LEE AARON – BURRN REVIEW OF ROCKINGHAM
February 2017
Rob Evans
Having been in the music business since the late seventies, Aaron made her first appearance on Vinyl as the Lee Aaron Project in ’82. Her mid-eighties period is arguably regarded as her best, an era that yielded such classic albums as “Call Of The Wild”, “Metal Queen” and “Bodyrock”. A double platinum artist in Canada, tonight’s gig was her first appearance in the UK since ’87.
Having been privy to a fabulous sound check in the afternoon, Aaron and her band looked and sounded relaxed. As the curtain dropped, it revealed a pint sized performer who shook this crowd from the very beginning. A striking figure in leather jacket and red pants, she tore into “Tomboy” from her brand new album, “Fire & Gasoline” and had the crowd enthralled from the very beginning.
With a band that consisted of John Cody, Sean Kelly, Kevin Toad Saulnier and Dave Reimer, Aaron was quite the spectacle as she effortlessly slipped straight into “Hands On” and then pulled out the old Montrose song, “Rock Candy”, for good measure. A brief sojourn back into her new album for the titular, “Fire & Gasoline”, before she gave this crowd a stellar version of “Powerline”, the kind of AOR drenched track that the majority of this crowd had been clamouring for, and when it went straight into “Lady Of The Darkest Night” the place erupted.
It may be nearly thirty years since she played in the UK and this crowd was savouring every moment, even stuff from her new CD like “50 Miles”, but it was the big songs they wanted and she didn’t disappoint as she strode around this stage like the slinky minx that she is. The likes of “Sex With Love” and “Some Girls Do” gave way to one of this weekend’s most pivotal and emotive moments as the gentle keyboard work of Saulnier revealed a tremendous version of “Barely Holding On”, which saw Aaron showcasing a voice that has lost none of its power and passion over the intervening years.
Giving us her biggest hit, the triple platinum “Whatcha Do To My Body”, was the first part of a double assault that saw her turn into the guitar toting “Metal Queen”, a moment most of us had been waiting for all evening. This was one of the top five performances of the weekend.