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By Dawn Januszkiewicz
Grodin's forte is fat jokes, but her style has a unique edge, calling herself "Miss Chubby Jones Beach" in a bathing suit that has distinct Gladiator accents. When she moved on to fitting room mirror jokes she commented that the "panoramic view" made her look like someone was "hugging" her. Prior to Ronstadt coming onstage, her six-person band stood under the cool blue, green and purple lights warming up both their instruments and the audience, so that Ronstadt walked in to a hail of clapping and cheering. She dove straight into a bluesy number by Nelson Riddle, What's New, which was greatly complemented by the flute and trumpet solos. Afterwards the round stage rotated and she cordially addressed the audience, saying she "never got used to a round stage" and she "felt like a car." She gave an outline for the evening, early classics, some of which by Riddle, and the latter half of the performance were "things [she] recorded in the '70s, '80s and '90s." She complimented her band for the ability to play both swing, folk, country, Latin and contemporary pop. "There are only a handful of players that can play well and I have them on stage," she said. Her band included Lawrence Feldman on tenor sax, John Gillenton on piano/keyboard/vocals, Trey Henry on acoustic and electric guitar, John Ferraro on the drums and Bob Man on guitar and arrangements. Arnold McCuller and Arelene Cheater were Ronstadt's backup singers during the second half of her performance. Some of the classics she performed included Someone Who Watches Over Me. She sang the classics in soft sensitive tones, that weren't too sentimental and were also strong, but not uncontrolled. Her ability to sing out to the far reaches of the audience without sounding coarse is nothing short of amazing. She also did a jazzy Straighten Up and Fly Right with a touch of swing, involving trumpet, keyboard and tenor sax solos. Ronstadt then told the audience how she was involved in a play and how during her theater stint she became interested in artists like Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Holiday and Frank Sinatra, all major influences on her music today. She immediately followed that with Riddle's Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry, then later sang Fitzgerald's Little Girl Blues. The most interesting comment she made to the audience complimented an incident at the Aladdin Hotel two years ago, when she called Michael Moore a "Great American Patriot." She paused between songs and said, "Let's try this again. I've asked [this] in the past, [but] how many of you still support Bush?" The majority of the audience applauded to show that they did not. A few people booed and walked out. One man screamed, "Shut up and sing." She responded to them, "Well, I'm an artist and I feel it's my job to create a dialogue with the audience," then asked, in reference to the man who screamed, "Is he still here? Well, he'll get used to it." She then dedicated Get Outta Town to George Bush. In the second half she sang Somewhere Out There with McCuller, who had been a backup vocalist for James Taylor. Their performance was flawless and powerful, so much so that the power went out. The raging storm tried to end the performance prematurely, however they did recover and continued on to finish the last number of the set and to do two encores. Overall, the evening was invigorating. Ronstadt encompassed a number of different musical styles including one Latin piece. The band was phenomenal; the backup singers complemented Ronstadt's style perfectly. Both the commentary and politics were also entertaining. 0 6 . 1 5 . 0 6
Perpetual Toxins © 2006-2007 - All Rights Reserved |
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n the dark and stormy night of June 9, Linda Ronstadt sang to a nearly full room at the North Fork Theatre. But she was introduced to an already warmed up audience, who was charmed by comedian Marion Grodin.
