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True Colors Tour Review
True Colors Tour 2008
DTE Energy Music Theatre - June 11th/2008
Performing:
White Tie Affair
The Cliks
Tegan & Sara
The B-52's
Cyndi Lauper
The legendary Cyndi Lauper MAY have been billed as the True Colors headliner, but it was the B-52's - the World's GREATEST party band - who stole the show.
Chicago's synth-pop ensemble White Tie Affair opened the colorful festival up with their outrageous blend of new wave and pop.
Picture a dance-remixed Maroon 5 with Duran Duran influences, the vocals of Justin Timberlake and the fashion sense of Fall Out Boy.
Enough said.
The Clicks - from Toronto literally stormed the stage and threw it all down. Influences range from Joan Jett, David Bowie, the Sounds, Jon Spencer, Concrete Blonde and the Pretenders - very hard rockers with catchy pop sensibilities and lead singer Lucas Silveira has a voice that could literally shake the floor. Energy was high - and for a band who is only starting to form a loyal following - and one that played so early on in the evening, the energy was sky high and they OWNED the audience, even if only for a short moment.
Twin rockers Tegan and Sara brought a handful of songs from their latest release The Con and played a number of fan favourites. Their short but sweet set was FILLED with hilarious back-and-forth twin sister banter rivaled only by Kim and Kelley Deal - minus a case or three of beer, mind you.
They were extremely talkative - and managed to win the audience over with the cute but dorky signature way they stumbled through jokes and anecdotes about songs. They kicked off their set with an extremely energetic Walking with a Ghost and then blazed through tunes like The Con, Living Room and Back in Your Head - it was a satisfying set for any fan of Tegan and Sara and the songs carried a bit more of a raw sound, rougher around the edges and far more pleasing for the people who like things a little grittier.
It was after Tegan and Sara's set that Cyndi Lauper herself took to the stage, to check up on the audience and - to everyone's surprise - invite all of the people sitting on the lawn to come up and take unoccupied seats under the pavilion.
Somehow - I scored fourth row (I had to pinch myself several times to make sure I wasn't dreaming) and it was perfect timing, because no sooner was I taking my fourth row seat, slightly stage left and in perfect view of the stage - when the B-52's themselves LITERALLY erupted out from behind the curtain.
They opened the set with Pump, track one off their surf-guitar-riddled new album Funplex - and the second Keith Strickland started banging out those riffs - the entire crowd was up on their feet, dancing.
One message was clear and evident and the ENTIRE crowd at DTE Energy Music Theatre knew it: The B-52's have not lost their knack for NAILING that irresistible party-vibe that made them famous a FULL 30 years ago.
They instantly broke into an EXTREMELY old, if not rare track with the insanely quirky Mesopotamia, from the 1982 E.P. of the same name produced by David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Kate Pierson danced around the stage, looking like a funky cast-off from the psychic network - one part Annie Sprinkle, one part rock and roll goddess. Cyndi Wilson peered out at the audience through her long, blonde bangs and false eye lashes - short skirt and shoeless - she just emanated this..."coolness" about her and did her own thing - banging away at a set of bongos and cackling out bang-on bird calls all night.
Fred Schneider flamed about the stage - literally on fire - blaring out his spoken word insanity like a lunatic on a megaphone while Keith Strickland - who seriously has not aged one single day - (he looks not a day older than 30!) conquered his guitar like a true pro, tying the whole wacky bunch together.
It became clear early on in their all too short set that the B-52's are in no way a dinosaur act.
This is not a band who is riding the wave of their old standbys. The 11 song set was slathered with hits, sure - but the stars of the set were EASILY their new songs, which merged seamlessly with their old hits - holding up along with them -sometimes even upstaging them!
"You're our best audience!" Fred Schneider exclaimed. "The last place we played, I think the crowd had super glue on their buts!"
Of course, they finished with the ultimate party song - Rock Lobster, and were gone.
The audience was breathless and the energy was through the roof.
Cyndi Lauper came out and performed a lengthy, crowd pleasing set of fan favourites - and new dance songs from her latest album Bring Ya to the Brink.
The show finale found the ENTIRE slew of performers back onstage - tossing gigantic balloons out to the audience, transforming all the fans - young and old - into laughing, giggling, balloon bopping little kids while they performed Sly & The Family Stone's Everyday People - which merged into the finale: True Colors.
Every single person on stage got a turn at a verse.
Something about a concert...in the summer...with the SOLE purpose of making a crowd smile, is refreshing.
It was music that reminded everyone there what it feels like to be a kid again. Whether you were an eight year old who got the Cyndi Lauper record for your birthday...or you were the weird kid in your class who favoured the B-52's when the rest of the class was into the New Kids on the Block - the True Colors show offered something for EVERYONE - the only thing they asked for in return was that you get up and dance.
And that certainly wasn't a problem. No problem whatsoever.
- Dan MacDonald
B-52's Set list:
Pump
Mesopotamia
Private Idaho
Ultraviolet
Roam
Juliet of the Spirits
Funplex
Hot Corner
Love in the Year 3000
Love Shack
Rock Lobster.
Cyndi Lauper's Set List:
1. Change of Heart
2. Rocking Chair
3. Set Your Heart
4. When You Were Mine
5. She Bop
6. Into the Nightlife
7. I Drove All Night
8. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (with Rosie O'Donnell on drums!)
9. Same Ol' Story (she sang only the first verse and the chorus, but she did it A Cappella)
10. Time After Time
11. Money Changes Everything (the lead singer from the Clicks came out as a duet on this song)
12. Everyday People
13. True Colors
DTE Energy Music Theatre - June 11th/2008
Performing:
White Tie Affair
The Cliks
Tegan & Sara
The B-52's
Cyndi Lauper
The legendary Cyndi Lauper MAY have been billed as the True Colors headliner, but it was the B-52's - the World's GREATEST party band - who stole the show.
Chicago's synth-pop ensemble White Tie Affair opened the colorful festival up with their outrageous blend of new wave and pop.
Picture a dance-remixed Maroon 5 with Duran Duran influences, the vocals of Justin Timberlake and the fashion sense of Fall Out Boy.
Enough said.
The Clicks - from Toronto literally stormed the stage and threw it all down. Influences range from Joan Jett, David Bowie, the Sounds, Jon Spencer, Concrete Blonde and the Pretenders - very hard rockers with catchy pop sensibilities and lead singer Lucas Silveira has a voice that could literally shake the floor. Energy was high - and for a band who is only starting to form a loyal following - and one that played so early on in the evening, the energy was sky high and they OWNED the audience, even if only for a short moment.
Twin rockers Tegan and Sara brought a handful of songs from their latest release The Con and played a number of fan favourites. Their short but sweet set was FILLED with hilarious back-and-forth twin sister banter rivaled only by Kim and Kelley Deal - minus a case or three of beer, mind you.
They were extremely talkative - and managed to win the audience over with the cute but dorky signature way they stumbled through jokes and anecdotes about songs. They kicked off their set with an extremely energetic Walking with a Ghost and then blazed through tunes like The Con, Living Room and Back in Your Head - it was a satisfying set for any fan of Tegan and Sara and the songs carried a bit more of a raw sound, rougher around the edges and far more pleasing for the people who like things a little grittier.
It was after Tegan and Sara's set that Cyndi Lauper herself took to the stage, to check up on the audience and - to everyone's surprise - invite all of the people sitting on the lawn to come up and take unoccupied seats under the pavilion.
Somehow - I scored fourth row (I had to pinch myself several times to make sure I wasn't dreaming) and it was perfect timing, because no sooner was I taking my fourth row seat, slightly stage left and in perfect view of the stage - when the B-52's themselves LITERALLY erupted out from behind the curtain.
They opened the set with Pump, track one off their surf-guitar-riddled new album Funplex - and the second Keith Strickland started banging out those riffs - the entire crowd was up on their feet, dancing.
One message was clear and evident and the ENTIRE crowd at DTE Energy Music Theatre knew it: The B-52's have not lost their knack for NAILING that irresistible party-vibe that made them famous a FULL 30 years ago.
They instantly broke into an EXTREMELY old, if not rare track with the insanely quirky Mesopotamia, from the 1982 E.P. of the same name produced by David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Kate Pierson danced around the stage, looking like a funky cast-off from the psychic network - one part Annie Sprinkle, one part rock and roll goddess. Cyndi Wilson peered out at the audience through her long, blonde bangs and false eye lashes - short skirt and shoeless - she just emanated this..."coolness" about her and did her own thing - banging away at a set of bongos and cackling out bang-on bird calls all night.
Fred Schneider flamed about the stage - literally on fire - blaring out his spoken word insanity like a lunatic on a megaphone while Keith Strickland - who seriously has not aged one single day - (he looks not a day older than 30!) conquered his guitar like a true pro, tying the whole wacky bunch together.
It became clear early on in their all too short set that the B-52's are in no way a dinosaur act.
This is not a band who is riding the wave of their old standbys. The 11 song set was slathered with hits, sure - but the stars of the set were EASILY their new songs, which merged seamlessly with their old hits - holding up along with them -sometimes even upstaging them!
"You're our best audience!" Fred Schneider exclaimed. "The last place we played, I think the crowd had super glue on their buts!"
Of course, they finished with the ultimate party song - Rock Lobster, and were gone.
The audience was breathless and the energy was through the roof.
Cyndi Lauper came out and performed a lengthy, crowd pleasing set of fan favourites - and new dance songs from her latest album Bring Ya to the Brink.
The show finale found the ENTIRE slew of performers back onstage - tossing gigantic balloons out to the audience, transforming all the fans - young and old - into laughing, giggling, balloon bopping little kids while they performed Sly & The Family Stone's Everyday People - which merged into the finale: True Colors.
Every single person on stage got a turn at a verse.
Something about a concert...in the summer...with the SOLE purpose of making a crowd smile, is refreshing.
It was music that reminded everyone there what it feels like to be a kid again. Whether you were an eight year old who got the Cyndi Lauper record for your birthday...or you were the weird kid in your class who favoured the B-52's when the rest of the class was into the New Kids on the Block - the True Colors show offered something for EVERYONE - the only thing they asked for in return was that you get up and dance.
And that certainly wasn't a problem. No problem whatsoever.
- Dan MacDonald
B-52's Set list:
Pump
Mesopotamia
Private Idaho
Ultraviolet
Roam
Juliet of the Spirits
Funplex
Hot Corner
Love in the Year 3000
Love Shack
Rock Lobster.
Cyndi Lauper's Set List:
1. Change of Heart
2. Rocking Chair
3. Set Your Heart
4. When You Were Mine
5. She Bop
6. Into the Nightlife
7. I Drove All Night
8. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (with Rosie O'Donnell on drums!)
9. Same Ol' Story (she sang only the first verse and the chorus, but she did it A Cappella)
10. Time After Time
11. Money Changes Everything (the lead singer from the Clicks came out as a duet on this song)
12. Everyday People
13. True Colors
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