Monday, February 10, 1997

Hart attacks hunk image

Pop singer tries for mature persona

The question raised by Corey Hart's poorly attended but enthusiastically received performance last night is this: Is there a statute of limitations on really bad songs?

At first, I'm prepared to consign the man responsible for Sunglasses At Night to a future home in the hottest part of hell -- where he can contemplate his sins against music, next to ABBA and late-era Rod Stewart.

Now, I'm not quite so sure. It's a long, hard, uphill road from the depths of '80s early video hearthrobism toward respectability, but at least last night, Hart showed he's willing to work at it.

The show opened with a sombre and subtle reading of his recent song, Black Cloud Rain, and Hart, seated at a piano, telegraphed where he'd like to take his new music -- in a more mature-sounding fusion of Peter Gabriel's exotic, ambitiously textured work and Sting's more conventional pop.

He's not going to win a Governor General's poetry award for the soul-searching Sunflowers or the love-ballad Third Of June (which drew screams from the mostly-female, apparently mostly francophone crowd, especially when he sang to back-up vocalist and romantic partner, Quebecois chanteuse Julie Masse). But you can't question his sincerity and his earnest attempt to grope for something a little more mature and substantial.

This was Hart's first performance on an Ottawa stage in a dozen years. Time has done little to alter his surprisingly stiff performing style. Flashy stage moves are limited to raising the microphone stand skyward and throwing a few Elvis-style karate moves. His dancing is so awkward, his whole upper torso seems to be one solid piece -- like a G.I. Joe.

Hart's voice has never been a very expressive instrument. It's best suited to the pouty longing of adolescent love. But goaded along by his very able supporting sextet, Hart did manage to raise a spark on Bang! and Kiss The Sky.

Even pushed to the back of the stage and given little to do beyond coo along with Corey, Masse radiated presence and her talent and appeal beg the question: Why is Celine Dion Quebec's big crossover star and not her? The MVP award of the night goes to indomitable drummer Kenny Aronoff (best known for his work with John Mellencamp), who proved a consistently inventive and energetic supporting player.

Opener Martin Dube received an outrageously enthusiastic reception with a brief set of celebrity singing impressions. Dube has incredible vocal range (how many performers could ably ape Joan Osborne and Hootie?), but the rapturous ovation he received left me baffled. Maybe these people have never been to a karaoke party?

Set List		Concert rating