Fame Boosts Lovett Into Much Larger Setting
Two acts that were once suited to The Met will play a much larger venue on Saturday: The Gorge.
About ten times larger, as a matter of fact.
Both Lyle Lovett and Shawn Colvin are no longer in the category of talented unknowns or of cult favorites. Lovett, especially, has become an instantly recognizable American celebrity.
But that doesn’t mean his music has become mainstream. Lovett’s most recent music is just as quirky as ever, if not more so. When he last played the Spokane Opera House, last October, he sang a love song to penguins that included the lines, “I go for penguins, Oh Lord I go for penguins … Penguins are so sensitive to my needs.”
Then there is a song from his album “I Love Everybody,” which includes the following little ditty: “Fat babies make me sick, fat babies make me ill, all that fat baby drooling, and that fat baby smell.”
And his Large Band these days tends to contain practically an entire string quartet. When he played the Festival at Sandpoint two years ago, the high point was a phenomenal cello solo.
A cello solo?
Obviously, Lovett’s high profile isn’t because his songs are hits. Top 40 radio wouldn’t dream of playing his songs.
His high profile comes from his high-profile marriage, and the equally high-profile breakup. Lovett and Julia Roberts separated this spring after less than two years of marriage. The tabloids and gossip columns had a field day, but as breakups go, it was pretty tame.
“We’re the closest of friends,” Roberts told Oprah Winfrey last month. “There’s a very intense bond there that’s unshakable.”
Colvin’s profile isn’t quite so high, but her most recent album, “Cover Girl,” featuring covers of tunes by writers such as Sting, helped establish her firmly in the pop scene.
Yet her sensibilities remain more folkish and her music continues to be more sophisticated and more personal than the vast majority of pop hitmakers.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Lyle Lovett and His Large Band/ Shawn Colvin Location and time: The Gorge, Saturday, 7 p.m. Tickets: $26.25, $36.75. $42 and $52.50, available only through Ticketmaster