I covered the Lucy Lawless concert ... you know, the actress/singer who played
Xena: Warrior Princess for six years and then took the country by storm last year on the cheesy but entertaining
Celebrity Duets ... for another publication. And when JeffB suggested I review it here, I gave him a skeptical look and said, "Jeff, honey, trust me, there is nothing 'alternative' about Lucy Lawless' music."
He shook his head. Well, perhaps I should say he shook it metaphorically, because we were on the phone. I have no actual knowledge of what he was doing with his head during this conversation.
"She's 'alternative' because of Xena," he told me.
And because I'll basically take any excuse to talk about Xena, anywhere, anytime, I smiled and agreed.
Lucy Lawless' two sold-out concerts on January 14 and 15 at LA's famous Roxy Theater were strategically scheduled during the
12th Annual Xena: Warrior Princess convention in Burbank, and were accordingly full of Lucy's biggest fans. That might be why her Saturday night performance was not plagued by the nerves that occasionally weakened her voice on
Celebrity Duets - Lawless' fans love her and she loves them, and there's nothing like love to lubricate the vocal cords.
The love was so palpable that even the Roxy tech guys mentioned it, telling actor/director Michael Hurst that they had never seen such a fan reaction, even when Springsteen was there.
The two opening numbers, Muse's "Feeling Good" and Etta James' "Jump into My Fire," suffered from major sound mix problems, and finally Lawless asked her audience to turn around and face the sound booth. These folks, she said sweetly, “Want to
hear me.� It worked, and the next day she laughed about it, saying being threatened with 500 angry Xena fans is “worse than being threatened by one angry Xena, because Xena has one ounce of compassion."
The sound mix came together partway through "My Favorite Things/Down on my Knees." Even before that, though, it was apparent that Lawless' massive personal charisma and stage presence were the real stars of this show.
The first truly show-stopping moment of the night came on Lawless' rendition of "Don't Let Me Down," although I thought her joking approach to the last part of the number weakened, rather than strengthened, it.
I forgot all about that minor reservation when she launched into Melissa Etheridge's "Like the Way I Do," which Lawless owned - partly because it was a great song for her vocal range and onstage persona, and also because her enormous popularity with lesbian fans made doing a number by rock's number one dyke a natural.
Things simmered down a little for the next two numbers. She sang "Do Ya Wanna Dance," and then "Cowboy Song," which didn't showcase her voice particularly well, but definitely showcased how fabulous she looked in a fan's cowboy hat. Yes, I'm shallow. Deal.
It was when she sang the oft-covered rocker "Piece of My Heart" that Lawless got her rock 'n' roll groove going on. She trembles on the edge of Vegas in her onstage persona - surprisingly at odds with her offstage look, which matches more closely her
Battlestar Galactica role as Cylon D'Anna Biers - but found her inner Janis Joplin (or, for the younger crowd, Melissa again) on this one. She literally blew the roof off the place, and thrilled her audience by tossing the name "Gabrielle" into the lyrics. (For those previously living under a rock, Gabrielle, played by actress Renee O'Connor, was Xena's sidekick and soulmate on
Xena: Warrior Princess.)
She took a short break at this point, and one of her backup singers,
Sharlotte Gibson, sang her own original "When Billy Comes Home" with the band. I'd had the pleasure of chatting with the real Billy in the lobby before the show; he's just home from three tours of duty in Iraq, and a professional bodyguard. And somehow still, one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Check out his
MySpace page.
After the break, she came back in her famous fringed mini-dress from
Celebrity Duets and blew the stage apart with "Tell Mama." And then Renee O'Connor put on a fringed mini-dress of her own and came out and go-go danced while Lucy sang "What'd I Say."
If you ever wanted a textbook example of "the crowd went wild," this was it.
Lawless kept riding the wave through the rest of her set, dedicating a very moving "I'll Stand by You" to her fans, and finishing up with a nasty, dancey "Pull Up to my Bumper" and "Drive My Car."
Standing ovation. Lots of love. Did it again the next night. LA loved Lucy.
Photos by KT Jorgensen. More here.
Set list:
1. Feeling Good
2. Jump Into My Fire
3. My Favorite Things/Down on My Knees (this is when the sound mix suddenly got fixed)
4. Total Control
5. Maxine
6. Dont Let Me Down (the first true show-stopping moment)
7. Like the Way I Do (channeling her inner Melissa Etheridge in a room full of lesbians)
8. Do You Wanna Dance
9. Cowboy Song
10. Something to Talk About
11. Piece of My Heart (this brought the house down - and not just because of the insertion of the word "Gabrielle" into the lyrics)
12. When Billy Comes Home (original song written and sung by her backup singer Sharlotte Gibson)
13. Tell Mama
14. What'd I Say (with Renee)
15. I'll Stand by You (dedicated very movingly to her fans)
16. Pull Up to My Bumper
17. Drive My Car
