Concert Review
Tony Orlando
Seneca Allegany Events Center
Salamanca, NY
Saturday April 8, 2017
Review/Photos: Joseph Suto
This past Monday singer Tony Orlando turned 73 years old. Saturday was his first show since so he decided to belatedly celebrate with the Salamanca faithful. Orlando showed no signs of slowing down as his near two hour set appeared to be longer than normal.
Orlando began with a cover of Neil Diamond’s “America” during which he saluted all the military personnel in attendance. Orlando mixed in covers and told stories of how the songs intertwined with his career. A flashback to the days when he and keyboardist Toni Wine worked for Don Kirshner told interesting stories about other future stars such as Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Sedaka and Neil Diamond.
At times the show had the feel of a Las Vegas revue or perhaps even a telethon. That wasn’t a bad thing as about halfway in Orlando started to play the hits that made him famous. “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree” began the hits segment of the show. That was swiftly followed by the double shot of “Candida” and “Knock Three Times” the former written by Wine. “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose” and “He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You) rounded out the string of his hits.
It was good to see his talented band each get some deserved time in the spotlight. The only glitch perhaps was the lack of his own songs instead of the overabundance of covers. Songs I heard fans yell for like “Who’s In The Strawberry Patch With Sally”, “Steppin’ Out, I’m Gonna Boogie Tonight” and the overlooked gem “Atlanta” would have sent the crowd home ecstatic. Tony Orlando is first and foremost an entertainer. His talent was on full display Saturday evening. Similar to his television show from the 70s, he treated the crowd to a wide array of variety which made him a household name and then some.
Set List
America (Neil Diamond cover)
You Can Call Me Al (Paul Simon cover)
Come Go With Me
Harmonizing Nights
Spanish Harlem (Ben E. King cover)
Stand By Me (Ben E. King cover)
Kerry Cole Segment
Luckenbach, Texas/I Walk The Line/Steamroller Blues/Runaway/I Got You Babe/With A Little Help From My Friends/Whole Lotte Love
Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree
Candida
Knock Three Times
Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose
He Don’t Love You (Like I Love You)
Will You Still Love Me (Toni Wine lead vocal)
Groovy Kind Of Love (Toni Wine lead vocal)
Easy (Dsavid Orlando lead vocal)
You Are So Beautiful (Tim Pope lead vocal)
Johnny B Goode (Chuck Berry cover)
Encore
Beatles Medley (We Can Work It Out, Something, Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da, Hey Jude, The End)
