Age Hasn’t Dampened Rick Springfield

By Terry Morrow
Knoxville News-Sentinel

Fifteen years ago, when Rick Springfield was in his commercial prime, he certainly would not have presented the sort of concert he did Saturday night at Homer Hamilton Theatre.

He would not have walked through the audience, allowing his fans to touch him. He didn’t bring 30 women at a time up on stage to sing with him, and in the middle of the song he never would have grabbed someone’s phone and talked to the guy at the other end.

A freewheeling Springfield is now behind the mike, delivering the kind of fun-loving rock ‘n’ roll concert that he should have been doing his entire career. It was the kind of laid-back experience where fans brought their children, and one woman danced with her baby on her head.

Maybe with age Springfield doesn’t mind being so off-the-cuff. The audience was so much the better for it this time around.

With synthesizers blaring and women, screeching over his guitar distortion, Springfield proves he has come of age as a showman. He strummed his guitar with flower stems, a camera lens and a handheld fan – all things he gathered from his audience.

For the women who could never get enough of him more than a decade ago, Springfield was as accessible as they’d always dreamed – and hoped – he’d be.

Even when things didn’t go as planned – too often his handler wasn’t on the spot with his guitar or a pick – Springfield went with the flow.

Sound-wise, the show was never perfect. At age 50, Springfield’s voice isn’t quite as strong as it used to be and a 90-minute show in which he sings, and sometimes yells over the instrumentation, strained his voice occasionally.

His best vocal moment came on a new song, the tender “Free” writer after a neighborhood 4-year-old drowned accidentally.

As for his hits, Springfield was energized and sizzling, opening with a thunderous “Affair of the Heart” and charging straight in to “I’ve Done Everything For You.” Though “Jessie’s Girl,” “Human Touch” and “Don’t Talk to Strangers” have a dated, 80’s feel to them now, their hooks are as compelling as ever.

His take on the pop classic “Gloria” was especially fetching.

Locals David Landeo and band were the near-perfect opening act, playing tight and hard. Landeo’s cover of 80’s hits – such as “Jack and Diane,” “Jenny, 867-5309” and “You Really Got Me” – pumped the audience for the main course. It’s tough not being the band the audience really wants to hear, but Landeo and band were up to the challenge.

What fans at the Springfield show got were healthy servings of a man who knows how to treat his audience.