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Steve Miller Band and Joe Cocker
Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY
Occasionally I go to old-rocker shows to make sure I see them once again before they depart the stage, or to be reminded of their heyday, like perusing old photos. Now and then performers like Joe Cocker simply knock my socks off.
The jaded New Yorkers who drifted in late missed kick-ass versions of "Hitchcock Railway," Feeling Alright" and "The Letter," all delivered fresh, new and in that inimitable Cocker voice—as good as ever—and Cocker's unique body language and air piano. He slowed his well-paced set down with "When the Night Comes," but paused only briefly to say hello twice during the performance. As familiar as the songs are, Cocker delivered them anew, with a reggae twist to "Summer in the City" and a whole new verse in "With a Little Help from My Friends." An hour into his show, those jaded New Yorkers rushed the stage for "Came In Through the Bathroom Window," and by his "Cry Me a River" encore, Cocker and his incredible band had them where they belong: wide-eyed and rocked out.
The headliner, the Steve Miller Band, looking as fit and sane as expensive Connecticut attorneys, offered up a long and solid, if somewhat uninspired, performance. Ranged out in front of a dramatic set, the band swung into "Swingtown," but paused between each number as Miller pedantically announced the next (or previous) song, slowing the pace considerably. Norton Buffalo put out excellent harmonica and vocals, and Sonny Charles, former Checkmate and newcomer to Steve Miller, breathed whatever new life the band displays. The packed house definitely enjoyed hearing all the old favorites, from "Fly Like an Eagle" and "Livin' in the USA" to "The Joker," but I would have preferred more emotion and less education.
—Suzanne Cadgene
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