Corey Hart Lets The Boy Out of the Box at Budweiser Gardens on Saturday

Six. Five. Alive is the Boy In The Box.

Corey Hart, Canada’s latest inductee into the music hall of fame recently kicked off his first concert tour in decades just over a week ago in St. John’s, Newfoundland. Only five dates into the tour, Hart landed in London for a Saturday night party (June 8) at Budweiser Gardens with special guests Glass Tiger in tow.

No one really knew what to expect from the hitmaker after more than 20 years away from the music biz and it’s been even longer for a visit to the Rose City. But, it didn’t take long for fans to get a taste of a rejuvenated Corey Hart – he started diving into the hits immediately after opening the show with his latest single Dreaming Time Again and those old 80s classics starting sounding fresh and new again.

It was a cool rock show that wasn’t bogged down with crazy special effects and flashy post-millennium concert tricks, although there were plenty of lights and video screens; it was more of a straight forward pop-rock concert that felt a bit like an 80s arena tour mixed with a closeness you don’t get in most concerts today.

Hart is a humble and appreciative performer that thrives the closer he gets to his fans. That intimacy peaked about three-quarters through the show when Hart and several band members headed to a small secondary stage at the back of the arena. He invited fans to get close and even called for a fan that connected with him on Facebook. He brought her on stage for an emotional moment that ended in tears and Hart signing her arm to get made into a tattoo the following day.

The interesting thing about returning to music decades later is that the music isn’t tired – Hart’s music actually sounded fresh, exciting and modern, including his covers of Message In A Bottle, Let It Be, Viva La Vida and Bad Case of Loving You.

But it was truly the original hits that London’s army of women came to see and hear. Boy In The Box, Bang! (Starting Over), Everything In My Heart and Sunglasses at Night had arms waving and voices chanting, but it was the tour’s title track, Never Surrender, that sparked emotions and the largest sing-along of the night.

Hopefully this isn’t the last time Corey Hart tours the country. He’s an amazing performer with bundles of energy, great songs and the nicest, sweetest attitude anyone could ask for.

Alan Frew from Glass Tiger belts out the 1988 hit I’m Still Searching for fans at Budweiser Gardens in London on June 8, 2019.

Special guests Glass Tiger performed nine songs in total, including two from their latest EP Thirty Thrɛɛ. They jumped out of the gate with their number one hit Don’t Forget Me (When I’m Gone) and rang through their set with a rapid pace.

Singer Alan Frew has got to be one of the hardest working frontmen in music. Not only did the big voiced rocker recover from a 2015 stroke that nearly destroyed his career and voice, he most recently came out of the hospital with a neck injury. You’d never know anything has happened from this performance – his voice was golden – those GT hits sounded as hot as they ever did. He moved from side to side, smiling and belting out hits like My Song, I’m Still Searching, My Town and Someday – and the crowd ate it up by cheering and singing along.

A nine-song set for Glass Tiger is almost cruel. These guys were just getting primed by the time they sang their new song This Is London about halfway through their show and fans could have easily handed another half hour.

Glass Tiger is on a bit of a resurgence itself. They’ve been popping up a bit more in the last few years, including a massive Canadian tour with Johnny Reid last winter that brought them to London. Catch them when they hit your town – they haven’t missed a beat.

All Photos by Dan Savoie

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