Fallsview brought in one of the most iconic singers in rock history for a two (2) night engagement this past weekend. Paul Rodgers who fronted Free, The Firm and presently Bad Company did a few solo shows on Friday and Saturday night at the beautiful Avalon Ballroom inside the Fallsview Casino. The show was filled with a setlist that really was a true representation of his entire career.
Coming out doing the energetic “Can’t Get Enough,” Rodgers already sounded in tip top form. His band included Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Howard Leese on guitar, Rick Fedyk on drums and Todd Ronning on bass. Rodgers worked the crowd and the entire stage all night. He made lots of contact with the crowd by acknowledging them and slapping hands. He even signed a photo a woman handed him during one of the solos.
In 2014, Rodgers came out with a blues album that turned out to be an impressive piece of work. He did do a song from it. It was the Albert King classic “Born Under a Bad Sign.” The song really encompasses what Rodgers is about; the blues. Leese added a twist to the classic “Feel Like Makin’ Love” as he played a mandolin during it.
The surprise of the evening was Rodgers adding songs from his former band The Firm. It’s been quite a bit of time since he has played the songs and especially “Radioactive.” Paul strapped on the acoustic to sing the song without any voice effects. It was a pleasure to hear along with the other Firm song that became a hit called “Satisfaction Guaranteed.”
Before the song “Burnin’ Sky” the sounds of lightening filled the room and smoke filled the bottom of the stage for aiming it a cool effect. Rodgers said, this is one of Boz’s songs (late bass player for Bad Company Boz Burrell) as the band went into “Gone, Gone, Gone.”
The encore came with piano and smoke only filling the bottom of the stage as Rodgers took to behind it starting the first few notes to “Bad Company” as the rest of the band joined in. It was definitely another highlight of the set. The crowd participated in the Free classic “All Right Now” which is one of the biggest rock singles ever recorded and a perfect way to end a stellar night of music.
Rodgers still has the vocal chops to put on an amazing show. He keeps his solo shows to around 20 a year to preserve the quality of his voice and the show he would like to put on. I have to commend him for being a professional and worrying about the product first. So you can say the fans, in return, are getting what they paid for… and then some!
Setlist:
Can’t Get Enough (Bad Company song)
Live for the Music (Bad Company song)
Run with the Pack (Bad Company song)
Mr. Big (Free song)
Feel Like Making Love (Bad Company song)
Born under a Bad Sign (Albert King cover)
Burnin’ Sky (Bad Company song)
Gone, Gone, Gone (Bad Company song)
Satisfaction Guaranteed (The Firm song)
Radioactive (The Firm song)
Feel Like Makin’ Love (Bad Company song)
Wishing Well (Free song)
Shooting Star (Bad Company song)
Movin On’ (Bad Company song)
Rock n’ Roll Fantasy (Bad Company song)
Encore:
Bad Company (Bad Company song)
All Right Now (Free song)
We would like to thank Jennifer Murphy from the Fallsview Casino and PRO International for the credentials to review the show.
