Lenny Kravitz

Went to see Lenny Kravitz last night at the Schnitz. As always, the venue was killer, but Lenny failed to really draw me in.

The first half of the show was just plain boring. For one, he had a bunch of microphone problems, so was off stage getting those fixed while his horn players killed time. And, once he got on stage, his antics were really amateur in my book. Lots of prancing around, taking on and off his signature glasses trying (successfully) to incite screams of delight, a lot of "I can't hear you!" hand gestures to his ears, and also ton of mic tricks to alter his voice. He just wasn't as cool as I thought he was going to be. And, he preached a lot of love, peace and harmony, which just didn't ring true.

It wasn't until about 8 songs in that he seemed to hit a groove. He sang Stand My Woman really well, to a hushed audience, then in rapid fire succesion, sang his big hits like American Woman, Where Are We Runnin'?, Fields of Joy, Fly Away, etc. That was enjoyable, but I do take exception to the fact he didn't sing any of the choruses of these hit songs. He always held the mic out to the audience so we could sing it. I mean, I came to see Lenny sing these songs, not my fellow audience members.

I give the show a weak 5 out of 10.

His opening act, Nikka Costa, was entertaining for about 2 songs, but when her set stretched to 9 songs, her screaching voice had bored a hole into my head. Colleen gave her a 6 out of 10, but I gave her a paltry 4.

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't buy any tickets to a Lenny Kravitz show again.