Review: Unmistakable Cocker, timeless Miller please zoo crowd

By Heather Warlick

Published: May 30, 2008

It wouldn't be summer, or almost summer in Oklahoma City without a Steve Miller Band concert and Thursday, he brought along the legendary singer Joe Cocker, a headliner in his own right. The Zoo Amphitheater was nearly sold out for this year's jam fest with an eclectic audience of true blue Miller and Cocker fans mixed with a new generation of fans.

Cocker's opening set was amazing. His unmistakable voice hasn't changed in the thirty-plus years he's been touring. His band was so tight, it almost seemed like they were air-banding the gig along to a perfectly-produced album. Since the singer seems to be able to take his pick of songs, he manages to fill his sets with some of the best songs ever written.

Cocker's set played on the strengths of his song choices, the talents of his band members and his own signature soulful brand of vocals. His band brings a rare blend of gospel backup vocals and rhythm and blues styling interspersed with some unexpected songs mixed with his best-known hits that, together, created the reverent musical atmosphere of a gospel church choir gone rock band.

Even with all that talent on stage, a bad sound mix can seriously detract from the music, but that was definitely not the case with Cocker's sound crew. The vocal mix was flawless and his instrumentalists played with the precision and elegance that only seasoned, mature professionals can.

Every song Cocker played was well-performed and technically impressive but some of the audience favorites were "Feeling Alright," "The Letter," "When the Night Comes," "You Are So Beautiful," and "You Can Leave Your Hat On."

Cocker also pulled out righteous versions of The Beatles' "With a Little Help From My Friends" and "Come Together," a tune that is growing him a new fan base since his cameo in "Across The Universe," a musical movie featuring a throng of Beatles classics.

After a short break, Steve Miller and his band took the stage. They had a strong opening with "Jungle Love" followed by "Rock'n Me" and though Miller's vocals and guitar were good as ever, the sound mix was obviously not executed by the same team as Cocker's and was not nearly as good as it could have been. With five-part harmonies, the vocal mix was often off, with one or several harmony parts sticking out and drowning out the melody.

I might have assumed that the sound quality was impaired due to my far-left field position in the audience and the open-air aspect of the theater but considering the quality of Cocker's mix from the same vantage point, that couldn't have been the problem.

But, the audience didn't seem to mind any inequities in the mix. As Miller pumped out timeless hit after timeless hit, the crowd was totally on-board, having a true summertime SMB experience, which has become an Oklahoma institution at the Zoo Amp. Miller's songs have really stood the test of time, a fact that is evident by the age ranges of his fans.

"Abracadabra" and "Take The Money and Run" came back-to-back, keeping the audience in party mode. Then, Miller introduced Sonny Charles, the newest member of the band who, up until this point in the set had seemed like stage dressing, singing a few backup vocals here and there and dancing around the stage like he was freestyling at Danny's Blues Saloon.

Charles took over the lead vocals for the next several tunes which would have been okay except it seemed like we were no longer at a Steve Miller show but instead, at open mic night at the local blues bar. I guess Miller wanted to bring that taste of jam-band blues to the set but the song choices were dull and Charles' singing was only so-so.

After about 20 minutes of the blues, Miller told a story about his sitar. He bought the beautiful 19-stringed instrument in 1975 in New York City for $125. Recently, he said, he was approached by a music hall of fame representative who offered him $632,000 for it. He posed the question to the audience, "Should I take it?" Much of the audience screamed "no" but cries of "Take the Money and Run" also rang out. He strummed the instrument, producing an angelic sounding harmony and said, "I think I'll keep it because it sounds like this" and launched into "Wild Mountain Honey."

Norton Buffalo was featured next blowing a chromatic harmonica to "Winter Time" which morphed into a Zeppelin-esque ambiance with Miller rocking out on a double-necked Gibson. "Dance Dance Dance" picked up the tempo and the mood followed by "Fly Like An Eagle" which featured an unexpected rap solo from keyboardist, Joseph Wooten. From there, Miller finished out the show with "Jet Airliner," "Swingtown," and "The Joker." The late spring weather was perfect for an outdoor concert, warm with a cool breeze. The audience was appreciative and, overall, despite the mix, it was a really solid show.

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