On the Road Again
Live Reviews:

Lenny Kravitz
September 5, 1999
The Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto

This show had been a long time coming (almost a year) for the sold-out audience of Lenny fans. First, he had to cancel a highly anticipated show at Toronto's prestigious Massey Hall last October due to throat problems. He later played a small, semi-private gig at the Docks in Toronto last March, leaving many fans wondering why he hadn't re-scheduled a proper show. It was at this latter performance that he reassured his fans he would be back in the summer — co-headlining a tour with the Black Crowes. Needless to say, this tour didn't appear in Canada.

Lenny and his band had to deliver a solid show tonight in order to make up for the past year of disappointments. True to form, they offered a highly-energetic and spirited set; the fans seemed to have opted for a round of 'forgive and forget' with Mr. Kravitz. The stage set was a wall of speakers. On the back wall, there were many fish-eyed type bubbles arranged in neat rows. It was this simplicity that brought all the focus to the music (which was delayed about a half an hour). The sound system was pumping out some massive bass-heavy funk grooves from the 70's, setting the vibe for the imminent show.

As soon as the lights went down and the band took their spots on stage, the audience lost their minds and the show was finally about to happen. Spotlight on Craig Ross, Lenny's resident guitar-god, playing the opening chords to "Is There Any Love In Your Heart" and one by one, the band started to join in, keeping the groove going. Enter Kravitz, wearing shades, a purple tiger-striped scarf, pink shirt, white and black striped psychedelic shiny pants and white pointed high-heeled boots. All ladies present had gone berserk by the time he struck the first chord on his sunburst Gibson Les Paul.

There was an extended jam in this tune and once it was over, the applause was over-the-top. After saying a big hello, Lenny led the band into "Live", the overly-funky opening track from his latest album 5. Once again, there was an extended jam and at one point, Lenny was playing bass lead lines along with his bass player. Drummer Cindy Blackmon laid down the super-fat groove of the tune, and she ended with a hyped-up solo. It became obvious how important she is to keeping the energy alive with this band.

"It's been so long since we've been here," Kravitz told the crowd. "We're so happy to be back, thanks for sticking with us and waiting." At this point, Lenny could do no wrong. He assured the audience that they would stick around as long as they would be allowed to play, and then he promptly started on the disco-soul tune, "It Ain't Over Till It's Over". His falsetto and fly dance moves had the ladies swooning once again; as soon as the tune was over, the sequenced beats of "Supersoul Fighter" started up. There was no bass guitar on this tune and lots of keyboards.

The next three tunes, "Rock and Roll Is Dead", "Always On the Run" and "Fields of Joy" are prime examples of the incredible talent in the guitar prowess of Craig Ross (or should that be Craig Rocks?). The man's solos are relentless, and they harken back to the epic rock solos of the 70's. At certain points, the poses that Craig and Lenny were pulling were straight out of the Led Zeppelin or Spiders from Mars textbooks: big hair, attitude and sex appeal were the order of the day. Rock and roll is dead?

"Rosemary", a tune from Lenny's debut Let Love Rule followed, and was performed beautifully with Lenny on acoustic guitar. After this song, Lenny took some time out to introduce his band, who have been on previous tours with him (save his keyboard player from Winnipeg) demonstrating why they sounded SO tight. He also mentioned that Craig Ross is from Toronto, and talked about how much fun he had been having over the past five days hanging out in Toronto. "This place &$#@#% rocks," Kravitz yelled.

Cindy Blackmon promptly rocked the house with a very hyper drum solo as the band took a break, and once they returned they closed off the set with the anthemic, "Let Love Rule". Lenny spent the lion's share of the song hanging out in front of the stage with some of the audience, leading everybody in the chorus. At one point, an over-zealous fan got hold of the microphone proclaiming, "I love you! You're so amazing!" — a sentiment held by most females in attendance.

For the encore, Lenny came back out wearing shades again and he played the opening chords to his latest hit, a re-make of "American Woman" that segued directly into "Fly Away". He tried at the end of the song to lead the audience in a singalong of "Fly Away", but there was little participation. The band promptly left the stage again. For the second encore, Lenny came out shirtless, once again driving the women crazy. He played the opening chords to "Are You Gonna Go My Way" on his Flying V guitar, and by song's end everybody was up out of their seats. Lenny took off his Flying V and promptly sent it flying off to one of his roadies at the side of the stage as departed.

The band played for a while longer, jamming on a groove until Blackmon brought it all down. The music stopped, the band waved goodbye and the audience hoped for another encore. The show was over; everybody was glowing from what they had just witnessed and there could be no complaints heard except for the fact that most wished that he had played longer. The wait was finally over, and Lenny and his band gave a great show to this patient and attentive crowd. All of the past year's disappointments were forgotten.