Solid Show From Kravitz at MTS Centre

Who: Lenny Kravitz
Where: MTS Centre, Winnipeg
When: 7 PM, October 29th
In Attendance: 6000
4/5 Stars

The Lenny Kravitz concert was much different from the previous concert I attended. Touring to promote his new album It's Time for a Love Revolution, Lenny put on a good show for die hard fans and good number of songs new fans enjoyed. Lenny Kravitz has had to postpone a number of dates before this in Canada and also in Japan. On September 21, it was Peace One Day and Lenny played Let Love Rule for a Peace One Day in a never ending attempt to promote peace.

First there was the venue, it was really big. I didn't think the sound would be an issue with the venue, but it seemed to affect how loud everything was When the opening band, Thornley, started I thought it was too loud, though. So loud it seemed to crackle, I wasn't sure if this was just my ears or if the speakers couldn't handle the sound. Thornley performed well, and those who knew their songs seemed to enjoy it. When Lenny came out and started into Bring it On, that was when I first noticed how spectacular the lights were. There weren't any fancy video screens or anything, but the multi-coloured lights really did it for me. They did a good job of matching up with the beat or with the different guitar riffs during certain parts of the song. The next song was kind of funny I thought. Or at least when the keyboard didn't work for the solo section. They tried to get it working again, but when it didn't work, Lenny flipped it off the stage. From a technical standpoint, that would sort be frowned upon, but on performance level it was great. Lenny dealt with the mishap quite well, unless it was all staged, but I don't believe it was. Everything in between the opening songs and the final two songs were sort of a blur for me. The lights throughout the concert were always spectacular, if not a little off the beat at some points. The crackling sound sort of faded unless I really listened for it. I remember a number of really amazing saxophone solo sections, and that trumpet solo. Kravitz tried to lead the crowd through a sing-a-long section with his mic stand, but no one seemed to want to participate, sadly. The outro of every single song seemed to last a number of minutes. This is most likely why all the songs seemed to blend into one, and why I don't remember much. The final two songs, beginning with a rendition of American Woman and falling into Fly Away, and then Are You Gonna Go My Way to close to the set. They were both upbeat and everything sounded as it should. All in all a great ending to a good show.

What I really enjoyed about this show was that Lenny found a way to incorporate the jazz elements into his show, some may not have appreciated it that much, but I quite liked it. The keyboard fizzle was a good example of Lenny being a great performer. The guitar solos were also good, not really technical, and just a nice example of a rock solo. The lighting guys also did a good job of keeping the light focused on each soloist. I didn't like that every ending of every song seemed to blend into the next. We timed one song and it was 14 minutes or something, it was just to long for someone like me who is not a die hard fan to enjoy. Other than the really long outros, the rest of the songs were solid, performed well, and sounded good.