Political Praise Polarizes Linda Ronstadt's Fans At Humphrey's
George Varga
Linda Ronstadt, a late-blooming rabble-rouser? The woman with one of the most glorious voices in pop music and several decades' worth of hits, a political agitator at 58?
This 10-time Grammy Award-winner didn't burn a flag or shout out a raging manifesto of sedition during her Sunday night concert at Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay. But by dedicating her encore to someone she hailed as "a great American patriot and certainly the man of the hour" – "Fahrenheit 9/11" filmmaker Michael Moore – the Tucson-born singer ignited a fiery response.
Like a musical Moses staging a song-fueled parting of the Red Sea, the veteran star instantly split her sold-out audience of 1,360 in two.
Half the crowd heartily applauded her praise for Moore, the other half booed. In an instant, the intimate outdoor venue on Shelter Island filled with a roar of cheers and jeers that grew to a near-fever pitch.
As Ronstadt started to perform her encore, an impassioned version of the Eagles' "Desperado," dozens of concertgoers angrily streamed toward the exits, while others gave her an ovation.
It was a remarkable display of how a spoken introduction to a song, not the comparatively innocuous tune itself, could arouse the same crowd that had warmly greeted each of her 17 previous selections. In this pivotal election year, it was also a demonstration of just how polarized our nation and its people have become.
According to Ronstadt, audiences at each stop on her ongoing summer tour have reacted to her Moore dedication with a similarly intense mix of emotions.
"I don't try to instruct people how to vote or think," she told the Union-Tribune in a recent interview. "But Michael Moore has raised some really important points (about President Bush and the war in Iraq) that a lot of people haven't given thought to . . . So if I can just lend my voice to his efforts . . . "
Ronstadt had only commented on current events once earlier in her 71-minute Sunday night concert.
She dedicated her soaring version of the Nat "King" Cole classic "Straighten up and Fly Right" to "the good folks at Enron, who brought you the California energy crisis." She also dedicated the song to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whom she chided for his recent claim that Democrats in Sacramento opposing his proposed budget cuts are "girlie men."
"Now I'm wondering," Ronstadt mused, "what if you're a female legislator? Does that make you a 'manly girl?' Or a 'manly woman?' "
The rest of her stage patter focused almost entirely on her repertoire, which offered a fetching mini-retrospective of her 38-year career.
She began with eight big band-era ballads and swing tunes, including the show-opening "What's New?" and the sumptuous "Lush Life," from her three mid-1980s albums with legendary arranger Nelson Riddle.
Improvisation, the essence of jazz, was missing from her note-perfect interpretations. But Ronstadt's luminous voice and expert phrasing generally compensated for her lack of spontaneity.
The rest of her set revisited her pop hits, beginning with "Just One Look" and concluding with "Poor Poor Pitiful Me."
Ronstadt performed each song with a winning combination of soul and finesse, rising from a whisper to a full-bodied vocal swoop and back again. She benefited from the expert backing of her six-man band, three harmony singers, and – on many selections – the crisply amplified Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
But the most memorable moment came with her brave dedication to Moore. (Her on-stage salute to him Saturday night at the Aladdin hotel-casino in Las Vegas created so much controversy that hotel management barred her from her suite and had her escorted off the property after the show.)
Those who complain that Ronstadt should just sing, rather than express her opinions, forget that all art has a responsibility to inspire and provoke, not just soothe and entertain.
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