By Joel Langton
The 830 Times
Marshall Charloff rocked Del Rio’s 80-year-old Paul Poag Theatre Friday night as he channeled the music of The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.
Charloff shared 35 of the purple one’s many hits, in a two-hour session that had him at the piano, until the 68-minute mark of the concert, he exited stage right and reentered stage left with a purple guitar for a song.
Charloff had a baby grand piano on the stage that was covered with candles, setting an intimate feel for the show that often had Charloff sharing stories about Prince and moments thetwo had shared.
For most of the 83 audience members, they were trying to recapture a moment from their own past with Prince. Many were wearing concert shirts, one expressed his feelings on a black shirt with white letters that said, “Ever since Prince died, it’s been weird” and another was quick to show Charloff a tattoo on her inner forearm of Prince’s logo.
Robert Cadena, who was attending as a fan, not a judge, recalled his first Prince concert. “It was in Houston and it was the best concert I’ve ever been to” he said.
Charloff did everything he could to share Prince’s essence with the crowd as the master showman milked every ounce of audience participation out of the fans as he had them clapping, snapping and often singing along.
Theatre problems
However, the fact there was even a show was due to a nice save by theatre manager Leno Hernandez and his team, who discovered a major electrical problem late Thursday.
“We lost power to our dimmers that control the auditorium and stage lighting. We also lost power to our lobby and restroom,” Hernandez said.
Electricians were able to restore power to the restrooms but the lobby was lit by lamps Hernandez had gone out and purchased,but the dimmer and stage lights weren’t working.
“Both Marshall and our team wanted the show to go on so we pulled it off,” Hernandez said.
The fans were appreciative of the chance to just reach back and touch the legends’ legacy. After the show, Charloff stayed talking to and taking pictures with audience members until nearly midnight.
