Jeff Cook typed the article

This article is about the Spokane concert (Jan 21, 1987).

 

Lauper gives all; crow nothing
by David Oriard

How can anyone who sings in her underwear have so much class?

 

The crowd at last night's Cyndi Lauper concert at the Spokane Opera House politely sat through the first hour and a half of Lauper's performance while she gave her songs everything she had to give. It was not until Lauper poiltely chastised the crowd for being boring that the play between performer and audience hit a peak.

 

Lauper's three-number encore, before which she instructed to crowd to get on its feet and have some fun, began with her smash hit "Girls Just Want to Have FUu", then rocked out with a pair of rock classics, the second of which she dedicated to its writer, the late Jackie Wilson.

 

And as if getting a lazy, mainstream spokane crowd to party through three excellently performed songs was not enough, Lauper topped off the show by returning to the stage as the crowd began to disperse and singing, a capella, "True Colors". [NOTE: I distinctly remember her singing Janis Joplin's "Mercedes Benz", not "True Colors"--J.Cook].

 

Showing the substance that is Cyndi Lauper--despite the getup and despite the silly dancing--she left the crowd with something to remember, dedicating "True Colors" to a happy 1987.

 

Lauper took a lot of criticism for releasing her song "She Bop" a couple of years ago, and the way she played that criticism into an assertion of her dedication to being herself brought another highlight to her performance.

 

As she began "She Bop", she took off her dress and sang the song wearing nothing more than a black teddy and gold high heels.

 

The concert, prior to the encore, had been marked by Lauper's crazy energy as she jumped and danced across the stage, pounded the stage floor with her hand and rolled on the stage screaming inaudibly.

 

The sedateness of the crowd could in a way be Lauper's fault. She has given a somewhat mainstream direction to her music since she debuted with multi-colored hair singing about how "Girls Just Want to Have Fun".

 

With that mainstream direction--there is nothing unusual about her recent hits "True Colors" and "Change of Heart" and her hair is now one color--the audience that came to the concert ranged from pre-teens out with their parents to an occasional professional-looking couple.

 

But for the most part the crowd was predominantly female, from teens to women in their 30's. There was a mild representation of the new wave look, but for the most part Lauper's appeal brought regular people to the Opera House.