Sunday was Father’s Day and also the evening of an acoustic solo performance from one of the finest female vocalist of modern times, Johnette Napolitano. The former lead singer from Concrete Blonde blended original songs (with a couple exceptions) with humorous anecdotes and poetry she’d written.
Johnette came on stage to raucous applause, and used the adoration to quip, “You’re supposed to applaud like that after I do the show.”
After she performed her first song, someone’s cell phone went off and she stopped in mid sentence to say, “Hello, suicide hotline.” This not only brought laughter from the audience, but she cracked herself up too, making her performance that much more endearing.
During the night she paid homage to the likes of Frank Sinatra, Amy Winehouse, and Linda Rondstadt.
The highlight for me was her performance of my favorite Concrete Blonde song, Joey, as well as a haunting version of Ghost Riders in the Sky. Her voice was in top form the entire night and she showed her prowess with a voice that could belong to an angel as well as belting out her songs with intense passion. The acoustics were prime and so was this show.
