ROBERT PALMER : Music & Style

In August 1985, British rock group Power Station played a Lansdowne Park concert without soul smoothie Robert Palmer in the lineup and the result was disappointing. Fill-in vocalist Michael Des Barres just couldn't match Palmer's eclectic musical presence, and the whole thing fell flat.

Saturday night at the Congress Centre, when the hard-working Palmer and his entourage - without any of the other three Power Station alumni in the lineup - performed a 90-minute show featuring several Power Station tunes including the smash hit Some Like It Hot, the result was sizzling.

Now, that doesn't mean the guitarists and drummer with Palmer's latest seven-member backing band are better than John and Andy Taylor (of Duran Duran) and Tony Thompson who together with Palmer formed the one-time-only Power Station project.

What it does mean is Palmer's charismatic crooning was the focal point of Power Station's appeal, and was the main reason why Saturday's concert was a success.

Wearing a neatly-pressed double-breasted suit and looking every bit the up-and-coming Madison Avenue executive, Palmer was all business when he ran through a collection of his new and old hits.

Despite some problems with the sound system, which cut out at several key points in the show, such as during the guitar solo in Some Like It Hot, the 3,000 fans - young and old - were treated to the versatile Palmer collection.

Palmer, 37, performed everything from 1940s lounge-style classics such as Riptide to several Latin-influenced tunes reminiscent of Brazil '66 and several songs from his top-selling rock/funk albums.

The band was exceptionally tight, particularly the drummer and bass player who played every style of song like it was their specialty.

Palmer and the band touched all the bases, playing many of his popular dance numbers such as Johnny And Mary, You Are In My System, Bad Case Of Loving You and the No.1 single from the Riptide album, Addicted To Love.

Always daring, Palmer even performed a cover version of Planet Of Women from the latest ZZ Top album, one of the steamier numbers, and that set the crowd dancing in the aisles.

The opening act was Australia's Mental As Anything who kept the crowd interested during their 40-minute show with their blend of rock, country and even a bit of reggae thrown into the pot for good measure - even though the sound system was in rough shape during all but the last few songs of their set.

Keyboard player and front man Greedy Smith who sported a gold lamé smoking jacket - was the exact opposite of the calm and controlled Palmer, bounding about the stage with exaggerated arm movements while rollicking through a few of the band's off-the-wall numbers, such as their classic The Nips Are Getting Bigger.

Greg Barr (The Ottawa Citizen - April 1986)