An Evening with Paul Anka - About As Close to Sinatra As I Can Get

If not for my years working as a nanny, an amazing artist like Paul Anka may have slipped under my radar, but thanks to my former employer, Jim, I was exposed to Paul Anka’s “Rock Swings” album one morning upon arriving to work. As I heard “Jump” by Van Halen being sung in a classic, Sinatra-esque kind of way, I couldn’t help but turn to the eldest child and say “Your parents have an awesome taste in music.” It was love at first sound and I borrowed the CD immediately, which essentially influenced my desire to go see Paul Anka perform Friday night at the Ruth Eckerd Hall.

January 29, 2010 Clearwater hosted Anka’s final show of his tour and filled Ruth Eckerd with his faithful fans. Outnumbered by audience members twice or even older, watching the crowd was half of the fun. With no opening act, Anka started promptly at 8pm and entered the auditorium from the very back of the room, walking down the stairs to greet the crowd. The ladies went wild, pushing husbands out of the way, with arms outstretched to get a piece of him.
With percussion, drums, guitar, bass, horns, piano and even a synthesizer behind him Anka started off the show with a bang and an incredible amount of energy. Outfitted in a swingin’ black suit, white shirt and white tie he sauntered in and out of the crowd sporadically while singing their favorite tunes, and asked them all to sing along. Everyone knew the words. After 53 years of touring, it’s safe to say, the man knows what he’s doing. His performance was very animated and he was incredibly keyed in to every single beat of each tune.

Anka sang with incredible conviction. Until seeing him sing live, somehow I’d missed just how powerfully soothing his voice truly was. He performed pieces from his entire catalog: “Puppy Love,” “Diana,” “My Way,” “Times of Your Life,” and the theme from “The Longest Day” were featured throughout the evening. He honored and bragged about his many celebrity acquaintances and artists he’d worked with over the years by singing songs written with or by them which included Bobby Darrin, Frank Sinatra, Buddy Holly, and even Michael Jackson.
After all of the controversy with Michael Jackson and the “This Is It” song it was refreshing to find that Paul Anka was light-hearted and quite comedic about the whole situation with his attribution to it and how Jackson’s lawyers and representation handled it. During his performance of “This Is It” he had the recorded voice of Jackson accompany him, a method he also used with a Sammy Davis Jr. song and slideshow shown later in the performance.

Anka is a great performer and the evening was wonderful. He played a two-hour set, with no encore but a few covers, a few tributes, a great enthusiasm and gratitude for his audience. He even kept the audience further entertained with some amusingly relevant jokes about politics, Tiger Woods, and even American Idol. The ideals of showmanship and “show-biz” that existed in the 50’s were prevalent and refreshing. It was both relaxing and entertaining; definitely an experience that will not be forgotten. Although he didn’t play a song off of my first love, “Rock Swings,” Anka did everything but disappoint. This legendary artist definitely left the audience at Ruth Eckerd with smiles on their faces and a great “Jump” into the weekend.

I Wanted to Know What Love Is....And Oh, Did They Show Me

When I checked the listings and saw that Eddie Money would be touring with Foreigner and the two would be appearing at the Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, I thought, “Well why not? Now there’s a show that will be hilariously amazing.”

And it was, but in a completely different sense than I’d imagined.

The Ruth Eckerd Hall was filled on January 15, 2010 with Eddie Money and Foreigner fans of all ages, but mostly it was populated 40-something women with their husbands, boyfriends or single girl friends, that were dressed to impress. The place was packed already and it was only a half-hour until show time.

My husband and I took our seats and I did a scan of the room. I had a double take as I realized just how big the venue was. The stage was set up for Eddie Money and we were watching people stumble to their seats with drinks in hand.

The lights went down and Eddie Money and his band appeared on the stage. This was the hilarious part of the evening. I’ll admit I had to do a quick Google check on Eddie Money. I’d heard of him, he was on an 80’s playlist on my iPod, but I couldn’t remember what song it was. “Two Tickets to Paradise” was his opener, and the song I knew best. He took the stage feverishly spinning in circles, throwing a tambourine behind him, and kicking as though having a tantrum every few beats, I couldn’t help but laugh. Then I looked down and saw the “Ladies of the 80’s,” as Eddie Money referred to them, dancing, singing along and screaming to him.

Eddie Money’s band was great. The guitar player constantly did this uncomfortable-looking split stance that reeked of 80’s “cool;” the drummer was talented and animated, and the bass player had the quintessential hair from the 80’s to keep the vibe alive. Eddie Money, however, has not aged well, but he put all of his energy into making the audience happy and giving a solid performance. The highlight of the evening was when Eddie Money brought out his daughter, Jesse Money, to accompany him.

Jessie Money definitely inherited some amazing pipes and she sang like a dream. She is also quite an attractive young lady. She wowed the audience when she sang the woman vocal part of “Take Me Home Tonight” and then gave her dad a break and belted out a blues tune. Eddie finished his hour opening performance with “Baby Hold On To Me” and then was summoned back onstage for a quick Encore. I think my husband characterized Eddie Money’s performance best when he said jokingly, “It’s funny watching older people rock out when it’s not, like, The Grateful Dead.”

There was a quick intermission to refill drinks and empty bladders before Foreigner took the stage. Their stage set-up was great and the intro proved to be even better. They opened with their classic hit “Double Vision” and the audience went wild. I was mesmerized and it was just as the room became so loud that the publicist from Ruth Eckerd Hall tried to ask me a question. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying but at the end of the exchange I’d picked up her hand gestures indicating that there were some 2,163 Foreigner Fans in the place, which was probably why I couldn’t hear her!

I hadn’t known until I looked it up that Foreigner’s band members had changed quite often throughout the years. However, the guys that rocked the stage Friday night were Mick Jones, Jeff Jacobs, Thom Gimbel, Jason Bonham, and Kelly Hansen. The lead singer, Hansen, must have been channeling Steven Tyler because some of his moves were so Tyler-esque and at times he even kind of looked like him.

This performance was the amazing part. It was such a tribute to the 80’s in the best way: the lights, the clothes, and those classic songs. “Head Games,” “Cold as Ice,” “Waiting For a Girl Like You,” were all featured and played with great energy. Hansen was bouncing all over the place, occasionally going into the audience to be groped by the many women in awe of him. His voice was so strong. At one point he hit one of those pained notes that still sounded sharp and in perfect pitch to make jaws drop and ears cringe momentarily.

Foreigner threw in some new stuff and proved they still had it. The heavy drums and familiar Foreigner beats whipped up a few new hits. Then they came back with “Dirty White Boy” at which point I just had to sit and watch the audience go crazy lip-syncing and dancing provocatively. Foreigner has quite the following, and there were far less people sitting than standing to rock out with them.

Towards the end of the evening they played an 80’s psychedelic rock song called “Starrider” which was sung by Mick Jones. The drummer made an “F” with his drumsticks and showed it to the audience before accompanying the band during the song. Then they played “Feels like the First Time,” and the drummer hit the drum so hard that the drumstick flipped up in the air a few times and then he caught it just in time to hit that last note.

The band left just the keyboard player and the drummer on the stage to let the audience have a sweet and trippy keyboard solo and a way too awesome drum solo; at one point the man played with just his hands! Then Foreigner hit us with the big finale. They finished with a bang and left the audience wanting more. After a few torturous moments they reappeared for the Encore to play “I Want to Know What Love Is,” my personal favorite, and ended the epic night leaving us “Hot Blooded.”

Foreigner was fierce. I had a feeling that they would be, and the evening was a blast. They completely surpassed all expectations, but I think my husband put it best when he said “I have to admit, this show was much better that I thought it would be.”

Nothing Left Out with THE LEFTOVERS

The Leftovers are made up Kurt, Adam, Andrew and Matt; a four-piece band that rocks the stage with a great love of music and of their fans. Hailing from Portland, Maine these guys record on “Crappy Records” and belt out some “Power Pop, Punk Pop, and Rock Pop” at every show they play.

The guys are down to earth, personable, and fun. I met and tracked them down in Ybor City, Florida when they opened for The Queers at the Orpheum. Besides the fact that they are all some serious eye candy, their set blew me away…something that isn’t an everyday occurrence.
During their set, The Leftovers played some of their more popular tunes like “Telephone Operator” and “Camel.” They demanded crowd participation and challenged the audience to be more animated and interactive. Their energy was contagious.

Front man and bass player, Kurt Baker, explained that recently added guitarist and vocalist, Matt Anderson had left his “legacy” of paleontology, working with his great aunt at the Smithsonian, to go on tour with The Leftovers. Before becoming the guitarist, Matt explained that he was just a roadie for them for two years, although he’d known the other guys since the band got together.
They all went to high school together and formed in 2002. They’ve been touring since 2005/2006 across the country and hit England in 2006/2007. Kurt said “We love touring. Music is the only thing I think about; Music connects with my soul and my lifeline.” This is evident in their stage presence.

With influences like The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Ramones and the Romantics, it makes sense that they like to “play the songs of our idols,” according to Matt “Smash” Anderson. He also claims that he enjoys headbanging, beer and pizza as a necessity. When asked what he loves about music his answer was simple and succinct: “Playing music,” he responded. “I love the feeling you get when you can’t get a song out of your head,” which he went on to say included any song, not just one of their own.

The guitarist and vocalist opposite Matt, Andrew Rice, claimed he was the work-horse of the group as he loaded the van. Andrew has played guitar since he was a freshman in high school and said he enjoyed meeting people and making friends as part of the band experience, with the exception of “The Punishers,” which is their name for the people they’ve encountered that they just can’t stand…I may now be on that list.

When asked what he loved about music, Andrew said “I like the process or working with other people.” Among these “other people,” we cannot forget the awesome drummer, Adam Woronoff. Adam played drums for the Queers at the Orpheum on September 25, 2009 and has on and off for quite some time. Adam started on guitar but said he “Only played the drums because no one else could.” He also said “I like when music is fun,” and liked music to be light, naming The Beatles as his major influence. Overall, when asked about his love for music he said, “I like travelling and being in a band with my friends.”

Above all, these 20-something band mates have made a life out of their music. They’ve overcome all those High School band fights and dramatic break-up and disband clichés and stayed consistent, growing with each and every new song. With a discography of about 10 CDs and EPs, they have moved away from their following in New England to take the world by storm.
The Leftovers are a band to watch, and I was fortunate to see them live and talk with them in person. After getting hugs from them all and being gifted with CDs, stickers and buttons, I left knowing that this band would do great things and make amazing music, which would eventually be the songs that many fans would love to have stuck in their heads, and that many bands would idolize in the future. The Leftovers certainly left an impression on me…and Ybor City.