Even at 57, Cyndi Lauper, the queen of '80s bombast, has still got it.
Remnants of that wild and fun child from the '80s appeared at Wednesday's concert at Woodland Park Zoo, which closed out the zoo's popular Zoo Tunes series festival. Wearing a black leather jacket and matching pants, with a white shirt and thin black tie, Lauper sauntered onto the plain stage topped by a merlot-colored fright wig and that sneaky sneer she made so popular in her hey day.
But unlike the material that made Lauper an international phenomenon, the songs at the zoo show were straight blues and directly off her latest release "Memphis Blues."
Under dusky skies leftover from Tuesday's rain, Lauper looked out to the audience thanking them for coming and insisting that they put away cameras and flip video cameras and "be here now." Most of the audience members complied but clearly it was hard to resist for some as Lauper has established herself as a musical icon.
Though her iconic stature may have been clouded by her wild attire and even wilder dancing back in the day, her songs and her powerful voice is what gave her staying power. She made short work of songs such as "Early in the Morning," "Down Don't Bother Me," "Romance in the Dark" and the Tracy Nelson power ballad, "Down So Low." The latter song was not an easy song to sing. It has difficult key and signature changes and requires a voice that can handle deep lows and soaring highs that can give a listener the chills. Lauper delivered and then some. Her rendition of the song was easily the highpoint of the evening-that is until she closed with a string of her most famous songs.
Fans came to hear this marvelous voice, but they also wanted to hear the hits. There was a momentary fear prior to the encore, that songs such as "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" and "Time After Time" would not come, a fear that might have erupted into a riot had not Lauper returned with her bluesy band to appease the masses.
The catch was that the songs would be played, mostly, a la the blues. She gave "Time After Time" added intimacy by bringing out her dulcimer. By now audience members, most of whom brought lawn chairs and blankets, were on their feet dancing and singing along. She closed the night with a big, sweet version of "True Colors," which had the whole of the audience singing along.
Opening the evening, and later playing with Lauper was longtime blues man Charlie Musselwhite. His guitarist, Matt Stubbs was sensational. And Musselwhite blew soulfully into his harmonica in a way that called to mind the lonely railyards of the 1930s.[[In-content Ad]]
