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Platinum Blonde rock The Hammer

Time and again I’ve often sat and wondered, what exactly did I do in the 80’s? Yes I had FM radio, yes I listened to Q107, yes I did the bar scene. I even had the big hair but no, I had never seen Platinum Blonde with its original line up. After seeing them live I have to wonder… Why Not? It would seem the sold out crowd at The Molson Canadian Studio at Hamilton Place had seen them before because the majority of the audience consisted of peroxide dipped blonde women. Ok, a little exageration… however the men in the crowd were the obvious minority.

As we stood side stage with the guest list crowd the now obligatory anticipation light (?) and sound build up worked its magic. The prerecorded synthesized chords of Future Dance, from their new CD Now and Never is a great choice for an opening song, big drums heavy bass and supercharged brought the crowd to their feet, where they stayed for the remainder of the set.

February 22, 2013 – The Molson Canadian Studio at Hamilton Place
Photography by: Ted Van Boort

Platinum Blonde could have joined the greatest hits touring circus when they regrouped with Dan Todd (drums) and Rob Laidlaw (bass) but a new single and new album were prevalent with five songs from the new CD in the set. Hits like “Not In Love”, “Standing in the Dark”,”Situation Critical” and “Crying Over You” were rolled out and once again brought the crowd back to the 80’s. Interestingly enough the band played two 45-minute sets, which I found unusual but it went over quite well.

Holmes knows how to work a crowd. An Impromptu version of Happy Birthday brought Todd from behind his drum kit where he thanked Holmes and the crowd. Dancing around the stage  Holmes kept the women swooning and dedicating the song “Shined” to the  late  Kenny Maclean was a fitting touch. Rather than using a pre-recorded intro, Holmes walked through the crowd to the rear of the studio where he introduced his mother before asking her; “Are you sitting comfortably. then I’ll begin” before launching into”It Doesn’t Really Matter” which brought the loudest applause of the evening, very classy.

Sergio Galli… what can you say about him that hasnt been said already? He oozes `Rock Star’. He doesn’t show a lot of emotion or say much onstage but he doesn’t dial it in either. He’s there to play guitar, which he does… extremely well. Then we have the the new guys with Laidlaw on bass and Todd (Who celebrated his birthday earlier in the week) manning the drum kit, this is a solid band and these two compliment the Blondes very well.

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