Saturday February 24

Saturday February 24, 2001

Massey Hall, that grand old theatre in downtown Toronto was the scene of a great duo, in town to brighten up a dreary February night. Kenny Rogers, the entertainer who never fails to amaze the crowds who flood in was going to appear with Canada’s latest golden girl and the new toast of Nashville, Carolyn Dawn Johnson. We’d been delighted to cover Kenny in December when he passed through with his Christmas show and were anticipating another great performance, this tim featuring his own hits. And sure enough, we weren’t disappointed. By 7:50 PM the theatre was more than ¾ full and more were flooding in by the minute. Dick Reeves, the fixture it seems at most Southern Ontario events from 820 CHAM was the announcer and the first performer who would emerge would be Carolyn Dawn Johnson.

Now, for those of you who haven’t had the good fortune of hearing about Carolyn, she is the young woman from Alberta who moved to Nashville a few years ago to pursue her dream of becoming a hit songwriter and a renowned performer. Well, she made it and her credits include writing “Single White Female”, recorded by Chely Wright in 1999 (and taken to #1!). She is also the voice behind many of country’s greatest voices on their recordings including the harmony on Martina McBride’s “I Love You”. This particular job resulted in Carolyn touring with Martina as one of the vocalists and Martina providing the harmony for Carolyn’s hit song “Georgia”. Now that we’ve brought you up to speed, we’ll get back to the show.

Arista’s newest artist has her first CD, called “Room With A View” in stores on February 27. She emerged with her accompanist to a warm welcome and stood at centre stage, a small form almost dwarfed it seemed by the guitar she was holding. She has the most radiant smile and is a truly beautiful girl, and is much more vibrant than she appears on the video for “Georgia”. She headed out with a song from her new CD and her crystal clear vocals rang out, every bit as appealing as you’ll hear on the radio (or even better). Showing that she already has a grasp on audience relations, Carolyn liked to reveal a little about the background of the songs she would sing. One touching story involved her family; namely her aunt and uncle who live in Alberta. They inspired the song “Masterpiece”, for the love that surrounds their son who had been diagnosed as ‘developmentally handicapped’ while very young, but who brings the sun with him wherever he goes.

The next single from her CD is going to be “Complicated”. A song that grew out of her self-confessed habit of falling for her male friends and her subsequent discovery that another friend was going through the same thing, this song is so revealing and personal that to record it would take a lot of guts in my opinion. But beyond that, it’s a fantastic song and really shows the talent of this songwriter. Don’t be surprised if she ends up being the top songwriter in Canadian country within a year. This was performed brilliantly, and was my favourite.

Time to centre out her stage mate, Craig Young (on acoustic), as it was his birthday. He received a healthy round of applause from the crowd (and Carolyn) for what must have been one of his ‘most embarrassing moments’.

The title track was Carolyn’s next song. “Room With A View” was followed by the popular and chart topping “Georgia”, and yes, it would be Carolyn’s last song. The set was short but was a highlight, giving many a taste of one of the future leaders of country music, on both sides of the border.

Kenny Rogers is someone who has remained at the forefront of the music industry by changing with the times and constantly re-inventing himself. As he had recognized the need to adapt, much earlier than many others in country music, he has managed to evolve into one of the best entertainers I have ever seen. While it may seem a little more of a strain these days to reach those higher notes he more than makes up for it with a fast paced, honest and no holds barred show that leaves you entertained for every minute he’s on that stage. He’s there to sing, yes. But that’s not all. He’s there to say hello to some old friends, and they welcomed him with open arms.

As Kenny emerged to the almost wild applause the video screen mounted at the back of the stage lit up, but your attention was drawn to the figure in the gray jacket and black leather pants that strode out and began “Something’s Got A Hold On Me”. He walked back and forth across the front of the stage, waving to some people, shaking hands with others and even accepting a flower or two. The fact that he kept a microphone in his hand and kept singing was almost an afterthought. He even made one young guy’s night. The fellow was standing in the aisle with his camera when Kenny spotted him and motioned him closer. Hesitation at first, then the young fellow stepped closer and Kenny reached out for his camera. I’m sure the thoughts flew through his mind as he stepped closer and handed over his camera, but Kenny straightened up, peered through it and took the guy’s photo for him, standing there in the aisle (all with one hand). As he handed the camera back, with a big smile, the young guy broke into a run back to his seat, camera held high in the air like an Olympic torch. That’s making a fan for life.

One of the best things about a Kenny Rogers show is the monologue he gets into with the audience. He starts talking about whatever he spots out in the crowd (and the fact that he can see the crowd was also a topic for discussion). This time he spots a pair of binoculars somewhere, much to his amusement. “In my opinion, binoculars in the first ten rows is an invasion of privacy,” he tells the crowd. “What are they looking for, when they bring binoculars to see twenty feet away?” he asks, while everyone laughs. Those eyes don’t miss anything. Next he remarks that he can tell by looking at the crowd who is there against their will and only came because they were pushed into it. He tells us, “They’re the ones slouched over like this.” As we look around he laughs and tells one man, “Don’t sit up sir, I already saw you…” and everyone laughs again. “Stand up sir, what’s your name?” he asked, as he moved over closer to that singled out fellow. It turns out that Mike came to the show without being a diehard Kenny Rogers fan, something Kenny Rogers was determined to change. To the amusement of his band members Kenny said “Mike, here’s what I’m going to do. For every one of my songs that went to #1 that you can name, I will give you $10.00.” Mike responded by asking if that was in American or Canadian, bringing a big laugh from everyone. Kenny affirmed that it was American, and withdrew a wad of bills from his pants pocket. As Mike stood up for the challenge his began getting hints, to which Kenny said, “No, not you…this is just Mike’s contest, no helping is allowed.” Mike only made about $20.00 that time, so Kenny said, “Okay, if I sing a song that you know went to #1 and you put your hand up, I’ll give you another $10.00.” Mike agreed, and it was on with the show. One thing Kenny did say about this contest is “Mike will, by the end of the show, be SO EXCITED about country music he’ll go out with $80 - $90 of my money and buy a Garth Brooks album with it.” Not wearing rose coloured glasses either, by the way.

“If You Want to Find Love, Go Looking At Home” was the next song, and Kenny had the crowd singing every other line to see how well they knew it. You don’t get out of working at a Kenny Rogers show either. And if your side of the room can’t beat the other side of the room, he’ll heckle you so be prepared.

Now about those lights. Kenny said a few years ago it occurred to him (in the middle of a show), that everyone beyond the first two rows could get up and leave and he would never know. That sudden realization really blew his mind, so now he has special lights installed so he can see the crowd when he looks out there.

“Through The Years” was Kenny’s next song, and it’s such a beautiful one. For “Ruby”, the lights turned the stage a brilliant red to get you into it. For the next song Kenny felt a little explanation was in order. The next song was one they’d rehearsed twice, performed once, and they screwed it up each time. Now, they were going to give it another go and see how this one went. I think the title of it was “There You Go Again” but I’m not too sure. I do know I liked it and it was a pretty rockin’ type of song.

Nashville great Don Schlitz wrote “The Greatest”, and Kenny tells us of some of the messages he gets from folks on his website about baseball. Really inspiring, heartwarming tales that bring people from all over together due to baseball. Kenny really puts his storytelling talents to use for this song, which becomes more than just a song, it’s a message.

Kenny had been having dinner one night with Lou Perlmann, the genius behind pop group The Backstreet Boys, and they were discussing the lack of such a group for the younger country fans. And so, Marshall Dyllon was born. Made up of five young men and under Kenny’s guidance, they sing, they dance and they had some of the younger fans in attendance screaming pretty good. It may just work. Touring with Kenny gave them the exposure so vital to any up and coming group and they join the ranks of The Clark Family Experience for being young, single and hot.

“Live It Up” is a tune that was written by Phil Vassar, currently having a hit of his own with “Just Another Day In Paradise”. “Coward Of The County” is a real crowd pleaser, and Mike was right there for his next $10.00 bonus. “Buy Me A Rose”, one of Kenny’s latest hits and proving yet again that this man will go on forever, followed “Daytime Friends and Nighttime Lovers”. A beautiful song about friendship, “Have A Little Faith In Me” was another crowd participation song. Kenny said he’d had a bet with one of his band members about whether the crowd would welcome the inclusion of the next song or not, and it would depend on how they would sing along. He said he’d had a dream that we’d sing so loud we’d hurt his ears, and he made the bet as a result. After launching into the song in question (“Bo Didley”), Kenny sighed after our demonstration and said “So it was only a dream…”, bringing a laugh from everyone.

“The Gambler” was accompanied by a 13-minute montage of clips from all 5 of “The Gambler” series of movies. I had no idea that he’d had that many guest stars in those movies until you see them all flash by on the screen. You also get to see the many changes of Kenny Rogers taking place right before your eyes, as these movies are spread over quite a few years. “Lucille” followed the rousing cheer for the previous song once the film ended, right on cue. The look on Kenny’s face as the crowd took right over on him, singing the chorus of “Lucille” for him was priceless. “Oh yeah! Now you want to sing,” he chided us as the band burst into laughter behind him.

Time for a Mike update, and Kenny wandered over to see how Mike had made out in the bonus round. Kenny said he knew Mike had $100.00, since Kenny had no more money in his pocket and Kenny next presented Mike with a Kenny Rogers T-shirt to wear for the ride home. As Mike held the shirt up to look at it we couldn’t hear what he said, but Kenny must have because he told Mike “If you gave me $100.00 I’d wear a shirt that said ‘Mike’ on it”. To the laughter from the crowd Mike pulled the shirt on over his own and turned, arms raised, so we could all admire him (and we did, he got lots of good natured applause). Before Kenny got back to the show he asked how much that would be in Canadian funds, and when he was told $150.00 he jokingly (?) said, “What?! Give me some of that back!”

“Lady” is the second to last song, and following the song it’s time for another of Kenny’s revelations. He said for years, he’d end a show, saying goodnight and leaving the stage while really just hiding behind the curtain KNOWING that they’d ask for more and with them KNOWING that he’d come back out and sing another song. And he decided that was stupid, and he wasn’t going to do that anymore. So, he’d just sit right there and sing another song, and that would be the end of it. And that’s just what he did, giving a tremendous solo version of the Dolly duet “Islands In The Stream” before gracing the crowd with the tambourine giveaway he does at the end of his shows. He also had some Frisbees for the folks in the back rows and the stuff was just flying there for a little while, before the final handshakes, flowers, photos and the final wave. And he was gone. Now THAT’S entertainment!

When you are able to sit out in the crowd and hear what reactions are going on around you from the show you get a real appreciation for how much the artist gives to people. Each person out there feels a connection to that person on that stage and Kenny brought an awful lot of joy to the crowd at Massey Hall that night. I heard people singing along to ALL of the songs, like the charming older fellow next to me, who accompanied himself with tapping on his knee and nudging his wife. I heard constant giggles from behind me and across the aisle from his storytelling talents and the wild applause that followed his departure from the stage. If the rule is to always leave them wanting more then Kenny Rogers has that rule down pat. Excellent show, I’d highly recommend him to anyone.

We would like to thank the helpful staff of Massey Hall, Jack K. of Massey Hall/Roy Thompson Hall and Next Presentations for being number one in everything they do. We’d also like to thank 820 CHAM and especially Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Kenny Rogers for giving such a wonderful memory to so many. That is a gift indeed.

Written by Kim Jamieson

Photos by Wayne Tozzi