Mellow Newton-John still electrifies crowd
The singer’s fans heard a little bit country, and a little bit “Xanadu”.
By David Skolnick, Vindicator Staff Writer
YOUNGSTOWN - Olivia Newton-John’s voice is as stunning in its beauty today as it was when she first hit it big 30 years ago.
Perhaps pop music’s most under rated female vocalist, Newton-John impressed the packed house Tuesday at Stambaugh Auditorium with her voice, charm and style. Oh, and at 55, she’s as beautiful as ever.
Newton-John scored major points with me by opening with “Have You Never Been Mellow,” one of my all-time favorites. Although she did the song flawlessly, it was a bit of a challenge to hear her over her seven-piece band and the orchestra, which included nearly 20 pieces.
Actually hearing Newton-John’s soft voice was an ongoing problem when the band and orchestra were playing. It was as if her volume control was stuck at 6 at times, when it should have been at 9 or 10.
Xanadu set
Newton-John played four tunes from the “Xanadu” soundtrack, including “Magic” and “Suddenly,” two great songs from a movie that made the Village People’s “Can’t Stop the Music” look like it belongs on “Masterpiece Theatre.” She also played the title track to the 1980 movie.
One of the few throwaway songs in her set Tuesday was “Dancin’” from the movie.
It’s the most embarrassing scene in a terrible movie, so I was somewhat surprised she wanted to sing the mediocre tune.
A highlight of the night was when Newton-John and her band “unplugged” their instruments for an incredible set of her earlier stuff. It’s been 32 years since she first recorded the Bob Dylan-penned “If Not For You,” but she hit every note perfectly. That set also included shortened versions of some of her best songs, “If You Love Me [Let Me Know).” “Please Mister Please,” and “Let Me Be There.”
She then did an acoustic version of “Physical.” her biggest hit. This version, which she described as “age appropriate,” was much slower than the 1981 pop-dance hit, but she did an outstanding job with it.
“Grease” was the word
Newton-John got the crowd going when she donned a leather jacket over her two-piece sequin evening gown to do songs from the movie, “Grease.” She and her back-up singers started with “You’re the One That I Want,” and she moved on to a rendition of “Hopelessly Devoted to You.” She traded the leather for a satin “Pink Ladies” jacket to sing “Summer Nights” with some help from the audience.
The “Grease” set got Newton-John her first standing ovation, a lengthy one at that, from the audience.
She came back for one encore, and sang an amazing version of “I Honestly Love You.”
After about 90 minutes, she left the stage to another standing ovation.
While she has a lengthy songbook from which to choose, Newton-John opted to not perform many songs from the early 1980s, one of her most successful periods. Missing from Tuesday’s performance were “A Little More Love.” “Deeper Than the Night,” “Heart Attack” and “Twist of Fate.”
That had to be disappointing to some of her longtime fans, but the energy and warmth she displayed Tuesday probably didn’t leave any one feeling like they missed out on anything.