Rod Stewart and his special guest Cyndi Lauper both nailed spectacular performances at their concert event on Aug. 3, and made fans at the PPL Center in Allentown go crazy!
Rod Stewart or Cyndi Lauper are considered to be important music artists.
Cyndi’s first album “She’s So Unusual” came out in 1983, and it had a lot of hits like her signature song and girl-power anthem “Girls Just Want To Have Fun” and the ballad “Time After Time.” The Grammy winner of Best New Artist was the first woman to earn four top 5 singles from her first album. More than 50 million albums have sold throughout the world. She was also one of the most popular artists on MTV, when it first started playing music videos in the early 1980s. If you like movies as much as I do, you might have seen “The Goonies” for which Cyndi sings “The Goonies ‘R’ Good Enough.” As a girl, I have an interest in female artists and how they have become successful. Cyndi’s music is a combination of punk-rock, pop, and heavy keyboards, and most of it is feel-good music that makes you feel happy and gets you on your feet dancing. More recently, Cyndi is known on Broadway for her music contributions to the show “Kinky Boots”. She also created The True Colors Fund to combat homelessness for young people.
She opened her set with “I Drove All Night”, and was dressed in all white which made her look almost like a floating orb on stage. “She Bop” made you want to tap your foot to the music and almost forces you to burst out singing along with the chorus at the top of your lungs! There were some slow songs like “True Colors” and “Time After Time”, and as her set came to an end there was a sudden whisper that fell upon the crowd as they questioned if she would do her most famous song “Girls Just Want To Have Fun”. Then I heard everyone scream as that first unmistakable note of my favorite song played and got all up on their feet!
Rod Stewart’s “Great American Songbook” CD was played a lot by my parents during dinners at home. Rod’s music has so many genres, there’s probably something for everyone from acoustic guitar soft songs to all out rock and roll to disco. It’s his unique voice that no matter what genre he performs, you know it’s the one and only Rod Stewart. He has been inducted into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame twice, sold millions of records with standards like “Maggie May” to the anthemic ballad “You’re In My Heart” and has been performing for over five decades starting in the 1960s. “Blood Red Roses”, his 30th studio album, is scheduled to be released Sept. 28.
Going into this concert I knew this would be a great opportunity to find out about the rock and roll side of Rod Stewart. Trying something new is a good way to discover new favorite music. As everyone was eagerly waiting for Rod Stewart to take the stage, Scottish music blasted out of the speakers. A checkered curtain was dropped to reveal Rod Stewart in his cheetah print jacket and his groovy band. Then I realized tonight was unlike most concerts because in addition to seeing a rock and roll icon, I was watching a real-life knight. Sir Rod Stewart was knighted by Prince William. During the song “Rhythm Of My Heart” a video screen behind the stage showed the footage, and he said it was a big event in his life.
What made Rod Stewart’s concert special is that it had both men and women in the band playing multiple instruments. Violins, a saxophone, a harp, guitars and two, drummers, it was almost overwhelming to think about all those instruments being played on stage all at the same time. Did I mention that Sir Rod’s dazzling jewelry literally shines off him while he performs?
And now for the songs, some of which are my new favorites. Stewart has so many hits from his many years in the music business that I discovered some of them weren’t completely new to me like “Forever Young”. He did hits from the early 1970s to the 1980s and 199s, so everyone in the crowd would have a good time. From “Maggie May” to “Some Guys Have All The Luck”, each song it seemed made the crowd more excited. There was a slow sad song about The Easter Rising, and Sir Rod caused the arena to be still with emotion when he sang about what happened during this historical event that took place in 1916. He then said that it makes for interesting reading, so I will try to find out more about this event.
As the set came to an end, it seemed more like a party than a concert. He kicked out soccer balls during “Hot Legs” and balloons, some almost as massive as a car, dropped from the ceiling during “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy.” Colorful disco lights added to the party-like feeling.
This is a show I would definitely go to again if it comes back around to my area! If you have a chance to see Rod Stewart and/or Cyndi Lauper, make sure you go because whether you know their music or not, you are guaranteed to have fun! And next time, I will catch one of those soccer balls!
I would like to acknowledge the following super, awesome, cool people: Katie Nork, Director Of Marketing PPL Center & Lehigh Valley Phantoms, Henry Evans Harding at MBC, Chris Taillie at Shore Fire Media, and Garrett Polityka and Harmeet Janjua for last-minute technical assistance.
Kid Reviewer Rodeo Marie Hanson, 12, Fleetwood, has been rubbing elbows with celebrities on the red carpet since she was age 4.
