Halifax Daily News, Dec 17 2000Voisine's boyish charm still shines Audience warms to lively, soulful performer
By Skana Gee -- The Daily News
The Walter Kemp Singers helped Roch rock last night.
The Dalhousie University conductor and his choir took to the Metro Centre stage with New Brunswick-born pop singer Roch Voisine, lending their powerful voices to his final handful of songs, including a rollicking Joy to the World that had the appreciative audience bopping and clapping like gospel singers from the American South.
The evening had started off much more gently, with Voisine - clad in dark sweater and jeans - on stage alone with his guitar. As he warmed up with bare-bones renditions of songs like Oochigeas and St. Anne of the Wild Blue, accompanying musicians wandered on and off stage to accompany him on piano, accordian and even the Irish bodhran.
Fans unfailingly loyal And it soon became obvious - even to the unitiated - why Voisine's fans are so unfailingly loyal, and it's not just his crooning skill. At 37, his boyish charm still shines through, while his ability to act as friend and confidante (offering waves, kisses and relaxed banter) to an entire lower-bowl crowd was truly amazing.
Picking up on the friendly vibe, Voisine even alluded to years of speculation about his sexuality - he recently "came out" as a heterosexual - while introducing the Deliver Me.
"I've discovered something new about myself: I suffer from insomnia. You were afraid I was going to talk about something else?" he said, laughing, before launching into the song's sweet harmonies with back-up singers Lina Boudreau and Dorian Sherwood.
His melancholy Helene, a hit in French, got a warm reception, as did a new song he delivers in French, English and Italian.
But the crowd - which ranged widely in age and included both the baseball-cap set and the faux-fur fashionistas - was really in the palm of his hand with Kissing Rain, his 1996 mega hit, with the momentum continuing despite few theatrics.
After a short break, Voisine and his seven-member crew were back - dressed more formally in black this time - for the Christmas portion of the show sprung from his new holiday CD of the same name.
A sleepy White Christmas kicked off the set, followed by Winter Wonderland, evoking whistles and exclamations, Sleigh Ride, Blue Christmas and his own composition, Christmas is Calling, a lovely tune that aptly captures the longing many people feel at this time of year.
True Christmas shopper After admitting to being a true Christmas shopper (he hits the mall Dec. 24),
Voisine presented a soulful Silver Bells before Boudreau took centre stage for an impressive rendering of Ave Maria and the Kemp choir made its entrance.
All told, Voisine performed for more than two hours, rounding things off with an encore including With These Eyes, and thrilling the devoted with his obvious sincerity - even signing a few autographs as things wound down.
For those of you who were too busy shopping to check out the show, tune in to CBC-TV tonight for Voisine's Christmas special at 7 p.m.
