Rogers
Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
KENNY ROGERS could have been a coward - or at least played it safe - at King's House on Thursday night. Instead, he gambled and won jackpot after jackpot of applause from the huge crowd gathered on the lawns of the Governor-General's residence for 'One Night Only'.
The silver-haired singer could have sung hit after worldwide country and western or love song hit, guaranteed to make grown men remember their days of 'yipikayaying' on a broomstick and women get misty-eyed. He did some of the hits, but not always consecutively, interspersing lesser known songs, took a swing down the bluegrass path, bantered with the audience, tossed out frisbees, getting to his floral-shirted male target on the third try, dug out a sheet of lyrics for Write Your Name Across My Heart, introduced his wife and got cheers for the announcement of four-month-old twins, before ending with a Dolly Parton-less Islands In The Stream, even stronger than his powerful start.
And along the way he fulfilled a dream of singing Bo Diddley in Kingston, Jamaica.
After an Ernie Smith set which ended with those seated joining many already standing (as they did throughout the concert as the seating area before the light and sound booth was simply filled) for Duppy or a Gunman, as well as Maxi Priest, handclaps urged on Rogers' band setting up. Then, without fanfare, a voice announced 'Ladies and gentlemen, Kenny Rogers'.
AUDIENCE ON THEIR FEET
And Kenny Rogers was up, singing Something's Got A Hold On Me, to an audience that was on its collective feet, with the exception of some in the VIP section.
He went straight into his second song, Love Will Turn You Around, without comment and when the applause had subsided, tried his hand't 'Jamaicanese' and said: "It's good to be back in Jamaica mon."
There were howls of laughter.
"I don't know which song you know," Rogers said, a babble of response congealing into "All a dem!"
He took time to explain part of why a svelte, suave and shimmering MC Paula-Ann Porter had repeatedly announced his request that the area left before the stage be filled up with dancing fans a request that had caused murmurs the third time around. "You know what I love about it? You can see your audience. They had it dark from here back and one night I thought 'My God, the people could leave and I would not know. So I had the lights put in, so I could watch you watching me," he said.
It was back to music with a song "from an album four years ago" ('10 years' a musician corrected and then Rogers' first real fusillade went off. "We dusted off some songs we have not done in a while," he said and without fanfare he did Through The Years. The screams were long, loud and sustained. And it was the same as he did You Decorated My Life.
The response to She Believes In Me, which Rogers said was his favourite, was the equivalent of the reception Bounty Killer gets at Sting.
The sophistication of simplicity that marked the start of the concert and Rogers' stage movement was sustained throughout the concert. There was joyous swaying and singing along on Ruby, Rogers joshing the audience as they sang along ("never mind, I will do it myself"). The bluegrass lesson was followed by Back To The Well, five musicians on guitar and one on violin arced behind Rogers, who was seated on a stool, as they displayed fluid movement.
"Just when you thought I had run out of hits," Rogers said and an all-time favourite, Coward of The County moved the audience. Daytime Friends and Night-time Lovers hit the spot and Rogers backed up his support for the theory that men are from Mars and women are from Venus in song.
"Okay, here is where the show gets fun. I am going to ask you about a song and if you know it I will do it," Rogers said. Even before he started Write Your Name Across My Heart he was being encouraged to go on. "This is so I don't screw it up," he said, digging out a sheet of paper with the lyrics.
And someone up front had her feelings for Kenny Rogers written on a white banner, on which was inscribed 'I love U, Kenny' in red.
He joked about the Gambler movies, as he sat to do the hit, clips from the movies being shown on big screen. As the real life Rogers sang "I'll give you some advice", his screen image rammed a fist into a man's face. There was a glitch in the tape for the Gambler 6 no less than a remixed hip hop version of the classic with Coolio on the rap.
"Quit swaying! You look like thousands of Stevie Wonders!" Rogers said on Lucille, explaining the futility of coming off-stage and hiding behind the curtains for an encore, as he did for 20 years. "Encores are so silly. Everybody knows I am going to come back. And as you get older you save those steps," Rogers joked.
After the frisbee and tambourine give-away Rogers ended very strongly with Islands In The Stream, said goodbye and thanked Maxi Priest especially.
And 'One Night Only' was over.
