Sierra Mountain Times

Chris Isaak: Incredible!… Brian Setzer: Sensational!

Chris Isaak and his band, Silvertone, were ALL FIRED UP!

He’s the consummate entertainer: a dynamic performer; a spellbinding storyteller – and wow; can this Stockton boy rock! With finesse, Chris Isaak can blend country, hootenanny/rockabilly, and straight out rock and roll like no one else – not to mention his captivating performer-to-audience rapport! That’s probably why Chris Isaak is a fan favorite at Ironstone! Isaak and his band of twenty years, Silvertone, returned to headline at the Amphitheatre, Sunday, September 6th, and put on an absolutely stunning show! “It’s great to be home!” Isaak shouted. “We really appreciate all you people coming out and supporting Live music. It means so much, because if you don’t come out to these shows, there’s really no place for me to wear this suit!” (Isaak is famous for wearing flashy outfits.) Isaak’s early career was interesting, too. He told the crowd, “You start off, you play EVERY place. In Stockton, we played a bar and restaurant called “Stop the Clock”. The guy who ran it said, “Nobody wants to hear your music; you’ve got to play ‘oldies’. So, I’d go out and say, ‘Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to do a song by the Platters, 1952, “Wicked Game”, and they went for it! (“Wicked Game” is an Isaak composition from his 1989 album, “Heart Shaped World”!)

Chris Isaak ventures into the crowd!

Credited with single-handedly reviving “rockabilly” in the ‘80s, Brian Setzer (on guitar), opened the concert with his new trio, called the Nashvillains!

That’s the kind of humorous anecdotal stories Isaak tells his audience; and they love it! Through the evening, Isaak and company cast a spell over the crowd, which heard familiar hits like “Wicked Game” and “Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing”. Isaak also paid homage to a dear-departed friend, Roy Orbison, and crooned “Only the Lonely”, while a surrealistic image of Orbison appeared on a screen behind the band. To promote the songs from his new CD, “Mr. Lucky”, Isaak performed “Summer Holiday”, “We Let Her Down”, “We Lost Our Way”, “You Don’t Cry Like I Do” and a happy little song about a couple and a child titled, “Take My Heart”. “This one’s like a Disney song, only happier!” he told his audience, which apparently enjoyed every song, right through the very last one! This reviewer enjoyed them all, as well! Then, Chris came out for an encore in a stunning, mirror-plated suit! “We’re having a ball playing, and we don’t want to stop!” Isaak shouted! He and his band played a six-song encore, which included “San Francisco Days, San Francisco Nights!” But, Chris changed the words to “Calaveras Days, Calaveras Nights!” The crowd went wild! Brian Setzer and his new band, The Nashvillains opened the concert and got the concert-goers in the rockabiliy mood–many of them swinging their partners and boogie-ing in the aisles! Setzer put on a solid, song-packed, performance, which included the favorites, “Stray Cat Strut” and “Rock This Joint”, from his earlier days with the Stray Cats! From start to finish, it was four hours of phenomenal entertainment!