Lawrence Gowan ’A Criminal Mind’

From the first atmospheric piano chords, the audience sat transfixed by Lawrence Gowan at the Industry Awards during Canadian Music Week 2009. Known as a “progressive” artist, Gowan commandeered the stage like a seasoned actor indulging here in no noodling about, instead he got straight to the musical point; a classic tale retold by a masterful storyteller, more opera than rock ‘n roll. His powerful, yet nuanced voice milks the melodrama inherent in the text; he’s more than just a singer or songwriter, he wanted us to know. Who needs an Eighties Concept Video, when you can do stuff like this live. Gowan’s restless and charismatic performance, punctuated by a maniacal laughter, finished with him pounding the keys like Roger Daltrey in Ken Russell’s Liztomania. The crowd’s wild explosion of applause at seemed like a release – now they could breathe! A powerful performance, no… perfect. Gowan also now fronts the band Styx, they must seem like a rocketship taking off, with this guy at the helm.