Soft music is playing as audience members enter Englewood, NJ’s BergenPAC this Sunday, March 10, 2019 evening for a live concert appearance by singer/songwriter/guitarist Christopher Cross. Cross is the only artist in history to have won all four major awards in a single Grammy ceremony when, in 1981, he brought home honors for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Album of the Year for his debut recording, the five-time platinum-selling disc, Christopher Cross.
Before the show begins, fans take pictures of the BergenPAC stage which is set with keyboards, bass, drums, saxophones, and racks featuring an extensive array of guitars as they reminisce about their favorite Christopher Cross songs.
A rumbling of sound fills the theater as images of iconic Christopher Cross album covers float across the screen behind the stage and a group of musicians including Sean Giddings on keyboards, John Fremgen on bass, Scott Laningham on drums, Andy Suzuki on saxophone and keyboards — along with two talented female backup singers — take their places on the stage.
The wall of sound builds in intensity until an announcer says, “Please welcome Christopher Cross.” At this point, Cross enters playing guitar on his 1983 hit, “All Right.”
His trademark falsetto voice sounding just like the original recording, Cross sings, “It’s all right I think we’re gonna make it/I think it might just work out this time,” as he’s deftly accompanied by his backup band. Lights dance to the jazzy arrangement which features a Sean Giddings keyboard solo, an Andy Suzuki soprano sax solo, and a top-notch Christopher Cross guitar solo.
After greeting the crowd announcing, “Welcome — good evening!” Cross launches into his 1980 hit, “Never Be the Same,” with a rendition that features an Andy Suzuki alto sax solo, breezy background vocals, and Cross’ falsetto lead which elicits cheers and whistles from the crowd.
Cross takes a moment to thank the BergenPAC audience for “all the years of support” and then introduces his band members before Sean Giddings is featured on an extended lyrical piano solo.
Giddings’ solo ultimately morphs into Cross’ #1 hit from 1980, “Sailing.” As Cross sings, “Sailing takes me away to where I’ve always heard it could be,” a video featuring classic visual art masterpieces, dancers, musicians, and architecture appears on the screen behind him.
Following huge applause, Cross talks about the absence of any images of sailboats in the video explaining, “I wrote the lyric, ‘The canvas can do miracles,’ referring to an artist’s canvas, so sailing is a metaphor,” before joking that if he happened to be interested in a different sport at the time he wrote the song, he just might have titled it “Bowling.”
Cross also gets a laugh when he talks about why he plays such a monster hit of his so early in the program, declaring, “I’m actually a cynical a**hole, and I play that one early so latecomers will miss it.”
Segueing into the jazzy “Walking in Avalon” — a song about “the mythical island where King Arthur is buried” — John Fremgen is featured on bass as Andy Suzuki accompanies him on keys.
Cross and Co. follow up with a powerful composition which expresses Cross’ criticism of television evangelists, entitled “Reverend Blowhard.” On this bluesy swing arrangement, Andy Suzuki simultaneously plays sax and keyboard to create his own “horn section” while images of televangelists and their mansions, cars, and private jets fill the screen.
After announcing that 2020 will be “the 40th anniversary of my first record” — his award-winning debut album, Christopher Cross — Cross changes guitars for a number from that recording entitled, “I Really Don’t Know.” Performing the song in a jazzy style, Cross’ backup singers take turns singing lead on “I really don’t know anymore/I really can’t say,” while Cross sings backup.
Then, they switch things up and have Cross sing the lead while the female vocalists sing backup.
Performing a song from his latest recording, Take Me As I Am, Cross presents a tribute number he wrote to one of his “musical mentors,” Joni Mitchell. Explaining that “her birth name is Roberta,” Cross performs the piece — a jazz fusion number entitled “Roberta.” As the background singers croon, “She is the sun/She is the seed/She is the water/She is the shaman/Don Juan’s reckless daughter,” images of Joni Mitchell at various concerts and with musicians including David Crosby and James Taylor appear on screen.
Cross tells the audience how much he admired actor Dudley Moore before he performs his musical contribution to Moore’s film, Arthur — “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do).”
When he and the audience sing the famous chorus together — “When you get caught between the moon and New York City” — scenes from the film flicker across the screen behind him.
After explaining to the audience that saxophonist Andy Suzuki will play the “EWI — an electronic wind instrument that can reproduce the sound of the ARP synthesizer that was on the original recording,” Cross launches into another cut from his debut album entitled “The Light is On.” Opening with vocals provided by his gifted backup singers, Cross joins in on lead and then solos on guitar. Sean Giddings follows up with a jazz piano solo before John Fremgen takes a lyrical bass solo and Suzuki’s EWI handily carries the synthesizer parts.
Cross channels Jimi Hendrix on guitar on a poignant number called “Dreamers” — a power waltz dedicated to “dreamers” in all different fields including Galileo, the Wright Brothers, Neil Armstrong, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs, Sir Isaac Newton, John Lennon, Miles Davis, Georgia O’Keefe, Abe Lincoln, and many more.
The audience reacts with avid applause before Cross takes a seat center stage with his acoustic guitar. Joking, “This is the AARP section of the show where I get to sit down,” he performs a song about “a friend who has been hurt, and how to make things better” — an acoustic folk-rocker entitled “V.”
Next up is a song which Cross reveals he wrote in 1974 “about getting a groupie.” As the screen shows music fans screaming for artists such as The Beatles, Elvis, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, and Ricky Nelson, Cross plays an unplugged Joni-Mitchell-esque rendition of “Minstrel Gigolo,” impressing the audience when he accompanies himself by playing pure harmonics on his guitar.
Continuing with the “unplugged” segment of the show, Cross presents a new arrangement of yet another number from his debut album called “Say You’ll Be Mine.” The audience sings along as Cross croons, “Say you’ll be mine/Say you’ll be mine until the sun shines” — his voice sounding sweet and easy while his backup singers harmonize on this lush and lovely rendition.
Revealing that his next number was “inspired by a trip to Africa with my children,” Cross performs “Light the World,” a song which features Andy Suzuki on EWI and Cross’ background vocalists singing in Swahili. On this world music number, happy faces of African children fill the screen along with an English translation of the song’s lyrics which reads, “Every day brings another dance/A chance to light up the world,” before Scott Laningham impresses with a rhythmic drum solo.
Cross and Co. channel Toto with their next number, “No Time for Talk,” a tune with a progressive Latin feel which features virtuoso musicianship all around.
The audience reacts with cheers, and Cross and the band respond with one of the highlight performances of the evening, a dynamic version of Cross’ 1980 hit, “Ride Like the Wind.” As Scott Laningham’s drumbeat gets the audience clapping along on this infectious tune, images of Hollywood Westerns sweep across the screen. Heads bop in the audience and audience members sing along on the tune’s famous chorus, “And I’ve got such a long way to go/To make it to the border of Mexico,” before Cross plays a virtuosic electric guitar solo while on-screen horses ride like the wind to signal the climax of the song.
The audience leaps to its feet cheering and applauding before Cross thanks the audience and sends out “one last song to the world.”
Performing a new age/hip hop rendition of John Lennon’s “Imagine,” photos of peace signs and hearts fill the big screen as audience members sing along on this famous anthem for peace.
Exclaiming, “You’re sounding great!” Cross concludes the number announcing, “You all be good to one another out there. Respect one another.”
As audience members make their way out of the auditorium, we chat with several in attendance who share their thoughts with us regarding Christopher Cross’ performance tonight.
Remarks Joel from Montvale, “He was phenomenal! This music is my wheelhouse. I’ve been a fan since the ’80s, so I particularly loved songs like ‘Sailing’ and ‘Ride Like the Wind.’”
Linda from Paramus reveals, “I have to admit that I only knew a few of the songs Christopher Cross sang tonight,” before acknowledging, “but he made them all so enjoyable! The band was excellent and his backup singers were great.”
“I also liked how he talked to the audience and spoke about the songs — you could really get into it,” continues Linda before adding, “and I especially loved the song they did in Swahili.”
Stacy from Jersey City exclaims, “Christopher Cross did a fantastic job tonight! He really gave his all on ‘Sailing,’” before adding, “I’m a long-time fan of ‘Arthur’s Theme’ too. I’m so glad I got to hear him tonight — he sounds really good!”
Lastly, we chat with Marie from Queens, NY who declares, “It was really wonderful getting a chance to hear Christopher Cross perform so many of his classic hits live! It reminded me of a jazz concert where you have a group of great singers and instrumentalists who all work together to bring you something magical,” before concluding, “and when you put that talent together with a collection of such beautifully crafted songs — you end up with something really special!”
To learn more about Christopher Cross, please go to christophercross.com. For information on upcoming concerts at BergenPAC — including The Doobie Brothers on April 9, Foreigner on May 3, and The Temptations & The Four Tops on May 9 — please click on bergenpac.org.
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