Peg's mom surprised us with tickets to Paul Anka's concert at the State Theater in New Brunswick tonight. As it so happens I have a track or two of Anka's in my music collection that I like quite a bit, and I knew that he had a number of early-rock-era hits that were reasonably listenable. Plus I needed the cheering. But...
The first hour or so of the concert was Anka basically bouncing around trying to do these jazzy versions of his older songs, and a few other things -- like a really... odd... version of "Mack the Knife" he did as a tribute to Bobby Darrin. The weirdest moment was the version of Van Halen's "Jump" he did -- I swear it was right off of Richard Cheese's "Lounge Against the Machine" CD. (I actually caught the last minute of that performance on my cellphone if a demonstration is needed.)
Eventually he settled down, but for the longest time it was like watching someone's little old Jewish grandfather trying hard to be cool at a party thrown by the younger folks. It was obvious that he was enjoying the hell out of himself, but it just came across a bit... cheesy and/or self-indulgent at times. There were points where he was clearly improvising new lyrics to various songs on the spot -- like the moment when a cellphone belonging to someone in the front row rang while he was down front singing in their faces; he took the phone and answered it in song, getting in a dig at the caller for interrupting the show while he was at it. (Yeah, I suppose it could have been staged.)
Anyway, I guess I'm just suffering a little cognitive dissonance between the guy I knew for mellow (and sometimes oddly intense) performances on the radio in the 70s and this hyper 70-something lounge lizard. There's really nothing really profound here. Sorry to bother you...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
The first hour or so of the concert was Anka basically bouncing around trying to do these jazzy versions of his older songs, and a few other things -- like a really... odd... version of "Mack the Knife" he did as a tribute to Bobby Darrin. The weirdest moment was the version of Van Halen's "Jump" he did -- I swear it was right off of Richard Cheese's "Lounge Against the Machine" CD. (I actually caught the last minute of that performance on my cellphone if a demonstration is needed.)
Eventually he settled down, but for the longest time it was like watching someone's little old Jewish grandfather trying hard to be cool at a party thrown by the younger folks. It was obvious that he was enjoying the hell out of himself, but it just came across a bit... cheesy and/or self-indulgent at times. There were points where he was clearly improvising new lyrics to various songs on the spot -- like the moment when a cellphone belonging to someone in the front row rang while he was down front singing in their faces; he took the phone and answered it in song, getting in a dig at the caller for interrupting the show while he was at it. (Yeah, I suppose it could have been staged.)
Anyway, I guess I'm just suffering a little cognitive dissonance between the guy I knew for mellow (and sometimes oddly intense) performances on the radio in the 70s and this hyper 70-something lounge lizard. There's really nothing really profound here. Sorry to bother you...
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.