A few decades back, Harrison Ford made a movie (Hollywood Homicide) about a cop who moonlights as a real estate salesman. His "You have the right to stay silent; and to list your property with me" almost ranks with " Go ahead, punk- make my day" in moviedom's annals.
Thorold's young tenor, Robert Alfieri is a newly-wed; a licensed realtor; professional renovator and solo vocalist/guitarist with an amazing voice and laid back performance manner. On stage at Saturday morning's St. Catharines Marketplace, I could easily identify with his musical selections. He's into the sixties.
Performing in front of the usual perambulating crowd of shoppers and munchers kitty-corner from the actual display stalls, both inside and outside, Alfieri opened with the Frankie Valli standard, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", and my somewhat off-key old-guy vocal organs actually sang the entire lyrics sotto voce. Sorry for that. Alfieri then segued into an Arkells number followed by 'All to Myself'; the Dan + Shay hit that somehow reminds me of the closing scene of Julia Stiles' movie about those 'ten things'.
The Dion blockbuster 'Dream Lover' afforded the soloist an opportunity to display his personal phrasing that was both effective and endearing. During a personal chat, Alfieri admitted to gleaning inspiration from Ed Sheeran, the UK star who has sold a couple of million records, and has been on stage with 'Elton' and Swift. Not a shabby guy to have as an idol. He also emulates Sheeran's passionate deliveries. This was obvious in the rendering of Queen's iconic 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love'; another personal favourite.
I hate the adjective 'pleasant' because it somehow feels denigrating; as if meaning NICE or OKAY. In other words - passable! But in Alfieri's case, his voice IS pleasant; but also enjoyable, listenable and comfortable, without anything strident or grating.
In discussing his day job, (and he's certainly community-minded), we both chatted about the endemic problem with civic bureaucratic hurdles in planning a residential renovation. We agreed, it's a pain in the butt! But, my new buddy can always offset the upset with his 'six string' and a mike!