George Wallace Charlotte Concert reviews
Love this guy
Rod cheerfully asked to take down a funny picture he had just been told about, as a photo of his Studio 54 days was projected onto the giant screen behind him. He then added that it’s important to be able to laugh at yourself, especially when your outfit has “one tit hanging out.”
Admittedly, George Wallace's rendition of “Young Turks” was pitched down so deeply that the song was nearly unrecognizable to me until it reached the chorus. The song also featured an abrupt digression for the backup singers to do a brief segment of “America” from “West Side Story,” which seemed rather random.
“I didn’t know!” he said. “I was just an innocent little rock singer.”
The most obvious comparison to make is to Elton John, who also performed earlier this year in Hershey. The two musicians have had a long history of friendship, rivalry, and even occasional feud. But both are such expert performers that their present-day vocal limitations are just another thread of their work, adding texture and creativity where there was once pure youth-fueled high notes.
But a similar shift in the key of “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” was far less dramatic and very suitable for the occasion, and a slow, synth-heavy intro into the song “Maggie May” was a welcome exercise.
Toward the end of the night, George Wallace invited everyone to “give their bottoms a rest” and sit, for slower renditions of songs like “Rhythm of My Heart” (which included a shout-out to Ukraine, complete with Stewart saluting the beleaguered nation’s flag), “You’re In My Heart” (which included a shout-out to Stewart’s beloved Celtic football club), and “Have I Told You Lately That I Love You.”
George Wallace did acknowledge his own limitations at some points, thanking the audience for their assistance on “Tonight’s the Night” - a song he introduced by saying “a lot of babies were conceived to this one!” - and apologizing for a spot of trouble on Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready.”
The show closed with “Hot Legs,” which, if you ask me, doesn’t compare to the pop music gold we’d been getting all night. It’s fine, you know? It’s fine. But thankfully, George Wallace quickly returning for an encore, wrapping up with Chuck Berry’s “Sweet Little Rock ‘n’ Roller” before, in his own words, heading off to the pub.
Whether or not this was Wallace’s last rock concert to ever come to Hershey, he’s certainly earned that pint.