Crow makes 2,700 backup singers happy
By Cathalena E. Burch
Cburch@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.21.2008
The impromptu choir of 2,700 boomed out the chorus.
"If it makes you happy / Then why the hell are you so sad," they fairly shouted, following Sheryl Crow's lead with abandon.
They were in the mood to celebrate. It had been six years since the roots-rocking, guitar-slinging singer had last stood on Casino del Sol's AVA stage — a lifetime when you consider that the nation has been through a prolonged war in Iraq, a sense of political disfranchisement and economic turmoil that's evident every time you pull into a gas station.
Then there's Crow, who has since gotten engaged, then unengaged, overcome breast cancer and adopted a baby boy.
But Tuesday's concert was only partly about all of that.
It was the reunion of old friends enjoying the last wisp of summer through the joy of music.
The 46-year-old Crow, looking no worse for wear in tight black jeans, snug vest and improbably high heels given her energetic show, came to Tucson to deliver a message of "Detours" — the political kind, the personal kind, the kind that make you glad you took that wrong turn and discovered a new way to look at your life.
Over nearly two hours, before a generationally mixed crowd, Crow mined a 15-year career of well-crafted pop songs with a six-piece band of exceptional musicians and a pair of standout backup singers.
Her older songs — infectious pop odes like "All I Wanna Do" and "If It Makes You Happy" and the bluesy "Leaving Las Vegas" — were the light filling for the heavier fare from her latest album, "Detours," a decidedly more political record.
She opened her show with the wartime warning of "God Bless This Mess," the opening cut off that album.
The song, which not-so-subtly protests the Iraq war, set the tone for the politically charged "Gasoline," in which Crow wished aloud for the day gasoline was free. The giddy proposal easily draws a line from gas prices to war in the Middle East.
Crow kept the tone light and energetic for the poppy "Out of Our Heads," but its message of letting your heart, not your head, guide you globally was not lost.
She did not hide her politics or mask her political leanings, which is what we have come to expect from the Grammy-winning songstress. We also have a pretty good idea whom she will vote for in November, after she encouraged folks to register at the venue's Rock the Vote table.
"Don't give up on hope," she said. "Hope's not hokey."
But she did not belabor her politics. She massaged them in a frenetically paced show that made you wonder, given all that she has been through and the exhausting tour schedule she maintains, where she summons the energy. Throughout her show, she did not slow down, making a good argument that age is merely a state of mind.
Crow's performance leaned on the upbeat side, a far cry from opener James Blunt.
The 34-year-old Brit songsmith dished up nearly an hour of mostly lovesick yet beautiful laments. He prefaced several, including the wrenching ballad "Carry You Home," with a broad smile and a warning: "Here's a really miserable song for you to enjoy."
Blunt, who rejoined Crow for "The First Cut Is The Deepest," was being a bit hard on himself. His songs, including "Wiseman," "1973," "So Long Jimmy" and his hit ballad "You're Beautiful," are gorgeously executed emo-testaments of young love. And he brought them to life in a lovely, English-accented tenor and a smiling stage demeanor reminiscent of a young Davy Jones.
He even shook loose his carefree angst in the middle of "In Flowers" when he leapt off the stage and sprinted through the audience, slapping outstretched hands along his journey.
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