State Fair Grandstand concert
Olivia Newton-John, George Kirby
By Michael Anthony
Olivia Newton-John and George Kirby played to nearly 28,000 people in two shows at the State Fair Grandstand Wednesday night, setting a record for this year and topping all the single-night figures for last year.
What does it prove? It proves, for one thing, that in an era when the pop album is considered the major entertainment medium, the good old hit single is still what pulls in the crowds.
And Ms. Newton-John has had plenty of hit singles in recent years. She also draws well here because she doesn’t get to these parts too often, although, to be fair about it, Kirby, making his fourth Grandstand appearance, has his own fans, no doubt.
In fact, Kirby, who opened the show, seems to be a stronger, more engaging performer each time one sees him. The heavier he gets the better he gets, it would seem. He works an audience the way a veteran pizza maker works dough: molding it to the shape he wants, throwing it high into the air, catching it behind his back.
He sings well, he knows how to tell a joke (“One more black show on NBC and that peacock’s gonna turn into a crow”) and, best of all, he does terrific impressions. He does the hard kind: singing impressions. His etchings of Nat Cole and Joe Williams were perfect Wednesday night, as was his more familiar Xerox of Pearl Bailey. And, thrown in for good measure was a nifty Count Basie impression on the piano.
Ms. Newton-John’s act seemed rather limp by comparison, though it’s likely her fans got what they wanted: “live” performance of her recordings. Still, this is a show and Ms. Newton-John’s giggly, sort of gawky stage demeanor albeit more “natural,” more guy-gal next door than Kirby’s - doesn’t quite make a show in any sense of the term. One might as well listen to her records.
She was in good voice, however. It’s a voice that’s warm and intimate-sounding on ballads, such as “I Honestly Love You,” with which she closed the set.
And she’s rather fetching in medium-tempo quasi-country tunes like “Let Me Be There,” “If You Love Me Let Me Know” and Bob Dylan’s “If Not For You.” She’s had the good fortune to nearly always pick good material. She’s essentially a balladeer. When she tries to belt a song or move into her upper register she thins out.
She treats lyrics with conviction, but she treats stage performance too off-handedly, as if concerts were a necessary evil. They used to say that if you don’t have much of an act you spend lots of time with a sing-along. So, with Ms. Newton-John’s guidance, we were treated to several wasted minutes of sing-along to “You Are My Sunshine.”
In addition, there were these awful jokes, one of them prefaced by “This is the right audience for this.” The statement, implying that fair audiences are hicks, might once have been true, but no longer.
Her band, This Oneness, most of the members of which are from this area, gave the singer excellent vocal and instrumental support, especially Robin Lee on flute and synthesizer. The other players are: Gregg Inhofer (piano), Dale Strength (guitar), Doug Nelson (bass) and Bernard Pershey (drums).