The Partland Brothers

December 15, 2008 09:55 AM

The Partland Brothers performed a holiday concert for an appreciative audience yesterday at the Living Arts Centre. Invigorating and moving is how the 150 concert-goers in the LAC's Royal Bank Theatre described the Christmas show that doubled as a fundraiser for the Military Families Fund. It was also a musical tune-up for the Partland Brothers, who are expecting a busy 2009, starting in February with the release their first recording in over a decade. Most famous for their 1987 hit, Soul City, the Partland Brothers performed Christmas favourites (including their own song, Christmas Day), their hits and some new material.

The band's new manager, Mississauga lawyer Patrick Egan, said the concert was everything the Partlands wanted it to be. They handily surpassed their fundraising target, raising more than $10,000. The Military Families Fund was set up by General Rick Hillier in April of 2007 to provide emergency financial support for Canadian soldiers and their families. Their song, That’s My Home, has made the Partlands virtual poster boys for the cause. "The audience really appreciated the show," Egan said. "The audience soaked up the music and gave the band a standing
ovation."

- Mississauga News

On the wings of an often stunning live performance at Mississauga’s Living Arts Theatre, the celebrated ‘80s harmony heroes, the Partland Brothers declared they have returned to the contemporary concert arena with an outstanding bang.

It’s been quite a while since the two Partland brothers – and their two other siblings – have trod the boards together as they did so memorably when their old signature tune Soul City was lighting up playlists and charts all over North America. But it’s great to see them back on the case and in classic vocal and songwriting form.

Backed by a stellar nine-piece band, the Partland’s front men Chris and G.P. Partland created a stirring show which was notable for the outright musicianship of the backing band, and for the brilliant harmony vocals the two brothers have concocted. Although the band did not abandon their earlier body of work (in songs such as Soul City, their Top 30 US and Canadian hit single from 1986), but the essential focus was on the nine new originals they’ve written to round out a top drawer new album entitled This Is Who I Am.

The new album takes the brothers into deeper and more complex harmony quarters. In part, it’s reminiscent of the Everly Brothers, Don and Phil, who lifted sibling harmony adventures to a whole other level in the late ‘50s and ‘60s. In their early days, the Partlands were often regarded as a Canadian hybrid of the Everlys. So not surprising in the circumstances, the first half of the Partlands’ show featured a salute to an Everlys chestnut, the outstanding ballad Let It Be Me (also covered in top five R & B fashion by Jerry Butler and Betty Everett).

The Partlands’ soulful performance of Let It Be Me hoisted their harmony-led show to new heights, from which it did not descend. There has been camp small talk of Chris and GP presenting an opening set of Everly Brothers classics as a lead in to their own 2009 theatre shows. I could not be more encouraging about the prospect. There is something about sibling harmony which has the potential to reach sublime status and cannot be duplicated by any other form of harmonic vocalising. The first half of the show closed with a new and exceedingly special Partlands’ composition, Divine Inspiration, which lives up to its name. It’s a real gem. In the second set, they pulled out some other new titles from the top drawer. The set opened with a stirring rendition of the new gospel-flavored track Take Me to the River which segued into the emotional ballad, Lately I’m Sorry. The second set also featured two notable covers – Graham Parker’s Not If It Pleases Me and Michel Pagliaro’s What the Hell I Got. Then they slipped back into the great Ronnie Hawkins tribute tune, Ronnie Boy, which was featured so brilliantly in the documentary on the Hawk’s life, Alive and Still Kickin.’

In this first class show, the Partlands (with brothers Robin on drums and Kelly on backing vocals and guitar) were more than ably supported by Sil Simone (mandolin), Tony Carlucci (trumpet), Phil Poppa (sax), Don Reed (violin), Brent Bailey (keys), Gary Munshaw (bass) and Hugh Kilvert (guitar).
It was a top drawer show by any definition and offered substantial hopes that the Partland Brothers are back in serious performing mode. Long-time fans indicated that they’d never seen the Brothers in such outstanding form. As you will no doubt appreciate, over the decades I have seen many, many shows but the Partland’s performance represented a very special high point. I was rendered quite literally speechless by the power of their impressive set.
- By RITCHIE YORKE

December 15, 2008 09:55 AM

The Partland Brothers performed a holiday concert for an appreciative audience yesterday at the Living Arts Centre. Invigorating and moving is how the 150 concert-goers in the LAC's Royal Bank Theatre described the Christmas show that doubled as a fundraiser for the Military Families Fund. It was also a musical tune-up for the Partland Brothers, who are expecting a busy 2009, starting in February with the release their first recording in over a decade. Most famous for their 1987 hit, Soul City, the Partland Brothers performed Christmas favourites (including their own song, Christmas Day), their hits and some new material.

The band's new manager, Mississauga lawyer Patrick Egan, said the concert was everything the Partlands wanted it to be. They handily surpassed their fundraising target, raising more than $10,000. The Military Families Fund was set up by General Rick Hillier in April of 2007 to provide emergency financial support for Canadian soldiers and their families. Their song, That’s My Home, has made the Partlands virtual poster boys for the cause. "The audience really appreciated the show," Egan said. "The audience soaked up the music and gave the band a standing
ovation."

- Mississauga News