Collins Sings Her Hits Symphony Gives A Good Show Of Supporting Judy Collins In Her Less Than Memorable Effort

Spokane Symphony Orchestra with Judy Collins Saturday, April 1, the Opera House

If Judy Collins were to sit down with her grandchildren and reminisce about her long and fruitful career as a singer/entertainer/actress/ spokesperson, she might not recall her performance Saturday at the Spokane Opera House as one of her more memorable moments.

Saturday’s appearance with the Spokane Symphony - the final concert in the SuperPops series - was not a definitive Judy Collins performance.

It wasn’t because the symphony’s effort fell short, though. In fact, conductor Stefan Kozinski and the orchestra, which gave a terrific firsthalf performance and tastefully supported Collins, deserve nothing but praise for their efforts.

Rather, it was Collins who turned in a lackluster performance.

But even legends have off-nights.

As soon as Collins took the stage and began singing, it was clear something was amiss. During the first song, “Chelsea Morning,” her voice fell considerably flat as though she had not warmed up before the show.

This didn’t just happen during the opening moments of the concert; it occurred occasionally throughout the night.

Let there be no mistake; Collins didn not sound like a warped record. In fact, she often carried some of her songs rather beautifully.

However, there were times when the singer was so off-key you could actually hear her trying to navigate her voice to the correct note. Sometimes she got back on track, sometimes she didn’t.

Over and over, Collins tried to take her far-reaching voice into the stratosphere, even when the songs didn’t call for it. Although she grasped the notes, her voice contained no vibrato and little emotion which are so essential to sustaining the high notes.

And, judging from her lack of stage movement, Collins wasn’t crooning in a very inspired manner. Perhaps this could explain why her vocal performance was off.

Her performance also indicated she’s grown tired of singing songs she’s sung for more than three decades. Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” and Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now,” two of Collins’ biggest hits, were executed in a hasty, lifeless fashion.

And if that wasn’t enough, the veteran singer spent nearly as much time on stage promoting herself as she did singing. Her between-song-spiels included plugs for UNICEF, for which she is a spokesperson, and a TV series she frequently appears in. She also mentioned her role in a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Junior”). It was though being an accomplished musician wasn’t enough.

The night came to an end with Collins’ famous rendition of “Amazing Grace.” Although it wasn’t a very climactic finale, the audience gave her a standing ovation.