REVIEW: Corey Hart does the time warp
There was no room for cynicism at the Edmonton stop of Corey Hart’s “Never Surrender” tour on Friday.
More than 5,000 in Rogers Place lapped up a 17-song set peppered with teary-eyed soliloquies about family values and gratitude towards his fans. Factor in all the cringe-worthy statements about love and peace that wouldn’t have been out of place from a big-haired Miss America contestant – and you had a night that smacked of a fawn fest with the hourglass sands of time shifting into reverse mode.
Corey’s demeanor was a total counterpoint to the angst that of his ‘80s song catalogue – as the only Canadian male vocalist to challenge the supremacy of Bryan Adams back when the print medium ruled the info masses with headlines of Reaganomics and paranoia over free trade. Deja vu! The ‘80s was when Hart hit paydirt with his famed pouty expression, and breakthrough hits like Sunglasses at Night and Boy in a Box.
Mind you, that was then.
While Hart’s had the Canuck female tail-end boomer set swooning from his 1983 debut to his sudden self-imposed exile from the scene in 1996, his fans have been deprived of his presence for more than two decades.
Hart made the most of his comeback. Decked in a black leather jacket and dark jeans, with a trimmed beard to mask that old trademark sulk, the singer was exuberant in his entrance as his eight-piece band launched into Dreaming Time Again, the title track from his new EP, before blasting into an oldie Bang! (Starting Over). The latter was a fitting metaphor for the former Montrealer, who’s spent his lengthy downtime raising his kids in the Bahamas. Truth be told, there was nary a sign of rust on the 56-year-old singer. The hits kept coming, with Boy In A Box, Everything In My Heart, I Am By Your Side as well as Sunglasses at Night and Never Surrender, which he saved for the encore.
What was most astonishing was the energy and new life Hart has pumped into his hits. Very few of them replicated their studio versions, with some inventive intros, additional live guitar and sax licks, and a great deal of vocal ad-libs animating the set. Obviously, he’s made the most from his time away, and those changes smack of a durability in his material that’ll likely keep his grown-up throngs coming back for more.
Claiming that he never took his success for granted, Hart also gushed over Edmonton – especially our local ice-shinny legacy that reigned during the same period the singer dominated the charts.
“I have a soft spot for Edmonton, I always have,” Hart said. “I used to love the Oilers as much as I love the Habs.”
Later that night, when festivities moved to a smaller, more intimate stage in the middle of the arena, Hart did something he said he’d never done any city before: trot out his four kids with his wife, Julie Masse, who’s also one of his backup singers. When he started serenading the brood with an unplugged mashup of the Police’s Message in a Bottle and his own She Got the Radio, as well as a cover of The Beatles’ Let it Be, the waterworks from the women in attendance went into hydraulic overdrive.
He had another surprise when he brought out area good ol’ boy Brett Kissel for a rendition of First Rodeo.
While Hart showed some gumption for a bit of reinvention, openers Glass Tiger stuck to the script, ensuring their originals like Don’t Forget Me When I’m Gone and Thin Red Line didn’t stray from how they sounded on the top-40 circuit. Lead singer Alan Frew and company ensured their tenure on stage would be a flashback to a time when people sated their musical appetites with videos from MuchMusic – long before YouTube absconded with that market.
A former stroke victim, Frew was in fine form, despite walking gingerly across the stage at times. He’s also recovering from a broken neck he suffered earlier in June. It obviously didn’t hamper his eagerness to time warp with the multitudes, who all sang along with a few of their hits.
“Close your eyes and pretend it’s 1986,” Frew said as the audience cheered with recognition. “There were a lot more things in 1986. There was more hair, there was more eye shadow. I’m talking about me buying my clothes at Le Chateau.”
Hardly anyone needed any encouragement to trip on retro all evening.
