True Colors

August 1, 2018

Rod Stewart

Cyndi Lauper

 

True Colors

Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I enjoy going to see live music. It is something that I really enjoy and have since my very first concert experience when I went to see John Denver at Market Square Arena way back in 1972. There are few bands over the past 45 years or so of any significance that I have not seen live and I still love attending a good show as much as I ever have. Living in Key West makes attending some shows more of a challenge and I obviously have to travel a lot if I want to go see a lot of artists who just do not make it to the island.

It is not too much of a problem to see shows in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale, though even that takes planning and usually an overnight stay to make it work. It is a lot easier if the show is on a weekend night and it takes a pretty special show for us to change work plans etc. around to go to a mid-week show. This week happened to be one of those times and even so, Kathy still was not able to change her schedule around to go.

Rod and Cyndi

I was however because it was an act that I really, really wanted to see. I saw Rod Stewart once before, some 30 years ago, again at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis and ever since I have wanted to go back and see him again. I almost had the chance a couple of times when I was in Las Vegas during his residency show there, but I never quite made it.

When it was announced that he would be playing at Hard Rock Live in Ft. Lauderdale, I was pretty certain that I wanted to go, and when I found out that Cyndi Lauper was opening I was sold. I had never seen Lauper perform, not during her heyday in the 80s or since, and my appreciation for her talent has done nothing but grow as the years have gone on. Now I believe that she was a truly iconic figure in women’s rock and her music, which I dismissed at the time as light pop, has actually stood the test of time way better than much of what I was listening to back in those days.

 

The double bill made the drive to Ft. Lauderdale well worth the trip, and the fact that I was able to sell Kathy’s ticket to a wonderful woman who just happened to have lived a few blocks from where I grew up in Indianapolis made the trip that much more fun. The Hard Rock Seminole Casino and Hotel is undergoing a major, major renovation and upgrade. A huge new hotel is being built that is shaped like a guitar as well as a massive pool and entertainment complex that will be able to host more and much larger concerts.

 

For the time being the original Hard Rock Live venue where I had been many times was torn down and the concerts were being held in what essentially was a huge conference room. Thankfully I had great seats in the fourth row, nice and close to the stage. I had never seen Cyndi Lauper before and after seeing her wonderful performance, that is my great loss. She was absolutely terrific.

 

She played a set that about 70 minutes that featured all of her old hits from the 80s and a few more songs. Her voice was great and she has the energy of a twenty-something, bounding about the stage and repeatedly coming off the stage and into the appreciative crowd. She even sang the majority of one song standing on a seat that was only three seats down the aisle from me.

The headliner was amazing as well. Rod Stewart had much more of a stage show, with a number of back-up singers and dancers and a large band. His performance was much more of a show, just a tad smaltzy and much like you would expect to see in a Vegas lounge with multiple costume changes and a vaudeville feel to some of the songs. However his voice was in spectacular form, the raspy quality seeming even more refined as he ages. He played a long set featuring seventeen songs from across his massive catalog including many of my favorites.

 

As always he kicked autographed soccer balls in to the crowd during the song “Stay With Me” and he covered music from throughout his storied career. I think he really is an underappreciated music legend and he puts on a truly wonderful show. He is one of those artists that you know almost every song and the crowd found itself singing along through most of the show.