Christopher Cross — whose self-titled 1979 debut album took the world by storm, winning five Grammys and skyrocketing a career that’s sold more than 10 million albums across more than 40 years — may be playing more intimate spaces these days, but his sold-out June 5 gig at Santa Barbara’s Lobero Theatre was one of 100 shows he’ll play this year he told the suitably impressed crowd.
Not too shabby for a 75-year-old musician who, while best known for his vocals and songwriting, is also a skilled guitarist.
All of those talents — his voice is still in fine form — in addition to some low-key but surprisingly funny banter, were on display that night as he took the stage to do full justice to his catalogue and backed by three solid female vocalists with some pretty entertaining dance moves (Julie Peters, Bella, and Lisbet Guldbaek), with Jerry Léonide on piano, Joe Rosenblatt on drums, David Mann on sax, and Kevin Reveyrand on bass.
“Hopefully, we’re going to play all the songs you came to hear,” said Cross, who, urged by his close friend Michael McDonald, lived in Santa Barbara for about 12 years (he said his kids, now in their 30s, attended Montecito Union). While he’s continued performing and recording for decades, Cross is definitely an artist who “got the memo” to play the audience what they want, and there was no shortage of those early hits on the set list.
“All Right,” from the 1984 album Another Page, was first out of the gate, with Léonide nicely showcased on piano. “Never Be The Same,” with a jazzy sax from Mann, brought out some of the sparkle from the record-breaking 1979 Christopher Cross album early in the show. It’s a song that is perfectly representative of the yacht rock style, a generally agreed upon soft rock genre that has been hugely influential to contemporary musicians such as Questlove (from the Roots) and bass wünderkind Thundercat — both of whom were prominently featured in the excellent HBO documentary Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary, directed by Garret Price, which I finally watched after Cross’s show.
To give some perspective on how big of a hit the Christopher Cross album was back in the day: Cross was the first artist in Grammy history to win all four general awards (Record of the Year, Album of the Yard, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist) in a single ceremony — a feat that was not replicated for 39 years, until Billie Eilish won all four awards in 2020.
Additional songs from that 1979 classic that he played included: “I Really Don’t Know Anymore,” “Poor Shirley,” “Spinning” (in a lovely duet with Guldbaek), “Minstrel Gigolo,” and “The Light Is On.” The set also featured 2011’s “Dreamers,” an interesting departure, which had an introductory voiceover from MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The title track from 1988’s Back of My Mind, and 1983’s “Talking in My Sleep” and “No Time For Talk,” were also part of the show.
“Sailing,” probably his best known hit from 1979, was definitely a highlight of the evening, as was “Arthur’s Theme (Best That You Can Do),” which he dedicated to his co-writer, the late great Burt Bacharach. The encore was “Say You’ll Be Mine,” originally a duet with Nicolette Larson, he was joined this time by his trio of singers, who moved upstage to get some lively clapping from the audience.
Cross and the band ended a very enjoyable evening with another tip of the hat to his giant debut album: “Ride Like the Wind.”
Fun fact about that song, which seems to so perfectly fit the Yacht Rock theme: It wasn’t until 45 years after it catapulted Christopher Cross into stardom that “Ride Like The Wind” finally received an official music video, directed by Andrea Calvetti. Said Cross in a 2001 interview, “I’ll be honest with you: Video killed the radio star. I grew up listening to vinyl, listening to Joni, and it’s always been about the songs for me.”
Lucky for us, it still is.
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