Review: Fleet Fingers & Vocal Fireworks

Maine State Music Theatre’s third concert of the season features a wild roller coaster ride through the history of early rock and roll with Jason Cohen and his stellar bandmates paying tribute to the legendary pianist and songwriter, Jerry Lee Lewis and his contemporaries. In an evening that offers electrifying pianistic virtuosity and raw energy vocals, Cohen and company bring down the house and demonstrate the power and the revolution that early rock and roll was.

Rock and roll’s first great wild man, Jerry Lee Lewis, enjoyed a seven-decade career as a pianist, singer, and songwriter. He was an incendiary showman playing with his fists, elbows, feet, often banging on keyboard, and once -  at least apocryphally - setting a piano on fire. His music embraced gospel, soul, country western,  blues, and New Orleans jazz, and he boasted creative exchanges with the likes of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Carl Perkins. 

Cohen puts his years of experience playing the legendary Lewis in MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET to good use in this program. He captures Lewis’ intensity and untamed spirit as a performer, and he sings his songs with a primal immediacy. As a pianist, he delivers a lesson not only in keyboard virtuosity but also in calisthenic body language. 

Accompanied by a four-piece band, consisting of Luke Darnell on guitar, Matt Cusak on bass, Justin K. Brown on saxophone and reeds, and Jon Rossi on drums, the arrangements rock the hall; the instrumentalists all get to shine in solo moments, and Darnell and Cusak contribute some fine vocal covers.

Among the evening’s highlights are raucous renditions of “Shake, Rattle and Roll,” "Rockin’ Robin,” and “Go, Johnny, Go,” a lyrical medley of gospel songs recalling Hank Williams and Johnny Cash (among them “Will the Circle Be Unbroken”), and the white-hot finale, “Great Balls of Fire.”

Thanks to the new video technology, the visual production has all the sophistication of MSMT’s main stage shows. The projections use rapidly changing colors and throbbing geometric shapes, while the lighting contributes to the thrilling, highly charged ambiance, and the sound has a pulsating, visceral feeling.

The spirited evening caps MSMT’s subscription concert series that continues to prove itself so popular to Midcoast audiences.  And why should it not? For  much of the audience, these programs offer an opportunity to relive cherished musical memories and a chance to enjoy high octane talent in performance. American musical theatre is an eclectic genre that draws its inspiration from a wide array of musical styles, including rock and roll and other popular idioms. Being able to revisit some of the many strands of American musical tradition enriches our appreciation of the great tapestry that American music truly is.

Photo courtesy MSMT

GREAT BALLS OF FIRE plays 3 performances at MSMT’s Pickard Theater on July 28-29 www. msmt. org. 207-725-8769