Fans let “The Good Times Roll” when the premiere Cars tribute band Heartbeat City came to the Bear’s Den Showroom at the Seneca Niagara Resort and Casino on May 3.
Billed as the number one Cars tribute band in the United States, the band promised…and delivered…more than just Cars hit songs; but also, included deep album cuts and even half of one album.
After opening the show with “Let’s Go”, the band performed “Shake it Up”, “Good Time Roll”, “Just What I Needed”, “Dangerous Type”, and “Cruiser”.
Noting that 2018 was a very good year for The Cars – The Cars were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and celebrated the 40th anniversary of their debut album, “The Cars”; the band performed the second side of that album complete with the sound of a needle on vinyl at the beginning before performing “You’re All I Got Tonight”, “Bye Bye Love”, “Moving in Stereo”, “All Mixed Up”, and “My Best Friend’s Girl”.
After performing “Candy-O”, “the hit” “Drive”, “You Might Think”, “Don’t Cha Stop”, the polyphonic tune “Touch and Go” – a song The Cars never played live for fear of messing it up -, “Don’t Tell Me No”, “Stay the Night”, “Magic”, “Tonight She”, and closing out the show with the band’s namesake song “Heartbeat City” the fans were still clamouring to hear more music from The Cars.
Heartbeat City returned to the stage one more time for an encore performance of “Hello Again” before coming out to meet fans.
More than just a good band who perform well together, Heartbeat City gives a full on performance complete with a great light show…and leaves the crowd wanting more.
As a member of Heartbeat City, I was thrilled to read such a great review of our show. Sherrill, thank you for your colorful descriptions and honest assessment of our performance. We work very hard to maintain the level of excellence that Cars fans recognize from the classic albums that shaped our youth. It’s something we do because we love the music of the Cars and strive to play it exactly as you remember it from the albums: The dual threat of Elliot’s scientifically crafted guitar leads and the innovative synth wizardry of Greg Hawkes. Not to mention the quirky vocals of Ric Ocasek and the heartthrob stage presence of Ben Orr rounded out by David Robinson’s solid rhythms.
It’s great to get recognized by our peers and we’ll continue to give our fans what they come to see and hear – the Cars – like no one else can; except for maybe the Cars themselves…
Mark Adame
Heartbeat City Cars Tribute