|
 Cyndi Lauper. Hmm. Didn't she have a song way back when about girls having
fun? Yes, that Cyndi Lauper. Well, she's come a long way, and is now
determined to prove that women just want to have fun. It was
rather strange to see her on stage, purple-haired and pregnant, living proof
that, as she stated, "Contrary to popular belief, we do work during
pregnancy!"
Unfortunately, while Lauper's singing
voice has matured, her speaking voice still has the nasally, grating tones of a
real New Yawker. She spent too much time yapping at the mostly 40-ish crowd in
the half-filled house -- and they didn't want sappy ballads about pigeons, they
wanted "Proud Mary." Even a poignant "Time After Time," complete with haunting
violin, failed to get a rise out of the audience during the short set.
Finally, though, the restless fans got what they came for as the curtains
lifted to reveal a futuristic-looking stage, with staircases at either end, a
large screen at the back and a full complement of musicians playing their
respective hearts out.
To a cacophony of applause, Tina Turner arrived on
stage, showing off her famous legs and inestimable chutzpah in a short
and sleek silver dress. Sharing the stage with a trio of lithe, silver-clad
female dancers, Turner belted out "Whatever You Want" to her appreciative fans,
making a smooth transition to "Do What You Do," helped along by an impressively
clear sound system.
Turner went a long way back for the powerful "River Deep, Mountain High."
Interestingly, even as she put everything into performing the current number,
highlights from performances long past, complete with Ike and the
Ikettes, were being played on the back screen, and the contrast was startling,
to say the least.
 The mood changed
significantly as Turner slid into the opening chords of "Missing You," followed
by a few disco-ish numbers during which she and her trio played with the
well-muscled Fabio-look-a-like percussionist/saxophone player. Highlights
included a slinky "Goldeneye," with the stage lit up like a space ship and
Turner dressed appropriately in secret agent black complete with matching
Matahari dancers, and a provocative "Private Dancer." During "We Don't Need
Another Hero," film clips from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome played out on
the back screen while Turner's plaintive tones rang out.
Turner then did something she doesn't normally do on stage: "I'm gonna sit
down and sing for you." And so she did. "Let's Stay Together," "I Can't Stand
the Rain," and "Undercover Agent for the Blues" followed, each sounding markedly
different in this "acoustic" format.
Following a revved-up version of "Better Be Good
to Me," Turner segued into the twangy and slightly menacing tones of "Addicted
to Love." Turning "Simply the Best" into a sing-a-long, she had everyone
shouting out the words on cue. "What's Love Got to Do with It?" was next, with
Turner once again encouraging the audience, the female members in particular, to
shout out that all-important question.
 Having introduced her long-time band, Turner
stated simply "... and me, I'm Tina... and this is Mary, 'Proud Mary.'"
True to her word to do it "nice and easy" and "nice and rough," Turner
presented two different versions of the song that many still consider
"her" song: the first part bluesy with the harmonica wailing in the
background and the second part classic Turner -- flat-out wired and
raunchy, yet still in control, strutting and stalking about the stage with
that marvelous howling voice hitting every note just so to give you
shivers.
For the encore, Turner chose another old classic, "Nutbush City Limits," and
ended with "On Silent Wings," the audience waving in unison and providing Turner
with a well-earned standing ovation.
The times have changed, and so has Tina Turner. But lucky for us, she just
keeps on getting better and better to remain, indubitably, "Simply the Best."
First published in
Drop-D Magazine on
June 26, 1997
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