Concert Review: Felix Cavaliere's Rascals at the Club Regent Casino

Though he may be sporting a few more wrinkles than in heyday of the Young Rascals back in the late 1960's, there's still plenty of sparkle in the blue-eyed soul of Felix Cavaliere and his latest version of the band.

Felix's lead vocals and Hammond B3 helped create such classic Rascals hits as Good Lovin', Groovin', A Beautiful Morning and People Got to Be Free. Felix also wrote many of their biggest hits along with fellow Rascal Eddie Brigati.

Although The Rascals were big in the US, they were HUGE in Canada where the band had a run of 11 straight Canadian top ten hits from 1967 to 1969.

So it was with baited breath, I donned my front row seat at the Club Regent to watch Felix and the Rascals strut their stuff. I was not disappointed!

Felix kicked the 1 ½ hour set off with the familiar strains of the 1967 self-penned hit "Lonely Too Long." From there, he transported the largely baby boomer audience back in time, blending covers of the 60's soul masterpieces such as Wilson Pickett's "Midnight Hour" with Rascal's classics such as "Beautiful Morning" and "Groovin'."

Cavaliere's energy never flagged throughout the show, if he was not belting out vocals, or hammering out chops on his vintage Hammond B3, he was the consummate showman, stalking the stage, playing air guitar and instigating the crowd to join in - which they did willingly.

His back up band, though tight, is understandably not the same calibre as the original Rascal's line up. But they certainly get the job done and Felix's voice still shines which makes it easier to overlook this discrepancy.

Though he's now in his mid-sixties, Cavaliere's pipes still had the familiar range, elasticity and quality of his prime whether handling Brigati's delicate falsetto in his exquisite self-penned ballad "How Can I Be Sure?" or the summer of love soul anthem "People Got To Be Free."

He closed out the night with an extended version of the Rascals' 1966 No 1 smash hit "Good Lovin'" which wound through a Bruce Springsteen-like rave up of vintage 50's and 60's material ranging from such diverse songs as Ritchie Valens "La Bamba," the Contours' "Do You Love Me," Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" and even Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" before closing out the medley to a well deserved standing ovation. Cavaliere shook hands with everyone in the front row (happily - this writer included) and the crowd filed out, eyes shining, having spent the evening 'groovin' to the soundtrack of their youth.

R L Rheubottom