Chris Isaak live!
Chris Isaak
Morton Arboretum, Lisle
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Few artists are capable of tapping into a winning formula that doesn’t significantly evolve as the years progress, but colors just enough outside the lines to attract repeat customers. Enter veteran singer/songwriter Chris Isaak, the debonair crooner who’s made a killing channeling the outfits of Elvis Presley and the nuances of Roy Orbison with a flavor from the 21st century.
At 52 and with two decades of hip-swiveling under his belt, the musician and occasional actor had no trouble selling out the 5,000 seats in the Morton Arboretum’s summer series (which just hosted Emmylou Harris and is slowly giving Ravinia Festival a run for its money).
He may not have any new tricks to offer (both in singing style and from a product perspective), but the headliner and his five-piece band barreled through just about all of the recent Best Of Chris Isaak (Reprise), plus several other cuts spanning a generous 26 tracks. “Somebody’s Crying” served as an early staple that showed off the entertainer’s sparkling blue jumpsuit, suave smile, and slicked-back hair, though attention on image wasn’t at the expense of glistening vocal quality.
The smooth build continued with a look at Presley’s “Love Me Tender,” during which Isaak took a page out of the King’s playbook by jumping in the audience and serenading several dozen folks across the gorgeous greenery. His return to the stage yielded countless howls and shrieks from the ladies, though Isaak admitted the moment might have been a bit awkward for the guys. “Men always ask me to take that part out of the show because they’re uncomfortable with another guy standing so close to then in a blue, sequined suit.”
Humor aside, tunes like the rockabilly infused “I Want Your Love” and the leisurely “Wicked Game” showcased additional class but also whip-smart ease, while the yet to be released “We Let Her Down” provided a slight variation on Isaak’s cocktail-sipping cool. A cover of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You To Want Me” adapted fairly well to his mischievous quiver (and earned applause because of the Illinois connection), but an obligatory stab at Orbison’s “Only The Lonely” seemed tailored to his motif.
A handful of mid-set selections were a bit less desirable, starting with Isaak’s prodding piano ballad, “Worked It Out Wrong.” He also attempted to replicate an 88-piece orchestra during the Frank Sinatra standard “All The Way,” but even when re-imagined as a Texas-styled swinger, it fell flat under the sparse instrumentation of mere sextet.
The pacing picked up after an outfit change to a traffic-stopping silver suit (that was reflective no less), thanks in part to the addition of a three-piece horn section on the frequently covered “Kansas City.” An extended take on his own “San Francisco Days” (temporarily renamed “Arboretum Days”) was yet another potent example of vintage rock ‘n’ roll. As the evening ended with the dreamy and subdued 1995 cut “Forever Blue” (which could’ve come straight out of the 1950s), Isaak didn’t necessarily pull any surprises, but lived up to the consistently retro reputation.
— Andy Argyrakis
Category: Live Reviews, Weekly
