Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
The Goo Goo Dolls did the best they could Friday night at the Chicago Theatre. But they were playing to an audience that probably didn’t attend a lot of rock concerts. How else could you explain a bunch of grown men [and women-but let’s face it, most of them were guys] who would hurl fluorescent glow sticks at the stage and think the band would enjoy it.
To watch No Doubt on stage, you’d never guess the musicians have ever had anything but happiness in their careers. Some bands are good at faking a good show, but few exude the kind of carefree, childlike joy that makes a show so much fun. Friday night at the Allstate Arena, the California band, fronted by Gwen Stefani, performed just shy of two hours, kicking off the show with “Hella Good.”
Obviously not running from his past, Paul McCartney embraced the band that made his career and treated fans to a concert that was top-heavy on Beatles hits. His set list Tuesday night at the United Center didn’t veer much from the former Beatle’s two sold-out concerts here last April. Neither did his onstage patter, a fact he joked often about. “Those of you who were here last time already heard this story,” said the world’s most famous bassist. “But I’m going to tell it again.” With that, he regaled the audience with tales about John, George, Linda and Heather. He reminisced about a massage therapist in Tokyo who croaked out a Beatles tune as she tended to his sore muscles. Sorry, Ringo fans–the drummer wasn’t mentioned.
Every generation has a hero, and this one seems to idolize Avril Lavigne–the neck-tie wearing, skateboarding Canadian teenager whose plaintive songs have struck a chord with teenagers. Of course in kid years, a generation only lasts a couple years tops. But judging by her debut album, “Let Go,” and the strength of her live performances, Lavigne appears to have the talent and tenacity to mature as an artist who will continue to win fans regardless of her core following growing up.
If Liam Gallagher ever quit the music business, he could make a nice career for himself as an actor specializing in freeze-frame. If the guy moved more than a few times Tuesday night at the Chicago Theatre, it usually was to exit when his older brother, guitarist-songwriter Noel, sang lead. But that’s nothing new. Oasis never was known for its enthralling stage presence.
As the headliner for the Jeep World Outside Festival tour, Sheryl Crow did everything right Sunday night at the Tweeter Center. She played a tight set, had an interesting stage setup and sang all the hits her fans wanted to hear. But Train, which preceded her onstage, ended up stealing the show.
“If I’m gonna go around one more time, it better be good,” Cher said Thursday in the first of two consecutive nights at the United Center. “I have to raise the bar for a lot of these young girls coming up.” Without missing a beat, Cher jokingly challenged, “All right, follow this, you bitches.”
Jewel may have been nursing a broken collarbone and ribs, but there was nothing ailing her voice Sunday night at the Chicago Theatre. Backed by a five-piece band, the singer-songwriter captivated the sold-out crowd with a two-hour plus concert that showed off her flexible range. She sang all the expected hits from her three studio albums (excluding her Christmas CD, for obvious reasons).
If you were to believe the songs Chris Isaak sings, he is one unlucky son of a gun when it comes to love. “Wicked Game” is about a tortured love affair. He wrote “Forever Blue” after his fiancee broke up with him. And in his latest single, “Let Me Down Easy,” Isaak pleads with his latest lover to go easy with his heart.
Back when the Goo Goo Dolls debuted, they were a straggly threesome that put little thought into on-stage wardrobe. They just rocked the house like the best little garage band from Buffalo, N.Y., that they were. These days, the look is more refined with expensive haircuts, leather pants and even a little eye liner. But the sound hasn’t changed much. Sure, there are more ballads than before, but the deliciously raucous rock ‘n’ roll spirit remains the same.
It’s obvious ‘N Sync has spent quite a bit of money on its tour. In the first of two consecutive nights Thursday at the Allstate Arena, the world’s most popular boy band captured its young audience’s attention with a series of flashy explosions, a handful of costume changes and a slew of hit songs. Still, something was lacking from this concert. Or, perhaps it wasn’t that the boys were missing anything but that they were trying to do too much.
“I didn’t always make the smartest choices, but I also wasn’t afraid to fail,” says Cher, phoning from her Los Angeles home. “If you make a mistake, you pick yourself up and move ahead. If I didn’t do that, I’d be crawled up in a ball on my sofa for the rest of my life.”
Aaron Carter is 14 years old, looks like a carbon copy of his big brother Nick of the Backstreet Boys and works the crowd with the savvy and finesse of a Vegas showman. That’s a dangerous combination when you’ve got an arena full of young girls who are hopped up on sugar and adrenaline. But guess what? This kid delivers. Give him a couple more years to pick better songs that cater to his rock ‘n’ roll sensibilities and there’s the potential for a career beyond the kid-pop phase.
Just before Blink-182 stepped on stage to headline the Q101 Twisted 8 Ball Thursday night at the United Center, Barry Williams–best known to pop culture fans as the eldest son on “The Brady Bunch”–weaved through the audience making like Eminem. “Will the real Greg Brady please stand up?” Williams chanted as he hopped around on stage. It was a funny moment, but what followed next was weird in the context of a holiday rock show. Q101 personality Mancow Muller appeared onstage to introduce the Portage, Ind., honor guard. The men stood at attention as Wayne Messmer sang a searing rendition of the “Star Spangled Banner.” And then one of Muller’s cohorts led the crowd in a chant of “USA!”
Envy me, girls. I am in Lance Bass’s hotel room and guess what? He happens to be here, too.
Never mind that we’re surrounded by his assistant, makeup artist, a handful of publicists and a photographer. I think I saw love in his eyes. OK, maybe it was just the sunlight reflecting from the windows of the W Hotel on Lake Shore Drive. But the point is, Bass–one-fifth of the phenomenally popular boy band ‘N Sync–is so charming he can even make cranky reporters smile.
The stage is dark and a haunting voice wafts through the theater. Tori Amos is backstage, whispering a tale of rage and murder. The victim in her song is desperate and full of despair. Her boyfriend is killing her, and their daughter later unknowingly helps him dispose of her body.
For all the hammering that boy bands get, the Backstreet Boys were the perfect group to see Saturday night. Just a couple weeks after the terrorist attacks on the United States and talks of impending war, it was a relief to lose yourself in a two-hour show where all you had to worry about was not getting hit with a flying stuffed animal. The Backstreet Boys show was all about fun.
But make no mistake: Though Beyonce Knowles and Kelly Rowland may have started the group, Knowles is the primary destined child. The trio knows it, too. The women recently appeared on the cover of Vibe magazine made up like vintage Supremes. Guess who got to be Diana Ross?
He came out in a thong and little else. Unfortunately for the capacity crowd of (predominantly) women who came Monday night to see actor Russell Crowe in the first of two sold-out House of Blues shows, the thong wasn’t on the studly Oscar winner. It was worn by an aboriginal dancer who seemed to scare some members of the audience with his jolting moves.
There was a little of everything at the Backstreet Boys’ concert Monday night at the Allstate Arena, from pyrotechnics to druids to ballerinas. But for the youngsters who filled the venue to capacity, all that could have disappeared, and they still would have been happy just to see–and, I guess, hear–Nick Carter, Brian Littrell, Kevin Richardson, A.J. McLean and Howie Dorough do what they do.