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- 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     Charlottetown 
     
    
   
   
    
         
     
         
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     & 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
    
   
   
    
     PLAYING NEXT WEEK 
     
    
   
   
    
     MOLLY OLIVER 
     
    
   
   
    
     Monday Night 
     
    
   
   
    
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     THE 
     
    
   
   
    
     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, 
     
    
   
   
    
     I , '  ~  « UVPEI ’sIJN,/':‘THLI'.‘-‘s'vdéy,[:Féb +53}, 127111;, 35.86} 'pgaée a i 
     
    
   
   
    
     V» 'x'" 
     
    
   
   
    
     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. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     62 Grafton St. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     my . a I 
     
     . Hog/$7 
     
    
   
   
    
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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. 
     
    
   
   
    
     A 
     
    
   
   
    
     7"Say it ‘wtth Flowers 
     
     *Say: It with Ours" 
     
    
   
   
    
     DRIED 
     
    
   
   
    
     Charlottetown, ‘P.E.l. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     __/