LIVE: The hit Right Here Waiting was played for the first time in Prague. Richard Marx played an intimate concert at the Hybernia Theatre
Richard Marx
Prague, Hybernia Theatre
30/8/2022
“Good evening, Prague,” said Richard Marx in Czech when he took the stage of the Hybernia Theatre, which was surprisingly not sold out. And let’s stop right there. A world-renowned artist, whom many people in the Czech Republic would perhaps unfairly call a one-hit wonder, could under normal circumstances at least sell out Forum Karlín. However, concert organizers should not underestimate marketing. wait here is a hit that not only here, everyone knows. And a lot of people would come to hear him live. But she would have to know about that concert first.
Virtually invisible promotion thus caused us to see the singer in a more intimate setting that suited his current acoustic tour, but the potential there was much greater. Today, the 58-year-old native of Chicago, who probably takes the same pills for a youthful appearance as Tom Cruise, was unfortunately not quite full.
Perhaps to show that he is not yet a fallen star, Marx had a video of his most famous moments played before his performance. He never had a shortage of acquaintances with famous colleagues, so we watched his success in the numbers along with footage of various late-night talk shows, shaking hands with Jeff Probst or Louis Fonsi, drumming his hit instead of driving a car. Or also joint shots of *Nsync, Keith Urban or Hugh Jackman, whom he said he helped write several songs. After all, even his only Grammy award from 2003 is not for his own work, but for a composition Dancing with my father, sung by Luther Vandross. The video was strange. It was a strange ego trip that didn’t suit the otherwise more peaceful evening at all. And to present myself there as someone who had four decades of single number ones in the charts was also at least embellished.
Richard Marx stood alone on the stage, he had only two Spanish shoes, a piano, a drink and sound engineer Sam, who, as needed, played accompanying footage to his extensive talk. For example, photos from the late eighties and early nineties, when, as he himself noted, he looked like he had a dead squirrel on his head. And talking about it all was the best thing ever. Marx’s voice is no longer the purest and it doesn’t look as natural as in his early years, but that is not expected in his advanced age. It was therefore good that he introduced the creation of most of the songs to the audience, and thanks to this the concert did not merge into a monotonous playback of similar-sounding compositions.
The audience cooperated nicely. Right from the opening hits Endless summer nights or Satisfied they clapped to the beat and, when prompted, sang along with him to hits that are better known in America. The performer also added a few newer things to them, such as the title track Unrestricted he gave to Karl, whose partner Daniel proposed in any year and he wanted to reciprocate. He also drew attention to September 23, when his 20-member collection of new songs will be released, the album will be called Songwriter. A song came out of it Same heart, different daywho wrote with son Lucas.
By the way, if you don’t know his newer stuff, give it a try. You might be surprised that someone at such an advanced age records songs that sound so young in production. If Shawn Mendes, for example, had them on his album, they would naturally fit in there. In addition, the great Jana Kramer, a country singer and actress known from the series One Tree Hill, is a guest on his last record.
The casual actor, who mostly plays himself in the series, confided to the audience that he has been walking through Prague for the second day with his wife, and what impressed him the most here was how well-dressed everyone was. “No one here wears flip flops!” he was melting. It was nice to see his insight and enjoy the jokes he used to make fun of himself. “Keep Coming Back is a great track if you want to get buzzed after a gig today. You’re welcome,” he smirked conspiratorially.
He also explained about his family, he is very proud of his three sons – Brandon, Lucas and Jessee. They are all in their thirties now, and when about eleven years ago they all told him of their own accord that they liked his then-new song when you love me, he then took them to the studio and made a video of them accompanying him on instruments. Marx also played that video to his fans in the hall, and that brings us to the biggest problem of the concert.
In the middle part of the set, Marx let half-playback play so that his compositions could be supplemented with instruments and samples that cannot be recovered from the stage itself. And that was a shame, because it was amateurish and unnatural. And maybe it would be even better if the news that some lady didn’t do well in the publication stopped the concert first. Or at least he didn’t next choose a song about his fairytale life in Malibu, where he hangs out at screenings with his wife Cynthia Rhodes (Penny from Sinful Dance) and his dog in cheesy shots of his American dream while someone in the audience faints.
It was not easy to throw back to the pleasant atmosphere of that time, but after a few songs it was possible. He already joked that his biggest hit from the late eighties is Bon Jovi’s and a bit of You give love a bad name and played. After a pair of true singles Hold on to the Night AND Now and forever he put on a song Angelia completely without a microphone and received the most thunderous applause yet.
In the end, he finally sat down at the piano. At previous concerts, he also played Phil Collins behind him, but in Prague he was straightforward. And the power of the ballad wait here it has not weakened in any way even after more than thirty years since its inception. “He still has it there” fans could happily pump their fists and sing along with him to the chorus of the song, which was written as a love letter to his wife while she was filming a movie in Africa. It was no wonder they didn’t want to let him off the stage for that. But he himself did not return. He knew very well that he would not win, but he promised to return. Hopefully, more people will learn about his possible second visit to the Czech Republic. He deserves a full house.
Text: Jan Trávníček, photo: Richard Marx
Topics: Richard Marx, Prague, Hybernia Theatre