UPDATED 9/26/19 9:45 a.m.
By its very design, Tuesday night’s “It Was 50 Years Ago Today” concert at Ruth Eckerd Hall — a tribute to The Beatles “White Album” — was bound to be an up-and-down affair. Five disparate artists from roughly the same era, the ’60s and ’70s, took turns fronting an ensemble through nearly all of the tunes on the 1968 double album, an eclectic, uneven effort that spelled the beginning of the end for the Fab Four.
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The five participating rockers were Todd Rundgren, 71; Mickey Dolenz, 74, of The Monkees; Christopher Cross, 68; Joey Molland, 72, of Badfinger; and Jason Scheff, 57, who joined Chicago in the mid ’80s, replacing Peter Cetera. (Scheff did the yeoman’s work, playing bass throughout, singing lead on several songs, and adding backup vocals. Ah, to be young.) Additionally, each artist played a couple of hits from his catalogue. It all added up to 32 songs over two hours and 20 minutes (including a 20-minute intermission.) The concert overstayed its welcome a bit, but in all it was a surprisingly (to me) entertaining evening, which is to say: better than I expected it to be. There were times, though, when I cringed and shook my head in dismay.
The show consisted of highlights, lowlights and lots of in-between-lights. Rundgren, the performer least noted as a nostalgia act, was the ideal case in point. He alternated between reverence (a rousing guitar solo on “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”), mocking (clad in a camo/safari outfit, he sprayed the audience with a water gun during “The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill”), and unhinged (his improvised vocals at the end of “Hello It’s Me” were a ridiculous mess).
A welcome surprise was Molland, an elfin Brit, performing Badfinger’s “Baby Blue” and “No Matter What You Want.” His vocals showed fissures, but it was fun hearing two power-pop classics played enthusiastically on stage.
Cross, who’s sweet tenor contrasts with his bear-like physique, was dour and remote, one of the most charisma-challenged performers I’ve ever seen. Standing stage right, his stone-like face shrouded by a newsboy cap, he managed to make his first hit, the uptempo “Ride Like the Wind,” not rock. To be fair, Cross did redeem himself during an acoustic segment when his tender voice was the appropriate fit for McCartney ballads “Blackbird,” “I Will” and “Mother Nature’s Son.” He also engaged in some satisfying vocal interplay with Scheff on “Julia.”
Then there was Dolenz, clad in a long black coat and matching broad-brimmed hat. Dolenz tried to summon the impish charm of his Monkees days and failed miserably, made attempts at humor that fell flat, and sang poorly. The producers gave him material like “Why Don’t We Do It in the Road,” “Rocky Racoon” and “I’m So Tired” that don’t pose much challenge to singers, but when he tackled “Happiness is a Warm Gun,” which requires range, over-the-top passion and wry humor, his vocals were nothing more than a self-conscious caricature.
The quintet of tributists was backed by a solid five-member band, who also helped thicken the vocal harmonies. One of the guitarists contributed to another highlight by ripping through — but not playing note-for-note — the guitar solos on Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4,” sung ably by Scheff. That performance helped make up for his dreary rendition of the cloying Chicago ballad “Hard to Say I’m Sorry.”
The show opened with a taped snippet from the creepy “Revolution 9” as the players took the stage. It closed with a minor a revelation. While there are very few Beatles songs I actively dislike, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da” is near the top of the list. I had avoided it for so long that I was pleasantly surprised to find that, when played Tuesday night by the entire ensemble, it turned out to be an enjoyable ditty, with a hint of ska that I hadn’t recognized before.
You take little delights where you can get them.
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This article appears in Sep 19-26, 2019.