LINDA RONSTADT, Abravanel Hall, Friday
The Linda Ronstadt/Utah Symphony concert was short.
In fact, when the house lights came on in Abravanel Hall after Ronstadt left the stage, the members of the Utah Symphony looked surprised.
There was obviously some songs that were planned that didn't happen.
It could have been because her wireless monitor was giving her problems. In fact, she told the crowd that she was "mad at it."
Early on, the audience could tell something was wrong. Ronstadt was holding her ear, trying to catch the melody the symphony was playing. And she looked a little tentative on the traditional pop tunes such as "What's New," "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" and "Straighten Up and Fly Right."
Still, she kept her cool and sang a lot of the songs that her fans wanted to hear.
She sang "It's So Easy," "Blue Bayou," "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" and her version of the Smokey Robinson's "Ooh Baby Baby." She also performed "Somewhere Out There" and "Adios."
And she did a few "Great American Songbook" tunes from her albums she did with the late bandleader Nelson Riddle.
Her voice still sounded fresh on her rock hits. And while she was a bit unsure about the difficult melodies on the big-band works, she still pushed forward.
She told little stories about her friendship with Emmylou Harris and Dolly Parton, the aforementioned Nelson Riddle and Randy Newman.
She highlighted those stories by singing "High Sierra," one of the many songs she sang with Harris and Parton, Riddle's arrangement of "Lush Life," and "Feels Like Home," the song Newman wrote for Bonnie Raitt for his musical album "Faust."
"The songs Randy wrote for me are really depressing," said Ronstadt as she announced she was going to sing the Raitt song. "So we won't go into those."
Her encore consisted of one song — her version of the Eagles' "Desperado," after which she thanked the audience and the Utah Symphony and walked off the stage.
If the sold-out audience was disappointed, the concert promoters know that more than 350 uninsured children and their families won't be. Ronstadt's concert was a benefit for the Regence Caring Foundation that provides free comprehensive dental care for Utah children.
Scott Ideson, president of Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Utah and Key Bank's Julie Taylor addressed the audience before the show and announced that 100 percent of the ticket sales money would go directly to the children.
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E-mail: scott@desnews.com