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TonyGa bring 19k people to Tanglewood
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Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga a perfect pair at Tanglewood
LENOX — He’s the 88-year-old elder statesman of jazz singing considered the last of a breed, an understated man who once rubbed elbows with Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.
She’s the 29-year-old pop star considered an international icon in the making, an outsize woman who’s known as much for her propulsive dance-pop as her outrageous fashion sense.
Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga arrived at Tanglewood on Tuesday night as the ultimate odd couple. How would they bridge not only the generations, but also their respective genres and audiences in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,000 people?
Masterfully, it turned out.
That album, along with her showstopping tribute to “The Sound of Music” at the Oscars in February, triggered a reappraisal of Gaga. She’s now turning heads not just for her persona, but also for her impressive chops. It appeared she even won over the Tanglewood crowd, which skewed dramatically older and more conservative than her typical audience.
“I like singers with pipes, and she has pipes,” raved an older gentleman who said he wasn’t a fan before, to which his wife responded, “I thought some of her outfits were going to give Tony a heart attack!”
She must have been referring to that red little number that sent waves of awe (and perhaps shock) through the aisles. A burlesque marvel of glittery fishnet, pasties, a feathered stole, and lots of bare skin, the ensemble was risqué enough that Bennett seemed to avoid staring at it directly. Eye contact, Tony, eye contact.
Bennett and Gaga did not exude an obvious chemistry or even the same approach to the material. He tended to play it straight and dignified, as he has for more than six decades, while Gaga was playful, vamping like an old Hollywood glamour-puss who lived for the spotlight.
And yes, the Lady could sing, too, turning out a grand, full-throated rendition of “La Vie en Rose,” sung in both French and English, and a torchy sendup of “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).” In her appearance and attitude Gaga summoned Mae West’s bawdiness, but her singing was less contrived, and indebted to the jazz greats, from Anita O’Day’s nuanced phrasing to Julie London’s steamy seduction.
Gaga’s take on “Lush Life,” in particular, was a revelation, a tour de force of melodrama, supper-club intimacy, and a young artist clearly in thrall of the song. And there was no better master of that than the man who had shared the stage with her.
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https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/mus....html#comments
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Bennett and Gaga closed with a rousing trio of songs. The first was “But Beautiful.” The second was an inspired rendition of “The Lady is a Tramp,” a track that provided the inspiration for their entire collaboration. The last song of the evening was “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If it Ain’t Got That Swing),” a fast-paced number that capped a whirlwind, 31 songs in less than 2 hours performance. The only thing bigger than the smiles on the performers’ faces was the applause they received when it was all over.
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http://blog.timesunion.com/localarts...d-63015/38318/
Slaying pop girls who can't fill up 10k venues  Slay TonyGa
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