During the late 80’s and early 90’s, Richard Marx was all over the radio. His string of hits landed him recognition as one of the best songwriters of that era. Songs like “Don’t Mean Nothing,” Hazard,” and “Satisfied” launched Marx into supertaster status. Fast forward to 2016 and Marx is still making music and continues not only writing for himself, but other artists as well. Marx played the intimate Bears Den in Niagara Falls, NY, this past Thursday marking his first appearance in the WNY area in a handful of years.
Marx took the stage with only 2 acoustic guitars and a piano. He was very engaging and remarked that he will stick to playing mostly the “hits,” as he knows what the fans want to hear. He joked when he goes to a show that’s what he wants to hear too, and is disappointed when an artist sticks to new material. He shared many stories throughout the evening, explaining how he thought “Hazard” was a throwaway and then became a number one hit in 14 countries.
He then went on to talk of his current wife,Daisy Fuentes, who was home taking care of their two rescued pit bulls. He made a request to the audience “don’t shop, adopt” and talked about how he fell in love with the two pit bulls. It was a heartfelt story by a true dog lover!
Marx also pulled a woman named Tina up on stage and who was trying to request the song “This I Promise You” that we wrote for the band NSYNC. She wasn’t uncomfortable at all and in fact, sang with him when Marx let her. Marx even joked about his hair being so big in the late 80’s that the doors needed to be widened for him to walk through.
Marx’s voice was still true to form and shined on songs like “Satisfied” and “Long Hot Summer” which he wrote for country megastar Keith Urban. Mark really became one with the audience when he unplugged his guitar and walked away from the microphone and sang the song “Angelina.” This effectivelyproved his true talent and also incorporated some funny lyrics just to see if the audience was paying attention, which they were.
There was no encore as Marx gave the audience what they wanted and didn’t let them keep waiting. It made for a perfect way to spend a Thursday evening.
Setlist:
Endless Summer Nights
Take This Heart
Satisfied
Keep Coming Back
Hazard
Turn Off the Night
This I Promise You (NSYNC cover)
Take Me Down (Vince Gill cover)
Long Hot Summer (Keith Urban cover)
The Way She Loves Me
Hold Onto the Nights
Angelina
Should’ve Known Better
Don’t Mean Nothing
Right Here Waiting
We would like to thank Philip J. Pantano from Pantano & Associates for the credentials to review the show.
