The Rascals in Toronto

Last night my wife and I saw the Rascals in concert at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto.  My daughter had a ticket but she decided not to come.  I guess, in fairness to her, these are old men that she's never really heard of (I'm sure she'd recognize some of their hits), it's loud, it's crowded, and she just got home from a trip to Montreal.  So, for a hundred bucks, my wife had a place to put her purse.

The seats were great.  We were in the fifth row, on the floor.  The Royal Alex is not very deep, but it has two balconies, the highest is right up there in the sky.  Not the best seats for a concert, or a play, or anything really.  You're pretty much looking at the tops of heads from up there.  But fifth row, on the floor is great!

So first, a little history:  the Rascals split up in the early 70's after about ten years of making music together.  They had a lot of hits in that time, including one of the first singles I ever bought, "It's a Beautiful Morning".  They reunited, for one night only, in 1997 when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Their biggest fan, Steven Van Zandt (from Bruce Springsteen's band, and the Sopranos) inducted them, and in that time got the idea for the show.  He apparently wrote many scripts and, finally, got the Rascal's approval and the rest is history.

In the front hallway of the theatre there was a merchandise table like any rock show.  Prices were crazy high, just like any rock show as well.  I bought a double-sided t-shirt for $35--single sided ones were going for $30.  Books (looked liked they were made specifically for the show) were $75, unless you wanted an autographed copy, then it was $130.  CD's were the same thing--a Rascals' greatest hits CD was going for $15 (you can get it anywhere for less than $10) or autographed for $35.  Ridiculously big lapel buttons were going for $5 but that would be a souvenir only, unless you are a clown named "Rascals".  They were also selling posters, signed or unsigned.

The show opened with the projection of a little girl sitting in a field singing the title song, "Once Upon a Dream".  The curtain lifted and there was the band, going right into "It's Wonderful", one of their minor hits.  In the first few minutes they performed "Lonely Too Long" and "You Better Run" along with a few covers, "Mickey's Monkey", "Slow Down" and "Too Many Fish".

The Rascals at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, 16 August 2013

Almost the entire wall behind them was a huge video screen.  Their story was told on the screen between songs, mostly through scripted interviews with the Rascals themselves.  There were also actors portraying the younger versions of the guys.  I didn't think that worked as well.  I would have liked more vintage footage of the band in their heyday.  They apparently appeared on the Ed Sullivan show (Ed introduces them at the top of the show as "The Young Rascals") and the video footage of that would have been great.  If Steven Van Zandt wants some advice from me (I'm sure he's holding his breath for that!) I would have had more video before the show.  Have the curtain go up on the video screen and run lots of biographical stuff, and actual TV appearances and such BEFORE the band comes on stage.  Fewer interruptions during the Rascals' performance, and the same after the intermission advancing the story to their fame.  I think that might have run better.  I'm not saying no interruptions during the show, but less of them.

Gene Cornish and Eddie Brigati

Felix Cavaliere is definitely the coolest guy in the room.  As a matter of fact, he would be the coolest guy in just about any room he's in, and that's saying a lot when you have Steven Van Zandt in the room.  He hasn't lost a thing in forty years.  The other guys still got it too, but I get the feeling that Felix was always the coolest guy in the band.  In the show the other guys all thank him for getting them to do original material, otherwise they would have been one of the best cover bands forever.  Eddie Brigati still plays the tambourine and maracas and dances around the stage, Gene Cornish (born in Ottawa) is still great on guitar, and Dino Danelli is still fine on drums.  He apparently was very flashy in the old days, sticks flying and such, but a little tamer in his old age.

Coolest guy in the room, Felix Cavaliere

They managed to do all their hits in the 28 song show except one, "Mustang Sally".  They didn't write it, and Wilson Pickett had the bigger hit, but I still consider it a Rascals song.  Anyway, all their other hits were included--"People Got to Be Free", "Groovin'", "Good Lovin'", "I Ain't Gonna Eat Out My Heart Anymore", "It's a Beautiful Morning" and "A Girl Like You".  Highest marks go to Eddie Brigati for his rendition of "How Can I Be Sure" which earned him a standing ovation in the middle of Act 2.

My wife commented after the show that more could have been done with the huge video screen during the songs.  There were images, but a lot of them were very cartoony, and looped a lot.  It looked best when they had the pulsating bubbles in liquid like you saw a million times back in the sixties.  During "Good Lovin'" they had some lyrics coming up (Doctor, Good Lovin') and such.  Towards the end of the show giant red letters were projected simply saying "Rascals".  But my wife thought they could have done a better job with vintage clips and images, and I can't argue with her.

Even though it says all over the programme "no photographs, videos, cell phones" there was an announcement at the top of the show telling us to take pictures, tweet them, do whatever the f*** we want to.  So I took lots of pictures, and they turned out pretty well.  At the intermission we were told to buy a t-shirt, take a piss, whatever.  Very Jersey-like.  Big Pussy (Vinny Pastore, also from the Sopranos) played Fat Frankie, and did the narration on the video screen.  I could have used a little more of him too--every time he talked or appeared everyone seemed to enjoy it.

There was an encore, but no one ever left the stage.  After introducing everyone Felix just said, "You want one more?" and of course we did.

Dino Danelli bowing to producer, director and writer Steven Van Zandt, centre.

There were two extra musicians, just off stage, a bass player and another keyboard player (I assume for the strings and horn sounds).  There were three background singers, two female and one male.

The Rascals have already played New York, Boston and now Toronto.  They are moving next to California to play LA and San Francisco.  I assume more will be added as time goes on.

I heard the show described as Jersey Boys with the actual group instead of actors.  That's not a terrible description, I guess, but really, this was more of a concert than a Broadway show.  Not that that's a bad thing mind you, just so you know what you're getting.  It is almost as loud as a concert tends to be, and nothing happens on stage other than the Rascals in concert.  Anything else is on the video screen.  This show could just as easily been done at Massey Hall or the General Motors Centre in Oshawa for that matter.

But I had a good time, and it was nice to see an original group from the 60's, all members alive and well, and still able to put on a rocking great show.

Michael