The following article is a NORTONSPEAKS exclusive written by Canadian writer Charles Guy, a long time fan of entertainer Laurice. Guy traveled to Brooklyn, New York to critique three shows that the singer-songwriter gave April 29th and April 30, 2017.
I WAS THERE – – Laurice In Three Acts
by Charles Guy, May 5, 2017
Laurice and The Pink Angels in Philadelphia. Photo by L.D. Norton.
Fresh from headlining Cinedelphia, a glittering end of a Philadelphia film festival concert, entertainer Laurice performed three amazing shows in Brooklyn, New York last weekend. Two of the shows were record label showcases celebrating Mighty Mouth-Almost Ready Records ten year anniversary in the business. Laurice also headlined at the WFMU Brooklyn Radio Record Fair, the largest independent radio station in the USA. I was fortunate enough to attend all three venues, and what an exciting weekend that was.
Saturday night Laurice was showcased in addition to four punk bands, including Liquor Store, Home Blitz, Atlantic Thrills and Cheater Slicks at the Union Pool Nightclub in Brooklyn, New York. Laurice more than held his own. The room was absolutely jam packed. Emerging from the wings wearing a startling Grudge T-Shirt ( When Christine Comes Around) the rocker launched into his rock anthem Rock Hard and the crowd yelled and stomped. Favorites such as Flying Saucers Have Landed, Hot Malibu Nights and Big Boy followed. But what really brought the house down was Laurice’s very dramatic rendering of his Best of Laurice Vol. 2 epic The Dark Side of Your Face. Standing almost motionless at the mike stand, the effervescent star burned up the room with a searing interpretation of a love gone horribly wrong. It was such an emotional performance that you could almost hear a pin drop in the room. The audience was riveted, hanging on to every word of the song.
Background photo from YouTube video, Flying Saucers Have Landed. Photo by Tomas Lessner (Fabergege)
Laurice then quickly rang the changes, dancing around the stage with his punk underground hits I’m Gonna Smash Your Face In and, of course, his underground classic, When Christine Comes Around. It was really hard to believe that this energetic entertainer is seventy-three years old. The crowd yelled and screamed for more, but, due to time constraints, there was not, alas, time for an encore. Harry Howes, Mighty Mouth Music label boss told us that he thought this was the very best performance Laurice had ever given. It was true that the room was sizzling when the performer was on stage and the electrical energy was truly set on extreme high. It is also amazing that this artist has performed rock, punk, ballads, r&B, smooth jazz and dance with such ease, and is equally comfortable in all those fields.
Sunday afternoon it was Laurice live at the WFMU FM Radio Brooklyn International Record Fair. This was a very different crowd for Laurice. But with the help of WFMU luminaries Ken Friedman and Scott Williams, and their trusty WFMU engineers, Laurice was able to warm up the crowd, and even had some elderly ladies dancing to the beat. Laurice tried out two new songs from his forthcoming rock album, Bad Boy, and the crowd went wild. It must have been a relief for the singer, because he had not performed them in public ever before. His record label and his Toronto based documentarians, who are doing a full feature documentary on the artist, were in attendance. All of them said it was a very successful event for the performer.
Laurice at Union Pool Nightclub, Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Dan Santoro
Then late on Sunday night around midnight, he was on to the second Union Pool gig. Laurice was headlining the showcase, with performers Tin Foil, 1-800-Band and Ravi Shavi. All the performers gave very individual and satisfying performances. But it was after midnight when Laurice finally got to perform as the headline act. Laurice told the crowd that this was a bitter sweet performance for him, as it was his very last on the East Coast. He was thrilled that his UK born nephew, who now lives in New York, was able to attend. Laurice had not seen him in over forty years. Also Jamie Hurcomb and Jonathan Anderson, his documentarians also attended. It should be mentioned that in attendance throughout Laurice’s whole mini-tour, was his videographer and partner of twenty-five years, Larry Dean Norton. Laurice confided in me that he would not have been able to do the trip without him describing him as his rock.
Laurice kicked off the show with his rock classic Born To Serve from his Best of Laurice Vol. 1 and had the crowd rocking and gyrating with many of his musician contemporaries standing in the first row. Other rock hits followed, including hits off his recent G.A.Y.D.A.R album. Then, switching gears, the seventy-three year old gave an incandescent performance of his Best of Laurice Vol. 2 hit Diamonds Are Forever, his entry for the James Bond film of the same name. The crowd lapped it up. Laurice then took a chance and performed another two songs off his forthcoming Bad Boy album, one pop heavy metal and the other – a real surprise for the audience – a twelve bar blues. Both songs met with rapturous applause from the crowd, and that seemed to make the artist’s night. Cell phones lit up, selfies were begged for, but Laurice hadn’t finished. Various requests were shouted out from the audience. The crowd wasn’t prepared to let him go just yet. Laurice sang his punk classic underground hits, which, of course, raised the temperature in the room a thousand degrees, and then there was a real surprise to come.
Laurice at Union Pool Nightclub, Brooklyn, NY. Photo by Harry Howes
After Laurice had walked off the stage the crowd yelled for an encore. Laurice walked back on the stage and announced that he had one. Laurice stated that he had not had a chance to sing any of his disco hits on the New York leg of his tour. He chose to sing a song off his gorgeous 1970s disco album Dance Dance Dance for the lovers in the room. It was called Love’s Sweet Symphony. Laurice dedicated the song to the love of his life, Larry Norton, standing at the side of the room, and blew him a kiss. This sent the crowd wild. Then somehow, to me, the room seemed to change, as Laurice spun a web of romance and intensity as his beautiful voice soared above the pounding piano backing tracks. The artist looked as if he was transported to another realm of fantasy and sensuality. The whole experience felt practically ethereal, because it was so obvious that Laurice was making love to a very, very sensuous melody.
