Sound system troubles tarnish the silver-tongued devil’s performance

by Eric Freedman, The Knickerbocker News, August 17, 1976

Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge played to an enthusiastic and responsive audience at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Monday night but, unfortunately, a generally excellent performance was marred by continuing problems with the sound system.

Kristofferson opened the evening’s program with a medley of his own songs, including “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” and “The Silver-Tongued Devil and I.” The medley was marked by smooth transitions and was greeted warmly by an audience eager to be pleased.

Kristofferson’s style is a mixture of blues, folk and country-and-western, but his words were often drowned out by a sound system turned up to a nearly deafening level. The six-member band accompanying him also found themselves at times drowning out the singing.

Kristofferson, a former Rhodes scholar who says he almost became a professor (of literature) at West Point, also performed what he called “a bicentennial medley, sort of.” The message was political satire, with such lyrics as, “It’s all a bloody circus, mates, and clowns are in control,” and “Rules are rules, as any fool can see.”

After the intermission, Coolidge sang a short set of solos. Unlike her husband’s, which are often narrative, Coolidge sings more personal pieces.

Coolidge’s voice is rich and mellow, with a warm tone which made the audience feel she cared about what she was singing.

The remainder of the evening was devoted to duets, some of which appear on Kristofferson and Coolidge’s joint albums, and others—like Kristofferson’s best-known “Me and Bobby McGee”—which were originally performed by him alone.

They are a husband-and-wife team who genuinely enjoy singing together, and show it. They were especially effective with “Sweet Susannah” and their encore number, “Help Me Make It Through the Night.

Coolidge says she’s not bothered by the fact that Kristofferson gets top billing, as well as more solos. “He was filling up houses” when she started singing with him,” she explained. But together they are richer performers.

The band was exceptionally good, with special recognition due to drummer Sammy Creason.

In a move unusual for most stars (who tend to be ego-centered), Kristofferson yielded center stage to three of the band members who sang their own songs. Guitarist Gerry McGee’s number was the best of the three, both for its lyrics about a Louisiana flood and for his ballad-like music.

The band’s two keyboard men, Don Fritts and Mike Utley, entertained the audience with a sideshow of their own as they criss-crossed the stage after each number, trading places at the piano and the organ. Fritts’ electric belt with colored bulbs also added a light touch.

If Kristofferson was at times irritating in his constant reminders to his audience that there was humming and buzzing coming over the speakers and amplifiers, the audience accepted them—and the cold weather—with good spirits. Both during the performance and in an after-concert interview, Kristofferson heaped praise on what he described as the best audience he has ever played to.

We’re looking forward to Kristofferson’s return to SPAC next year—if he doesn’t give up performing before then, as he at least occasionally says he thinks about doing—and hope that Coolidge has a little more time to sing or her own.

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