Burt Bacharach in Philadephia, July 2000 (by Harry Neyhart)
With little fanfare, Burt Bacharach took to the stage last night at the Mann Center For The Performing Arts in Philadelphia. As I've mentioned this is an outdoor venue, with a roof over the main section and grass seats above. My seat was terrific, in the center about 10 rows from the stage.
Burt played with a group of six other musicians: two synth/keyboard players, two brass and woodwind players, a bass and drums. There were also three vocalists. This is apparently his band that he's been travelling with to both large and small venues. He credits one of the keyboard players (the apparent leader of the group) with helping him with the arrangements for this tour. And the songs sounded great, even with the synth strings etc.
I must say that Burt has always fascinated me with the way he seems in total control of all around him. His way of playing, singing, directing, all at the same time is a joy to watch. He'll be sitting down intently playing a few bars, then bounce up and start directing. Then in a bit he'll be standing at the piano, pounding out another line or two with one hand and directing with the other. There were times I thought he must have had three arms!
He seems ageless to me too. Sure, he's getting up there, but he still has that youthful look about him, and his energies seem boundless. I'd read internet repotrs of other concerts where people described him as frail-looking. I didn't see that at all.
The program consisted of several large medleys. After an opening crowd warmer-upper of "What The World Needs Now," they launched into a long medley of the old, familiar sixties Warwick/DeShannon/Springfield hits. As the songs were played, I could tell that in spite of the immense enjoyment all of us in the audience get out of those songs, *NO-ONE* hears these tunes and understands them the way Burt does. His facial expressions and mannerisms lead you to believe that he alone knows what's really going on in those songs, and that he's doing his best to communicate that information to his audience.
I had some initial thought that the vocalists he had with him, two females, one male, didn't seem to have the "oompfh" that the Dionne Warwicks and the Dusty Springfields had, but this seemed true only in the medleys and may have been by design. I thought back to Burt's own A&M recordings where the singers were there as part of the group, and not out in front, so this was obviously the sound he was looking for. During a showcase song for each singer, where they took center stage, they were "let loose" to perform at their best, without any restraint, and the audience was appreciative.
Several shorter medleys followed, including one with all film tunes, and one of his first four hits, "Magic Moments", "The Blob", etc. He indicated that even he finds it hard to believe that he wrote those songs! He also told a long story about the song, and the horse, "Heartlight," and how Neil Diamond fits into that period of his life.
After several standing ovations from the appreciative crowd, Burt came out and did "Close To You". I reminded myself that it was on that very stage when last I heard Karen Carpenter sing the most famous rendition of that tune back in 1976.
Burt then capped off yet another standing "O" with him announcing that he'd play, but the audience had to sing and then we could all "get out of here." He played "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head", the audience sang, and we were all dismissed with strains of Burt's tunes running through our heads.
As I wandered out of the venue, I could hear murmurs in the crowd exclaiming, "I didn't know he wrote ________________________." Indeed there was even a tune in one of his "later-period" medleys that I was unaware that he'd written (I forget which one just now).
The man is amazing.
---by Harry Neyhart, A&M Corner, 7/29/00
Posted on Jan 11, 2004 at 12:51 am by Rudy.
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