Olivia - a little late but luscious
OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN In concert, Dee Events Center, Weber State College: Oct 12 and 13, 8 pm. Tickets available for Wednesday night show al all ZCMI outlets and the Dee Center box office.
By Jerry Johnston, Deseret News staff writer
-OGDEN “This had better be good.” I heard one soul say at the Dee Events Center Tuesday. Others echoed the sentiment. After crowds waited an hour past show time for the performance to start, heard the warm-up routine then waited another 45 minutes, it was obvious Olivia Newton John needed to be in fine form to keep the masses from mutiny.
She was in fine form.
If acts can be judged on their energy, the Australian singer’s concert was four star Coming out fit to kill in a sequined mini-skirt and rhinestone boots, she rocketed right into a slug of hits ranging from “Let Me Be There” and “If Not For You” to “Please Mister. Please” and “Jolene” (A Dolly Parton tribute).
And somewhere in the middle, the two hour wait got lost in the wildness.
The reason for the delay was simple. The concert was being filmed by Home Box Office and every light, guitar lick and loud speaker bad to be in perfect form. Despite the extra time, the audience benefitted. The Dee Center - not always famous for its acoustics - came alive with some of the best sound work heard at a concert this year, and the lights were impressively orchestrated.
The special effects squad put in a hard day’s night as well. Whether sprinkling star-spangled snow from the lights, pumping fog into the air or projecting film clips on the backdrop movie screen, they kept ahead of the quick-step pace the singer set.
Running through a series of costume changes there were four on the night, the last being a chic tennis outfit for the clincher “Physical”. Miss Newton-John proved to be in better shape than half the Chicago Bears. “Magic,” Xanadu,” “With a Little More Love” and a classy duet “Suddenly” rolled easily into one another. For the social conscious there was even a film of dolphins at play, backed by a tune Miss Newton-John penned herself about preserving the species It’s hard to tag all the bases, but she gave it a go.
With a voice that can be both warm and strong. Olivia Newton-John has made herself pretty much queen of the crossovers It takes a sturdy hand to back her. She happened to bring one along. Though the acoustic guitar work on some of her early country singles was missing, the keyboards seemed to fill the gap pleasantly enough. And the background vocals were feisty and clean. Good to see an animated band, too. Most pluck along like brooding monks.
After putting on a one-woman work-out routine for “Physical” the singer closed the show with a kneeling version version of “I Honestly Love You”.
Lead in act for the night was Tom Scott playing some progressive blues and a couple of what he termed “Thermo-nuclear rock and roll numbers”. Solid stuff. Derivative, but solid.
Though we’re now in the era of the $20 floor seat (this one broke the barrier), fans hardly checked their checking accounts after this one. They were too busy humming the tunes.