Review by Alex Jacard
Photos by Ron Lyon
Walking towards the Pacific Amphitheatre, located within the Orange County Fairgrounds complex, I thought about the controversy this venue has experienced since its opening in the early 1980s. Aside from ongoing volume issues with the neighbors, the fairgrounds were recently up for sale, due to California’s financial problems. The sale, however, never went through, leaving the fairgrounds and amphitheatre in the clear, for now.
None of this seemed to matter as Paul Rodgers took the stage. At 61, Rodgers still commands a voice and presence that few can hold a candle to. Rolling Stone called him one of the Top 100 Singers of All Time and Classic Rock placed him second on their 50 Greatest Singers in Rock list.
Around 8:15, Uncle Joe Benson from KLOS came out to greet the crowd and invited Debbie Shuck and a couple of kids from the Kids Rock Free® music education program to help auction off a Paul Rodgers autographed guitar and tambourine. In addition, Rodgers had promised to match any donations from audience members made to the organization. By the end of the night, a total of $6,300 was donated to the school.
At dusk, Rodgers and his band kicked off the evening with the Bad Company classic, “Can’t Get Enough.” Things in the mix took some time to settle out, with the exception of the drums, which could only be heard, but not fully felt. At the break, guitarists Howard Leese and Markus Wolfe played some excellent dual harmonies and the crowd sang along with the chorus.
“Honey Child” sounded tight with all the band members in sync and Rodgers amazing on vocals (the background vocals could have been a little more prominent in the mix). “Runnin’ With The Pack” started off with some great guitar work from both Leese and Wolfe.
“Ready For Love” struck a chord with the women in the audience. Rodgers, with tambourine in hand, worked the stage and slapped more than a few admirers’ hands, with a big grin on his face. The man conveyed a sense of peace and ease as he moved about the stage. “Ready For Love” came to a slow, soulful end — a trend that would occur through the night.
Rodgers whirled his microphone stand akin to a drum major handling a mace, taking full command of the music and band — an extremely talented group of players. In one instance, bassist Todd Ronning got to showcase his talents for an all-to-brief section of the Free song “Mr. Big.”
Behind the piano, Rodgers led the band into one of the best renditions of “Bad Company” that I’ve ever heard. The song evokes a mythical western portrait that has been enumerated many times. The extended piano solo with the rhythm in step seemed to push each other methodically to a crescendo that conjures a great aural imagery of an old train heading off into the sunset. This may be in part because the original vocal was cut in a field, under a full moon.
Imagery in mind, Paul came out solo with acoustic in hand and went into “Seagull,” which he said he wrote while in Portsmouth. Leese joined him midway for an acoustic solo and the rest of the band fell in, all on acoustic instruments.
Rodgers engaged the crowd and graciously posed for the folks in the front rows to take his picture. The stage went dark and a thundering crack blistered the air for “Burning Sky.” This song set down a slow groove even as the audience stood on their feet. At this point, the band was in full comfort mode, and the audience was like another member talents.
“Fire And Water,” another Free classic, kept things going with a brief drum solo before the crowd rose to their feet for “Shooting Star.” The audience sang along, putting another huge smile on the singer’s face. When he asked the crowd to sing one more chorus, he exclaimed: “Wow…you all sound really good!”
Guitars were a-blazing right into “Rock & Roll Fantasy,” with a little lyrical skating from Rodgers at the end for a nice ad-lib. An encore of Free’s “All Right Now” had Rodgers and the crowd coming together, sharing the song. A huge ovation and the final song of the night, “Walk In My Shadow,” which Rodgers said was the first song he ever wrote.
From the very beginning to what’s he done more recently, Paul Rodgers takes pride in the work he does, and tonight, it obviously showed.
