Richard Marx Shepherds Bush Empire 30-04-13


One day all gigs will be this good.
One day all bands will need to do this style of gig before they are signed!

One man,a stage,a couple of lights,an acoustic guitar,a grand piano and a couple of thousand friends in an intimate atmosphere that felt like we were in a small room.

For 2 hours and 20 minutes everything was laid bare and songs were played as they were written and every word and every note meant something.
Pure music laid bare!
Seeing into the soul of the song and the performer.

The crowd at times were the backing band joining in where requested but never too much.

Here is the setlist(as much as I can remember)

Don't Mean Nothing
Take This Heart
Satisfied
Keep Coming Back
Loved
Hazard
Fools Game(up to the first chorus after someone shouted it out)
Cuts Like A Knife(snippet of Bryan Adams cover)
When You Loved Me
Save Me(with the Marx Brothers)
Endless Summer Nights
To Where You Are
Better Life(snippet of Keith Urban song Richard Marx wrote)
Long Hot Summer(Keith Urban song Richard Marx wrote)
This I Promise You(N'Sync song Richard Marx wrote)
Dance With My Father(Luther Vandross song Richard Marx wrote)
How Can I Miss You(His country song!!)
Livin On A Prayer(snippet Bon Jovi cover)
Payphone (snippet of Maroon 5 cover)
The One That Got Away(Katy Perry cover)
Should Have Known Better(unplugged)
Angelia
Hold On To The Nights
Now And Forever
Red Rain(Peter Gabriel cover)
Ready To Fly
Moscow Calling(new song played with backing track)
The Way She Loves Me
Alleluia(sung with The Marx Brothers)
Right Here Waiting

Richard Marx is best known for his 80's mega ballad "Right Here Waiting" but this gig showed he is so much more.We had hits,songs he wrote for others,songs he loves and songs he just wants to try.

He was funny,warm,self depraciting,the perfect host and has a voice that only a few can match.

Songs were introduced with stories and he said there were no rules.Which is why he said he was going to do 7 Tears For Tears songs back to back!One song he sang"this is where the guitar solo would normally be!"

His story about working with N'Sync was hilarious.Saying the guys in the band had to avoid hordes of fans with limos out of the back door.He went through the front in his hire car and got recognised by a young fan who said that her mother loves him!!

He did a few bars of Bryan Adams "Cuts Like A Knife" as people think that is who he is and just to wind them up after they mention it!

He said he had written songs for country singers but never had done one for himself.He then proceeded to do a song in a country style with lyrics that had the crowd in stitches.

He had a screen behind him that he used on a couple of occassions.During "Save Me"he played along with his 3 sons who had recorded their parts at home on drums,guitar,backing vocals and keyboards.

He also had a backing track for his mash up of Katy Perry's "The One That Got Away".A song he loved the melody of so did his own version with adapted lyric's so he wasn't arrested!!

He said that in the late 80's MTV had invented "Unplugged".He said it isn't unplugged it's acoustic."This is unplugged"and proceeded to pull out the lead and stand in the front row with no microphone and basically  do a busking version of "Should Have Known Better".Quite brilliant!!

I really could go on and the hairs on the back of my neck have just about gone down after seeing "Right Here Waiting"at long last!!

By the power of youtube here are a couple of clips of what was one of the best gigs I have ever attended.
He says he will be back make sure you are there!













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