Isaak and his band started right on time at 8:30 with "Gone Ridin'", one of my all time favorites and off of his first album, Silvertone. I'm sure glad I decided not to get another beer or I would have missed this one and been VERY upset. The set included a whole bunch of his older material, much of it off his second self-titled album, which has always been my favorite (maybe because it's the one he autographed for me waaaay back in 1990!) Other favorites of mine he performed included "Blue Hotel", "Lie To Me", "American Boy", "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing", "Speak Of The Devil" and "Wicked Game", of course! The Tucson Weekly did a write up the week of the show and mentioned the "shallow success" of "Wicked Game", which was not meant in an insulting way, just that Isaak has so much more material, some of which could be considered better than "Wicked Game". After the show on Friday I have to agree with The Weekly's assessment that although "Wicked Game" is his best known song he's got plenty of other great material.
I was very impressed with the way he and the band re-worked some of his older songs. There was a keyboard break during "Lie To Me" (I think, I should have taken notes) that sounded exactly like something Ray Manzarek of The Doors would have done and I thought, "Wow, this is cool!" The last song of the evening was "Can't Do A Thing (To Stop Me)". Isaak's keyboard player sat down at the piano and started off playing this beautiful melody....I had no idea what song it was but I loved the way it sounded. The rest of the band stood back and then slowly started playing, and then I realized what song it was. I was thoroughly impressed that a song that originally sounded like a very pretty, dreamlike piece was turned into this almost jazz-sounding thing. It was fabulous!
He also did a few covers, including Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire" and Jerry Lee Lewis' "Great Balls of Fire", which included "flames" and smoke coming from the piano. It was cute!
Isaak wandered through the audience at the beginning of the show, chatting and shaking hands as he sang. He also thanked us for coming out and supporting live music. I think most bands and performers no longer make much of a living from album sales, because who buys albums anymore, which I think is a shame. Isaak himself hasn't put out an album of new material since 2009, but considering his back catalog I'm not sure that matters. (In fact, he didn't do a single song off his latest album.)
Isaak has always been known as a sharp dresser. It's unusual to see him NOT in a suit and tie. He seems to have toned it down a bit in recent years, staying away from the crazy patterns and metallic suits. But, as he did the last time I saw him, he donned his "mirrored" suit towards the end of the show. (I can't help but think he stole this from U2's Bono, who wore a similar suit during 1992's Zoo TV tour and called himself the "Mirror Ball Man".) The woman sitting behind me was NOT impressed: "That's hideous!" I didn't bother telling her he's been wearing that suit for years or that she obviously isn't a longtime Chris Isaak fan, because otherwise she would have understood that he's had unusual looking suits for years.
The one bum note was that most of the crowd remained seated for the duration of the show. This annoys me to no end, because I love to dance. Isaak himself announced before one song, "Here's the rock and roll part--let's get up and dance!", which most people did, but then everybody sat back down after that song was over. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know Isaak's 58 years old and most of the crowd appeared to be hovering around 58 as well. Isaak made a joke about riding around on a Rascal in the casino, and someone in the back shouted, "Hey, we're not THAT old!", and I thought to myself, "Well, this crowd sure is acting like it!"
I skipped his show at the Fox Theatre last year and I regret that decision after seeing him Friday night. I won't be skipping any more of his shows! The voice of an angel...
Until next time,
GingerMusicKid
I am often bummed out by the lack of dancing at some live shows. I often make my way to the back or side in order to dance and not block anyone's view. But it would be way better if everyone was dancing!
ReplyDeleteTotally agree! Although I enjoyed the show I would have LOVED it had I been able to dance.
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