Steverino
|
I feel honored to have seen Tori Holub on the opening performance of her first-ever tour. 24-Mar-2025 05:31:43
| CorrsClub Time: 11-Dec-2025 03:56:32 |
It was a very enjoyable night at the Majestic Ventura Theater last night of nearly three hours hearing many - but far from all - of the many songs by legendary and recently-departed Burt Bacharach put on my a very talented group of musicians. At the music core were a band of exceptional musicians anchored by Rob Shirakbari (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Shirakbari) and headlined by Todd Rundgren, who most people came to see, for he has a super-devoted group of followers who have been attending his concerts for many decades. In that regard, I was a small minority, having come primarily to see Tori, of whom I have become a fan. Even then, I didn't go to the Los Angeles concert, which is tonight. I'm hoping that some "movers and shakers" there will get a chance to be impressed by the 21-year-old relative newcomer to the music business.
By my unofficial reckoning, Tori was lead singer on "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"; "Do You Know the Way to San Jose"; "The Windows of the World"; "Are You There (With Another Girl)" and "(They Long to Be) Close to You." In addition, she took the stage as a backing vocalist on numerous other songs that were sung by other members of this talented troop. One of my exciting moments was when Todd Rundgren and Tori Holub stood side by side, singing background vocals to "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" being sung by Wendy Moten (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wendy_Moten), a splendid singer who gave a brilliant performance. I found it thrilling because it isn't lost on my that Todd Rundgren has a storied career as a musical producer and Tori has an intense interest in the production aspects of music. It also showed Rundgren's humility and good spirits in service to the music.
Especially considering how new Tori is to working on stage before live audiences, she did a wonderful job and can be very proud of how she conducted herself on stage before many hundreds of people. Just about everything was performed flawlessly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Blackbird) her "Do You Know the Way to San Jose" wasn't done perfectly, but it was still amazingly good). I think she really wowed the audience with her leads on "(They Long to Be) Close to You." It has an interesting ending flourish that is not on the records. For me, one of the goosebump moments was when Tori sang "The Windows of the World," a serious song not as well known to me, but Rob Shirakbari's wife, Rumer, recorded it for B Sides & Rarites release (see https://youtu.be/2D9HfEJX40s?si=VjkgE0vg-Un4tzW- for her recording, and Tori's performance had a similar arrangement).
Another of many highlights was a splendid gospel-like performance of "That's What Friends Are for" by Lady Blackbird ( and Chris Pierce, who, as I understand, are guest musicians just for the Southern California gigs. Burt Bacharach wrote "That's What Friends Are For" with Carole Bayer Sager, who teamed up with the Corrs on "I Never Loved You Anyway" and "Don't Say You Love Me." Another local guest is Colin Hay, who many know from his work with the Australian act, Men at Work.
Other highlights for me were a duet of "From Now On" sung by Wendy Moten and Woody Mankowski (with his great tenor voice), and Kasim Sulton getting the crowd going with "Always Something There to Remind Me" that was a hit for Naked Eyes in the 1980s. Also impressive was Elise Trouw (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elise_Trouw), who did all the drumming throughout the evening looking resplendent and sung lead vocals (while drumming) during "The Look of Love" and, with Wendy Moten, sang "Alfie," the first of two encores. Todd Rundgren gave something new to every one of his covers, from the opener, "Any Day Now" to the tour's title track "What the World Needs Now" to the final encore, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head."
I feel that Tori's first night on tour was a resounding success. She can be very proud of her first tour gig. She was amazing and really shone! She looked gorgeous in a light blue formal dress. There was no indication that there would be a chance to meet the artists afterwards, so I didn't get an opportunity meet and say hi to Tori. I had a great time and drove all the way home afterwards, getting home at 2:10 am.
| (This message has been read 106 times.) |