A RELAXED‘ EVENING WITHIIIIN

by Kevin Gauthier

American singer—songwriter Don Maclean, on his first tour of Atlantic Canada, appeared at Confederation Centre on Thursday, Feb. 14, and gave a full house a rare Valentine's treat. So seldom is it that a per— former of Mr. MacLean's reputation and ability visits Charlottetown, that any such occasion is to be greeted with great anti- cipation. So it was, and the star did not disappoint his audience, although he und; Htedly did surprise many with his repertoire.

Mr. Maclean's performance included, of course, his standard hits, American 2.1.8, and Vincent- For those who wished to rem— inisce, however, there was little else to jog their memories. Rather than (relying upon Golden Oldies to support his ' performance, the singer rounded out the concert with a diverse program comprising of country and western, folk and

blues, all of which were executed with energy and competence.

The concert began on a sarewhat shaky note as the performer walked on stage without introduction and immediately launched into a pair of country-fish songs without! pausing for so much as a "Hello", causing many people to wonder if perhaps Mr.~ MacLean might be anxious to get the performance over with and leave town as soon as possible; Following the second song, however, we learned that he could indeed speak, and any illusions about his desire to perform were quickly dispelled as he urged the audience, as he said, to settle back for a "relaxed evening-with Don" . And we did!

If one had to pick a high point and a low point for the evening, this re— viewer would single out the following. ' The M point was the performance of American Pie, which, un-

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fortunately, was executed with a total lack of enthu- siasm. _ ' Of course, after so many 7 years, it is understandable why Mr. MacLean might have grown tired of singing the song time after time, but such a song deserves better treatment than it received that night. The high - —

AMERICAN SINGER-SONIGWRITJI'ER‘ DON MACLEANPLESED,

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managed to transform

Theatre into a fire-side

monstrated their appreci—

All all, it was a thoroughly enjoyable concert. Mr. MacLeanr

Confederation Centre sing—a—long with 1000 friends, which is a rare

feat, and his audience de-

ation with two standing

HIS AUDIENCE AT CONFEDERATION CENTRE ONK VALENTINE '.S I

' DAY. ’ poi-LE stretched through the entire performance; and it was Mr. MacLean's mastery of the guitar and banjo. AA performer who-

can entertain: an “audience

for two hours with nothing more than a guitar and a voice must have complete control over both, and A control was displayed that night, although the voice was given too much power on

several of the ballads that '

would have benefited frcm a gentler approach. The lyrics to MruMacLs 5's ballads are undoubtedly among the most beautifully composed in modern music, and their poetry 'benefits frcm a sensitive presen— tation, which they are given in his albums, but which seemed to be lacking at certain points during his concert.

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ovations. He in turn,

demonstrated his appre— ciation by promising to return, so 100k for him

tickets tearly; 3‘ 31;.

The concert Was the 2nd in the series. of five ‘ "Starry, starry Night" sponsored by Confederation Centre this Spring. This writer. awards five gold stars to the Centre for bringing performers here, such as Don’MacLean, who otherwise would never grace Charlottetam with their talents. we're fortunate to have the Centre, and we should hope they continue to treat us to such events in future - look for Spring Thaw, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and CBC Country Roads in coming weeks.

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7"Say it ‘wtth Flowers *Say: It with Ours"

DRIED

Charlottetown, ‘P.E.l.

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