This may be the most efficient concert I've ever attended. In the past, it is not uncommon to take almost an hour between an opening act and the headliner. The folks running the 3 Queens concert at Chicago's United Center Friday evening switched quickly between acts by Gladys Knight, Stephanie Mills, Patti LaBelle, and Chaka Khan.

The concert began promptly at the announced 8:00 start time, with Gladys Knight performing for thirty minutes before departing the stage. Minutes later, Stephanie Mills stepped out and started her performance backed by the same band. A few minutes followed Stephanie's 30-minute performance, but only to rotate a new band and instruments from behind the curtain before Patti LaBelle launched into her performance. Patti's show lasted a bit longer and included a costume change. It concluded with an instrumental jam by her backing band until headliner Chaka Khan stepped forward to complete the evening.

Each of the four ladies boasts a decades-spanning career that included major hits on the R&B and the pop charts. Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle each celebrated their eighty-first birthday this week (yes, they were born four days apart) and Chicagoan Chaka Khan is now 72 years young. At a spry 67 years, Stephanie Mills is the youngest of the quartet. Chaka and Stephanie showed a great deal of energy this evening. Gladys was slow but elegant, while Patti seemed the most diminished by her age.

Regardless of their point in life, each woman has had a remarkable career and projected a love of entertaining before a full United Center.

They closed each set with an iconic song ("Midnight Train to Georgia" for Knight, "Never Knew Love Like This Before" for Mills, "Lady Marmalade" by LaBelle, and "Ain't Nobody" by Khan.

I appreciated the amount of music the organizers packed into the evening. And I appreciated a chance to see four legendary performers who have dedicated their lives to entertaining us.