Paul Young, Wang Chung,John Waite, Rick Springfield

NJPAC in Newark, New Jersey was pretty crowded last evening to watch and witness some formidable artist of yesteryear. Opening the show with Paul Young who wasn't originally on the card for the evening, played four songs concluding with his hit "Everytime You Go Away".

Young and his band were surprisingly good. From artists who played in Match Box Twenty, to other journeyman artists who have been in the business for over forty years, the short set was entertaining and had a lot of his fan followers in the audience surprisingly. I say surprisingly because of his small amount of song releases.

Next up was Wang Chung. I have seen this band twice now; the first being at Morristown Performing Arts Center. Not only is Wang Chung a tight band, but they are a fun band to watch and listen to. The bands last song "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" was resolute and deep; bringing out the vast talent in the band. Nick Feldman, the band's bass guitarist is one of the best in the business. In the 80's with their great album, "Points on A Curve", Jack Hues was one of the most celebrated front-men in the New Wave explosion.

While the band last night as well as the first time I saw them played only five songs, they could have performed many more. But as bands get older it seems, they tour with one, two, three other bands to keep their playing time smaller. Many bands that I have seen over the last several years have musicians well in their 60's and 70's. Between travel time and performing takes it's toll on these musicians regardless of age.

Wang Chung opened with "Waiting for You"( Fire in the Twilight) and then went into "To Live and Die in L.A.". "To Live" was made even more popular by the movie of the same name. The popular "Let's Go" invited the audience to sing along. One of the best songs in Wang Chung's repertoire in my opinion is "Dance Hall Days". The depth of this song musically is fun to listen to live. The conclusion of the evening was "Should I stay or Should I Wang Chung" and "Everybody Have Fun Tonight".

The surprise of the evening was John Waite. Looking young and fit, Waite came out the "Change". His voice has dissipated over the years, but at 71 years old, he was able to muster a ton of energy as he wooed the crowd with songs like: "When I See You Smile", "Missing You", "Back on My Feet Again" and Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love". It was this song that brought the house down... the lead guitarist and bass player had the same driving force as Page and Jones in this soulful rendition.

Rick Springfield disappoints.

After an evening of all English bands, it was the Aussies turn. Rick Springfield entered the stage as if he was one of the Beatles. With all the hype and pomp, Springfield has had limited commercial success as both a musician and an actor.

Springfield's concert is very reminiscent of when I saw Richard Marx. In fact, the two toured last year together. Both artists give off the impression of just how impressed they are with themselves. Like Marx, Springfield went on and on about himself in-between songs. Both talk at the crowd rather than to the crowd.

The evenings fourth song was a blend of various songs from various artists including his "Jessie's Girl" Not sure why this song was in here because his encore had a video of the same song followed by "Jessie's Girl" as a finality. While his band was tight all evening, Springfield himself changed guitars as if he was Jeff Beck on guitar (his range as a guitarist is limited).

One of Springfield's best songs: "Don't Talk to Strangers" was bastardized by cheap staccato and mixed audience participation. "Love Somebody" too was broken apart and not sung straight away. "Human Touch" had him walking the crowd before his finality of "Jessie's Girl".

NJPAC, Rick Springfield, Wang Chung, John Wait, Paul Young, Rock and Roll, Jeffrey Epstein.