Pagliaro Makes a Triumphant Return
By Brendan Kelly, Montreal Gazette
Sept 14, 1987

It was a triumphant return. Michel Pagliaro's comeback after seven years of self-imposed exile was only truly consummated over two celebratory nights at the Spectrum this past weekend.

Sure there'd been the 45 earlier in the summer - Les Bombes - which sounded like vintage Pag. Then the dubious honor of 35 minutes in front of a half-empty Big O's worth of Bowie fans.

But this weekend it was clear Pag was finally back on his own terms. It was his show and you could tell he was really happy to be back. And the warmth was mutual. Saturday night the bond between performer and fan was electric. It was like old friends meeting again and finding out that they've still got a lot in common.

There was the magic moment mid-way through the first two hour-long sets when Pagliaro jumped off the stage into the crowd of dancing fans in the front. As he clambered on to one of the tables, people rushed from all sides to shake his hand, to say hello again. It reminded me of those great Springsteen marches down the aisle to greet the fans in those days long before he became one of the richest entertainers in the world.

The thing we still have in common with Pagliaro is a love or pure, unadulterated rock 'n' roll. True, he writes great pop songs and he's obviously a gifted musician and musical director. But Pagliaro is first and foremost a rocker.

Pag led his absolutely appropriate five-man band of bar rockers through two sets of his inimitable classic-50s-rocking-meets-contemporary-power-chording, with catch-your-breath pit-stops of slower pop thrown in for good measure.

The older manic stuff - J'entends frapper, Le temps presse, Louise - sounded surprisingly up-to-date in the roots rock context of 1987 and they were impossible to listen to motionless. The pop - Rainshowers, Some Sing, Some Dance, Lovin' You Ain;t Easy - sounded as good as they first did on AM radios across Canada in the early '70's.

There were also lots of new songs - mostly in English I think - and the required French translations of oldies like Walking the Dog. Pag sang, did lots of nifty micro-phone twirling in the air, and played a fair bit of rhythm guitar. Demented lead guitar was provided by Jimmy James Balolias and his noisy solos were the perfect counter-part to Pagliaro's gruff vocals.

It's great to realize that, at 38 and with 20 years worth of work in the rock biz, Pagliaro can deliver a night of inspirational rock 'n' roll that puts most of his younger competitors to shame. One of Pagliaro's mentors, Chuck Berry, had it right: "Hail, Hail, Rock 'n' Roll, Deliver me from the days of old."