The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 210

F28 FRIDAY, AUGUST 30, 1996 LOS ANGELES TIMES TONIGHTS BEST BET The talent-rich VEST COAST JAZZ PARTY gets underway at the Irvine Marriott Tonight's headlinen the Four Freshmen. 7 p.m. Through Sunday. (714) 724-3602. BATE 3d 1 WHAT GOES ON Reborn Royalty Christian Faith and Love of Family Now Motivate Donna Summer, Once the Bad Girl Queen of Disco yours and ycu are mine." "I wrote it for my husbandwho is white, that's why the raven and dove phrase when we were in love, but we're also working to get through hard she recalls.

"It says to him 'I love you, even if we ever didn't make it he would always still be with me." The music Summer sings now is grounded in her faith in God and her love of the great spirituals. Growing up in Boston as a young admirer of gospel great Mahalia she began singing in her church choir when she was 10. Over the years, Summer's mom who. died from cancer last year 1 urged her to sing more gospel numbers. In honor of her wish, Summer has included one during this year's a Midsummer Night Tour, which concludes' Sunday in Las Vegas.

One highlight of her 1995 tour was a remarkable rendition of "Amazing Grace." "My mother would say, 'Donna, sing a song to so all summer long -I've been singing Oleda Adams' 'Through The Storm' for her," said Summer, who now lives in Nashville. "It's a song that got me through a lot of personal hardship, and that's the one song I need to sing. "Gospel is music that's both for yourself and to be shared. It transcends people's circumstances, I think that's what sphitu-f als are all about We're not just one-sided beings we iangdon her jjarhous. tend to nurture the flesh, nurture the soul too." ByJOHNROOS SPECIAL TO THE TIMES Of all the artists who rode the disco wave of the '70s, Donna Summer may have fared the best into them many of her dance-record peers disappeared with (but haven't made a comeback with) polyester bell-bottoms and platform shoes, Summer has been back on the charts and on the road.

Last year she teamed with British techno-pop singers Rollo and Sister Bliss on a remake of her 1977 hit "I Feel Love," which landed in the Top 10 of Billboard's Hot Dance chart It also topped the dance charts in England for five weeks. That record drew on her first pop incarnation as the Queen of Disco. "It doesn't bother me at all to be called that I mean, it's nice to be called the queen of something, honey," the four-time Grammy winner said with a laugh during a recent phone interview. "As long as it doesn't limit you, and as long as people allow me to be who I am and grow, I have no problem with that label." Who she is at 48 is considerably different from the sexual provocateur heard on her early hits including "Love to Love You, Baby," "Bad Girls" and "Hot Stuff." These days, her Christian faith and love of her family top the list of subjects she finds worthy of musical examination. She's singing more and gospel-tinged songs more and gospel-tinged absorbed that it's tough A fL r) to 2 songs than the dance numbers that made .5 n-'O "i oris fulfill your other respon-i but it's OK to Harry Donna Summer now sings sibilities.

So I try very hard to focus my attention on. Summer (born Adrian Donna Gaines) plans this fail to other people's lives. That keeps you from becoming record an alkmvthat centers on the resiliency of the you know. me, me." human spirit r-f on Sudano when she wrote lamuy-Dasea musicaMor a hirtiv norsnnai the stage, she said. "We'U probably release an album Today The Four Freshmen, Jim DeJullo, Ron Etchete, Tom Ranler, Paul Smith and others perform at the West Coast Jazz Party at the Irvine Marriott, 18000 Von Karman 7 p.m.

per day or for a three-day pass. Continues Saturday and Sunday. (714) 724-3602. Stint and Cowboy Junkies play rock at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive. 8 p.m.

(714) 855-4515. Michael Frayn's comedy "Noises Off" opens at the Cypress Civic Theatre, 5172 Orange Ave. 8 p.m. $12, includes champagne reception. Through Sept.

28. (714) 229-6796. Cheap Trick and Psychic Rain play rock at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Santa Ana. 8 p.m.

(714) 957-0600. Buck Naked A the Chapped Cheeks play country music at the Crazy Horse Steak House, 1380 Brookhollow, Santa Ana. 8 p.m. $4. (714) 549-8233.

Pato Banton and Kronle Sun play, reggae at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capis-trano. 8 p.m. (714) 496-8930. South Coast Repertory's production of Oscar Wilde's "An Ideal Husband" begins previews on the theater's Mainstage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m.

Previews continue through Thursday. The regular run is Sept. 6 -Oct. 6. (714) 957-4033.

Orange Coast College Repertory Theatre Company's production of "Red Scare on Sunset," a comedy by Charles Busch, opens in the Drama Lab Studio at the college, 2701 Fair-view Road, Costa Mesa. 8 p.m. $5. Through Sept 8. (714) 432-5640.

Second Story plays jazz at Steamers Cafe, 138 W. Commonwealth Fullerton. 8:30 p.m. Two-item minimum. (714) 871-8800.

Country Coalition plays at the Swallow's Inn, 31786 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8:30 p.m. Free. (714)493-3188. Jazz singer Dee Dee McNeil performs at the Revere House Restaurant, 900 W.

1st Tustin. 8:30 p.m. Free. Also Saturday. (714) 543-9319.

Rob Mulllns and Eric Marienthal play jazz at Restaurant Kikuya, 8052 Adams Huntington Beach. 8:30 p.m. $10 minimum. (714) 536-6665. WIN Brady and Jim Gordon play jazz and blues at the Renaissance Cafe, 234 Forest Laguna Beach.

9 p.m. Free. (714) 497-5282. Brian Barrett plays blues at Sid's, 445 N. Newport Newport Beach, 714 650-7433.

The Eric Sardlnas Project plays blues at the Renaissance Dana Point, 24701 Del Prado Ave. 9 p.m. $10 minimum. (714)661-6003. The Swamp Zombies, members of the Crowd, Jigsaw, Los Infernos and Jimmy Camp play rock at Linda's Doll Hut, 107 S.

Adams St, Anaheim. 9 p.m. $5. (714)533-1286. Solomon Grundy and Groove Salad play rock at Club 369, 1641 N.

Placentia Fullerton. 9 p.m. $5. (714) 572-1816. The Albino Ravens play rock at the Canyon Inn, 6821 Fairlynn Yorba Linda.

9 p.m. Free. Also Saturday. (714) 779-0880. Day of Days plays rock at the Studio Cafe, 100 Main St, Balboa.

9 p.m. Free. (714)675-7760. The Code plays at Lookers, 24921 Dana Point Harbor Drive, Dana Point 9:30 p.m. $5.

(714) 488-3106. The Surf Tones play rock at the Studio Cafe, 300 Pacific Coast Highway, Huntington Beach. 9:30 p.m. Free. (714) 536-8775.

Dr. Bombay plays rock at Silky Sullivan's, 10201 Slater Fountain Valley. 9:30 p.m. Free. Also Saturday.

(714)963-2718. The Blast plays rock at the Cannery, 3010 Lafayette Newport Beach. 10 p.m. $5. Also Saturday.

(714) 675-5777. Upcoming Brockus Project Dance Company performs Saturday and Sunday at the Orange County High School of the Arts, 3591 Cerritos Los Alamitos. 8p.m.$8-$15. (714) 531-8949. The Smokin' Grooves Tour, with Cypress KM, the Fugees, Zlggy Marley, A Tribe Called Quest and others, is Monday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre, 8800 Irvine Center Drive.

5 p.m. Singer-songwriter Jlmmle Dale Gllmore plays Wednesday at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. 8 p.m. (714) 496-8930. Compiled by Cynthia Kelly Summer's thoughts were tw Will Aiwa Rp a reflection on love's bumpy "an obscure, small song, everwritten." but than the frenetic dance numbers that made her famous, though she still includes some of those in her shows.

"I'm proud of my hits, and I think a song like 'Last Dance' tied into the hyper experience of that time," said the still silky-voiced singer, who performs tonight and Saturday at the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts. "It was a part of an Oscar-winning film, and it is one of my signature songs. "But now my yardstick for success is my family," she said. Her family consists of her husband of 16 years, songwriter Bruce Sudano, and three daughters Mimi, Brooklyn and Amanda. "I'm not that impressed with awards, because you see people out there with Grammys and their kids are hooked on drugs.

"Sometimes in this business, you become so self- material first. But the musical will touch issues, the main one being finding our own we're ready to give up. Sometimes we thai kicks you in the butt saying, No, going to r. Inspired by a stormy, time in their relationship, the song's lyrics point to the power of everlasting love and devotion: "Like the raven and the dove, looking for perfect love After rainy and stormy weather, I am Summer performs tonight and Saturday at the for the Performing Arts, 12700 Center 8 p.m. (800) 916-8500.

Def Leppard: Twilight of the Not-Quite-Demigods 1 i road that she describes as one of the most poetic I've ALEXANDER GALLARDO Lo Angela Times, the few spontaneous moments in the This Way," incorporating hip-hop beats and rap-influenced vocal cadences to go with squalling metal guitars. It's a real departure for Def Leppard, and it came off punchy and sharp. Otherwise it was business as usual, which meant watching big, huskily built, husky-voiced Joe Elliott carry on with no special charisma or intensity, his band mates with even less, while waiting for the next catchy chorus to role around. Elliott a good-natured sort, seemed most spontaneous and energized when a beach ball came his way and he got to show off his soccer skills. Other thati that, the closest thing to an with some pop on a lot of resolve when need that foot you're not Donna Cerritos Center Court Drive.

it rr 7 I vr unscripted moment came when Elliott noted that guitarist Phil Collen now makes I his home in Laguna Hills, adjacent to 5 Irvine Meadows. The singer began to strum and croon the chorus of Bruce Springsteen's "My Hometown," but he didn't know enough of the song to make it a refreshing departure. Soaring, choir-like sing-along choruses, mainly given to proclaiming large appetites for sex and rock 'n" roll, with some romanticism cannily thrown in to lure the ladies, are Def Leppard's distinguishing marks. Big production numbers on record, they were electronically goosed onstage to partly simulate that mass-of -voices effect Those memorable chorus hooks are the one reason why Elliott's closing thought "Don't forget us, we won't forget you" might not be altogether futile. As long as folks want big, pounding rock moments with some Wagnerian flourishes, songs, such as "Photograph" (not to be confused with the zesty Ringo Starr nugget, it was weakly wrought live), "Rock of Ages," "Pour Some Sugar on Me" and "Love Bites" will probably echo now and then.

Def Leppard was the first, least foppish and musically sharpest of the '80s pop-metal crop that included such heirs as Bon Jovi, Ratt and Warrant But if that's rock Valhalla, we'll take our chances in the other place. Opening act Tripping Daisy is a young band from Dallas that flitted from style to style without hitting on anything striking. Among the elements: Tim DeLaugh-ter's nasally vocal blend of Ozzy Osbourne and Perry Farrellj some psychedelic -tinged hard rock i la Jane's Addiction; some slow, spacey excursions recalling Pink Floyd; and an MTV hit "I Got a Girl," that is a catchy but thin bit of alterna-rock bemusement Flower power's revival isn't athaftdyet Pop music review: Playing to a half-empty house, the workmanlike band served up the familiar hits but showed little charisma or intensity. By MIKE BOEHM TIMES STAFF WRITER IRVINE Heavy metal usually begs to be taken in Wagnerian terms, so let's think of Def Leppard's show Wednesday night at Irvine Meadows as the twilight of the demi-semi-sorta-quasi-maybe-nah-not-really-gods. This long-running English band never has gone for metal's most gargantuan excesses, coming off less as would-be thunder lords than as workmanlike, competent pros whose knack for a big, catchy chorus and whose luck as one of the first bands to get constant exposure on MTV ignited multiple-platinum sales through the '80s and early 90s.

But it's twilight time for these modest, rather anonymous heroes. A new album, "Slang," has been a commercial flop, and Def Leppard played to no more than a half-capacity house of perhaps 7,000 fans. Performing on a bare-bones stage under a modest lighting design that called for little more than color-patterned backdrops and smoky beams, Def Leppard stayed true to its yeomanly nature in a set that offered no surprises and no memorable moments but served up the familiar hits in a familiar way that suited the faithful well enough. The band tossed in a handful of songs from "Slang." Rather than repeating Def Leppard's moves from the good-time '80s, the new album takes a more dense, turbulent angst-ridden approach that is sometimes akin to such "90s arena bands as Soundgarden. The results artf nothing remarkable O.C.

resident Phil Collen inspired one of even though Def Leppard has had its share of harrowing, angst-worthy episodes, including the death of guitarist Steve Clark in 1990 from a lethal combination of alcohol and drugs, and the maiming of Rick Allen in a 1984 car wreck that left him to carry on (quite effectively) as a one-armed drummer who uses a pedal for snare sounds. On record, this updating comes off as an engaged, albeit inconsequential, effort to try something new that interests the players, rather than a flimsy attempt at trend-hopping. In concert the most effective number from "Slang" was the upbeat title track. It's a stylistic child of Aerosmith's "Walk.