They say all's well that ends well, and Friday's Johnny Mathis's concert at the Shell ended VERY well. I must say I most enjoyed the Brazilian-themed numbers he performed near the end of his show. His guitarist did an exceptional job on "99 Miles from L.A." and "Twelfth of Never," too and spare instrumentation never sounded so rich.
But yes, (or should that be, no?) Johnny did not take me (us) up on the offer of an outing while he was in town. (Sigh). Once I got to the Shell and saw the size of the orchestra performing (and therefore traveling) with him, I understood why. There were approximately 30 other people on stage with him, to say nothing of the touring and technical staff I'm sure was somewhere in the wings. And gracious and genteel though he was in his interview with me, I noticed he does not do a lot of "sharing" from the stage, and actually speaks very little between numbers. Some of those numbers were medleys of his standards, and by combining them, he effectively shortened his musical sets (in what I'm assuming also conserves his energy at that age) yet still delighted the crowd by covering a good portion of his this-is-what-I'm-known-for songbook. He looked downright comfy on the stage, sporting a neon orange and green "fun" tie with his tan suit and golf-style loafers in the first act, and a white-on-white suit with what I believe were K-Swiss sneakers in the second act.
On pure pitch, tone, and vocal control alone, I daresay it was evident the man is still taking music lessons at the age of almost-70 -- and good for him! (Yes, he mentioned that in the interview.) He hit a couple of high notes head on, though they may have been a bit less intense than in his younger years. But if the biggest revelation from the stage was how "mad" he is about golf, (it was just so charming the way he said it!) then clearly, this is a man very careful to define, delineate and and put distance between what's professional and what's personal.
Or, he was really busy. But I think it was the former.
Sure, a little part of me was sort of hoping for the tinsiest mention of his unique invitation from the stage, but given his reserved presence, I figured out pretty quickly that wasn't going to happen either. In any case, he sang beautifully, and it sure was fun listening after having had the chance to interview him ahead of time. Naturally, I was probably one of the youngest in attendance, but so what? It was a nice throwback to the ole WISH-95 days (anybody remember that radio station?)
Oh well, if I couldn't have a date, at least I'll always have his voicemail message. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment