Crow shows Oklahoma City crowd a fun time
By Tricia Pemberton
Staff Writer
Photos by MATT STRASEN, THE OKLAHOMAN
Sheryl Crow had fun with her Oklahoma City Saturday night music crowd at the Zoo Amphitheater.
Crow got her audience rocking from her opening song, “A Change Will do You Good,” and she continued the vibe through the night, as a full moon rose as a backdrop and the temperature stayed at a near-perfect 72 degrees. “We got some good weather,” the 46-year-old rocker told the 5,000-plus audience.
With her upbeat music, carefree lyrics and California good looks, Crow brings her own party to the stage.
Comfortable in washed-out blue jeans, a white sleeveless shirt and high-healed boots, she danced and clapped and got the crowd to sing along — holding out her mic on songs like “Soak up the Sun” and “Every Day is a Winding Road.”
“You got some nice pipes Oklahoma City,” She encouraged. Her strong band brought a good energy to the stage as well.
A favorite moment for the crowd was when Crow brought James Blunt onstage for a duet on the Cat Stevens’ classic, “The First Cut is the Deepest.” The two sang the ballad while looking into each other’s eyes.
“You’re so pretty,” Crow told the British pop star who had already impressed the audience as an opening act before Crow took the stage.
Blunt’s performance was the perfect counterbalance to Crow’s sunny, feel-good rock with his self-professed “miserable songs.” He played for almost an hour, pleasing the crowd with favorites such as “You’re Beautiful” and “Same Mistake.” He, too, had fun with the crowd, however, at one point skipping through the seats and later surfing atop his piano.
Before Blunt, Jamaican rockers Toots and the Maytals warmed up the audience with some reggae blues. The crowd saved its warmest welcome for the star act, though.
Crow personalized her show by making many references to Oklahoma. She joked that various band members were either from Oklahoma or lived here now. She said bassist Jon Button was from Broken Bow and drummer Jeremy Stacy, originally from London, now lives in Poteau. She said her backup singers, Nayanna Holley and Stephanie Alexander were from Rose and guitarist Tim Smith from Wayne. According to the Official Sheryl Crow Web site, however, none of her band members are from or live in the state.
Crow made plenty of other references to Oklahoma throughout her hour-and-a-half set.
Mid-way through “Leaving Las Vegas,” Crow asked her crowd if they gamble at casinos in the state. At the resounding affirmative roar, she admonished, “No way,” then conceded, “OK, maybe on a Saturday night or a Tuesday morning on the way to work.”
While she played with the crowd for most of the night, she did get a little political a few times. Her second song, “Shine Over Babylon,” knocks those with bloated bank accounts, oil drillers and politicians in general.
Though she didn’t name names, she also made a sly reference to “a senator” from Oklahoma who won’t support environmental responsibility. Then she encouraged her crowd to change the status quo by “rocking the vote.”
Crow gave her audience about an hour-and-a-half show with plenty of favorites from her early career as well as the title single of her latest album “Detours,” saying the latter came from life lessons learned from surviving breast cancer and having a 15-month-old son.
Mid-set, Crow changed her play list to sing “If it Makes You Happy” in honor of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps’ who’d just won his eighth gold medal. Crow confessed she’s obsessed with the Olympics.
The rocker left the crowd with an encore of her first big single, “All I Wanna Do” and Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground.”
Source: The Oklahoman (http://newsok.com)