green’s still got it,” Green mused at one point while wiping sweat from his eyes, before tearing off his jacket, ripping into another classic falsetto and tossing more roses into the crowd.

There’s little doubt he still does, even if most folks would have liked to have seen him play an encore and roam that hometown stage a bit longer on Monday.

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