Neil Berg is blessed. Not many can say they’ve had a successful career in the entertainment industry, as it’s a business that chews up and spits out. Tackling the entertainment business and finding success in different avenues of “the biz” is almost unheard of. The result of talent, perseverance and maybe a little bit of luck, Berg has skipped down a few of those avenues: He’s an accomplished and successful musician, producer and composer on both Broadway and concert stages.
With many entertainment loves and subsequent accolades, his current show combines his talents as musician and stage producer with that of educator, finding him leading and playing keyboards in a rock ’n’ roll band while also educating the audience about the rich history of rock music.
Neil Berg’s “50 Years of Rock and Roll” will take the stage at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College on Saturday.
“I combine my two loves, rock ’n’ roll and Broadway. And what Broadway means, in my opinion, is storytelling. When we do the concert in Durango, the ’50 Years of Rock and Roll,’ it is a rock concert. But throughout the entire show, it is also a history lesson, and that’s the storytelling. People who know rock ’n’ roll are going to jam and dance and love the music, but you’re also going to learn something,” he said. “It’s a celebration. We are all there celebrating the great music that is rock ’n’ roll. So, it’s very accurate. That’s the Broadway element going into it, but it’s pure rock ‘n’ roll, trust me.”
That “pure rock ’n’ roll” comes from a stacked band providing the score for Berg’s rock ’n’ roll narrative. What’s conveyed is an obvious love of the genre along with its numerous influences, presented in a show that’s complete with all the bells and whistles of a full theatrical performance. And while you are getting a full list of songs, many of them an earful of the familiar rock ’n’ roll canon, that aforementioned “history lesson” is a peek behind the curtain into the colorful stories of some of the genre’s important names – it’s big and dramatic, but also personal.
“I feel like everybody’s in my big old rock ’n’ roll living room and we’re celebrating. So I’m going to be also narrating and telling stories about the artists and the songs. And it goes by really quickly,” he said. “This is a hootenanny, it’s a party.”
You’ll also likely get some surprises. “Rock ’n’ roll” has become a catchall title that encompasses scores of names and styles. Far beyond Elvis and Chuck Berry, Berg and his band manage to incorporate what you’d expect in a rock ’n’ roll history class, covering the ramped-up blues that became rock, but they’ll also give a nod to artists like Little Richard and Sister Rosetta Tharpe (arguably two of the early architects of rock ’n’ roll) along with more contemporary acts. While there are those familiar names that are regular on classic rock radio playlists, you may also hear some songs that are more at home on left of the dial radio.
And in reality, two hours may not be enough time for a complete assessment, so Berg and band are always looking to extend this lesson to additional performances.
“We’re going to get in as much as we can, we always do. Then hopefully we’ll be invited back and we’ll do part two. In some venues, we’re at part eight, because there’s just so much, you know there’s deep dives of what we’re doing” Berg said. “But (Saturday) is part one, it’s what people might think, with a few different surprises.”
Bryant Liggett is a freelance writer and KDUR station manager. Reach him at [email protected].
