St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 48

D2 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH EVERYDAY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2001 MUSIC REVIEWS U2 returns in all of its power and purpose Linkin Park ranges wide musically By Brian Q. Newcomb Special to the Post-Dispatch i By Kevin C. Johnson Post-Dispatch Pop Music Critic There were no glittery automobiles dangling above U2's stage during its nearly full concert Wednesday night at Sawis Center, nor were there any gigantic lemons or giant arches for eyes to feast on. Concertgoers instead got a more stripped-back and in-your-face concert (as in-your-face as an arena show can be) as the veteran Irish rockers brought their excellent Elevation 2001 tour to town for one of its final dates.

Singer Bono, guitarist the Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen Jr. seemed more interested in having fans marvel at their collective musical chops not their latest props, as they walked' on stage with the house lights up for opening songs "Elevation" and "Beautiful Day" from their latest CD, "All That You Can't Leave Behind." The stage featured a heart-shape ramp that brought Bono and occasionally the Edge into a crowd eager to bask in the band's healthy supply of hits spanning its long career. But more important than this was U2's concert taking on a real sense of purpose, a new relevancy in these post-Sept. 11 times. "We want to say how proud and humble we are to be on tour in the United States at this time," Bono said during one of the evening's encores.

Bono, one of the most political rock stars, kept Through it all, the band never forgot their reason for being there, which was to have a good time. That was clear as well from watching Bono sprint around the ramp during "Where the Streets Have No dance amid flashing strobe lights and engage in a bull-matador dance with the Edge on "Until the End of the allow a couple of fans pulled from the crowd to play guitar and keyboards for "Knock-in' on Heaven's and from the exuberance shown when dusting off oldies such as "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "Pride (In the Name of Love)" and "I Will Follow." A 45-minute opining set by Garbage nearly lived up to the band's name; at times, its show stank. The Shirley Manson-front-ed band, whose new CD is "Beautiful Garbage," barely reminded concertgoers that they were a once buzzed-about hot commodity after its 1995 self-titled CD. Mansbn, apparently taking a cue from the band's latest single, "Androgyny," adopted a punkish, Billy Idol-influenced persona as she led her band through a number of annoyingly bland songs including "Shut Your Mouth," "Silence is Golden" and "Cherry Lips (Go Baby Older songs sucfj as "Stupid Girl" and "Only Happy When It Rains" served as brief reminders of what Garbage is actually capable of. Garbage drummer Butch Vig missed the he took ill after eating bad oysters.

Gimmicks and eye-grabbing stage sets were at a minimum Thursday U2, featuring singer Bono and guitarist the Edge, performed before Center. JAMIE RECTORPOST-DISPATCH night as venerable Irish rockers a nearly full house at Sawis Sultry Monheit showcases her maturing skills with an American flag pattern. During "Sunday Bloody Sunday," Bono accepted an American flag from a fan, embraced it, then slow-danced with it like it was a lover. Introducing "Please," he said the song was written three years ago to reflect conditions in his homeland, but it was just as relevant as if he'd written it recently. times, she was smoky with a hint of Chris Conner, as on "You Can't Take That Away From Me." At other times, she belted out a tune full throttle, as on "Spring Is Here." Monheit accelerates quickly and effortlessly, which can work against her in the upper ranges, where she sounded overbearing at times.

On stage, she's confident and exudes a mature presence built around her smoldering femme fa-tale image. She is a natural for the sultry diva role. Kanan's interpretive playing was a fine accompaniment to her phrasing. Of particular note was his arrangement of Berlin's "Cheek to Cheek," on which he "What's Going On," recently remade as a Sept. 11 benefit song featuring Bono and many others, including St Louis rapper Nelly.

"What's Going On" was followed by "New York," which featured structures resembling skyscrapers projected on transparent screens, and during which Bono revealed that the inside of his black leather jacket was lined Monheit is known from her two recordings for singing mostly standards from the American Songbook, nostalgic ballads during a time when pundits tell us that the country is aching for (or retreating into) comforting traditions. A superb quartet of other young musicians active in the New York jazz scene backed Monheit: saxophonist Joel Frahm, pianist Michael Kanan, bassist Chris Berger and drummer Rick Montalbano. Aside from Kanan, this is her working group and not the well-known players from her recordings. Consequently, they were able to elicit from Monheit a noticeably different performance than those on her generally low-key recordings. Monheit possesses a clear voice and perfect intonation.

Some Linkin Park is using its first headlining tour, "Countdown to Revolution," and the multi-platinum sales success of its major label debut, "Hybrid Theory," to expose fans to a broad musical spectrum. An appreciative and supportive audience greeted the Southern California sextet Wednesday night at half-full Family Arena in St. Charles. It was "Hybrid Theory," with its robust mix of hard alternative rock-- sounds and aggressive hip influences, that brought Linkin Park to the party. And now that it's in a position to establish the ntenu, "Hybrid Theory" is what the band served.

The band featured all 11 tracks, in fact, with iust two additions in its 40-minute set and two encores. Linkin Park opened with "With You," "Runaway" and "Papercut" as the band's two vocalists, rap emcee Mike Shinoda and singer i screamer Chester Bennington, paced the stage. Guitarist Brad Delson, somewhat limited by a foot in a cast, led the band in crunchy rock that left just enough room, in the mix for DJ Joseph Hahn's odd scratching. Halfway through "In the End," Shinoda made his way deep into the crowd, supported on the back of security men, where he chanted 'the line "I put my trust in voii" while glad-handing many of nis ians. uenmngion maue a simi lar gesture during A Place tor 1 My Head." But the moment of real" intimacy came in the set closing "Crawling," when fans took over the chorus.

The encore provided a change of pace with "My December," a ballad that moved Delson to acoustic, while bassist Phoenix 'Imtmniirpri a rplln Tt was an nnn uneven micuipi, uui ouuu Jiuiiuua oiiu uciiuuigiuii wcic uaip 111 uie ii groove on "One Step Closer." ''I'i'The variety of opening acts provided a nice juxtaposition of sounds. Turntable scratch artists ine- executioners, trom iew York City, gave the largely white audience a lesson in the street "'origins of hip-hop. Like Linkin Park, (hed) p.e., may just have the stupidest name on the current rock scene, mixes hard rock with hip-hop influences. It led off with the opening tracks of its latest disc, I'Broke" "Killing Time" and "Waiting to Die." Vocalist Jahrud praised the First Amendment's defense of free speech in a break during "I Got You," while consistently testing the boundaries thereof. 4 THE DESTINATION for the BIGGEST for LOW TIER DOUBLE DIAMOND $11 49 PER CTN 1 IM irni.i'j-i-ini'i Reduced carcinogens.

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and 10:15 p.m. through Saturday Where: Jazz at the Bistro, The Bistro at Grand Center, 3536 Washington Avenue How much: $20 More info: 314-534-1111 ro jazz or a merely capable vocalist who hit the big time much too early when there are so many better jazz singers in the market. Such controversy was insignifi-. cant, however, to a Bistro audience that had turned out to hear what the buzz was about That is a good thing because, ultimately, any artist is judged on performance, not the marketing machine that churns out neatly packaged products. 'M fireofhe ADOPT by Michael Renner Special to the Post-Dispatch The December issue of Jazziz arrived in the mail Wednesday with Jane Monheit gracing the cover with her thick mane, sultry dark eyes, vampy come-hither look and tight, off-the-shoulder, leopard-skin dress.

A little more skin showing, and it easily could have been the cover of Cosmo. Wednesday was also the St Louis debut of the New York-based singer at Jazz at the Bistro. The glitzy magazine cover is indicative of a controversy surrounding the singer: Is Monheit, 24, a beautiful commodity marketed mostly on her looks, a la Diana Krall, or a fresh, young singer carrying the torch of Ella and Sarah? Like most controversies, your view depends on where you're standing. The jazz press has called her either the queen of ret- m- mm. Liquor SELECTION and BEST PRICES CIGARETTES INTRODUCTORY SPECIAL i WINNER J99L 3) KENTUCKY'S BEST $1099 I PER CTN LIMIT 3 PACKS $9149 few CTN in cari.nniywis are in comparison 1 mm A STRAY r-T EVERYDAY r- oser Ceon 4r i NOW INCLUDES WITH COUPON ONLY WESTFIELD SHOPPING TOWN CUSTOMER'S AIR DUCT BEFORE 8 Vento 1 Cold Air Roluni FRKfc Register Cleaning KKK.E Detailed Analysis Of Your Vent System Karli Additional Vent $15 Each Additional Cold Air Retnni.

SOUTH in concert incorporated a repetitive staccato structure to modernize the main theme, allowing the musicians more opportunities to riff. "Somewhere Over the Rainbpw" provided the vehicle for her a cappella introduction arid wistful phrasing. ti I Given all the controversy that has been thrust upon he the best approach is to forget all the hype and just listen. What i you will hear is a fine young singer still developing her chops and honing her craft. Fortunately, Jane Monheit seems to have the poise and determination to ignore the criticism and move forward.

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