Music For The Masses: KISS 108 FM's Jingle Ball: Rounding up the Year of Pop

MUSIC

Kiss 108 FM Jingle Ball

Avalon

Dec. 15

Imagine Christina Aguilera in front of hundreds of screaming fans. Now imagine most of those fans are over thirty. That was the scene at Avalon last month as the 21-plus club hosted the KISS 108 FM Jingle Ball concert, featuring several artists who normally appeal to a decidedly younger audience. Even 18-year-old Aguilera would have been bounced if she'd tried to enter through the club's front door. However, the crowd, made up of largely of lucky listeners, tried their best to impersonate a teenage audience, and, as the night wore on and the alcohol flowed, they almost succeeded--only their earplugs gave them away.

Kiss 108 FM Jingle Ball

Avalon

Dec. 15

The artists, oblivious to the age disparity, created an overall tremendous show. Admittedly, with seven big name performers, including Enrique Iglesias, Jewel and Smash Mouth, it would be hard to go wrong. Although each performer had only about half an hour to wow the crowd, most of them managed quite well. For most of the night, the energy was high and the crowd was on their feet.

The show did begin sitting down, with Alanis Morissette, who remained on a stool for her act, performing a number of her ballads including "Ironic," "You Learn" and "That I Would Be Good." Amber, the newest artist among the performers, followed Morissette and made the most of her moment in the spotlight. Using the opportunity to plug her new album, she passed out advertising postcards and performed a large repertoire of her new songs. Perhaps she dragged on a bit too long--the audience shared little of her enthusiasm. But she redeemed herself with her closing performance of "Sexual," introducing the number with a plug for fewer male chauvinistic songs. The women in the audience cheered her on as she cried out, "This is for the ladies... Ladies, are you feeling sexual? That's right, guys, check out your ladies!"

Enrique Iglesias followed, starting off on a high note with "Rhythm Divine" and "Be With You." He then moved on to a rendition of Ritchie Valens' "La Bamba," introducing it with a cheesy salute to diversity. "No matter what you are--English, Chinese--you gotta love this song." But he wasn't done pandering to the crowd yet. Pulling Stella, a frizzy blonde, from the crowd and onto stage, he serenaded her with his slower song "You're My #1." After telling her "you gotta stand still and look me in the eye the whole time," he placed her hand on his behind and sang into her ear. The crowd went wild, and as for Stella, KISS DJ Billy Costa said it best, "Stella had things happening to her body that will never happen again." With the energy riding high, Iglesias closed the act with streamers and confetti as he performed his hit "Bailamos."

The high-energy act was followed by two singer-songwriters (perhaps somewhat incongruously). Beth Hart (of the Beth Hart Band) came on sans the Band, instead opting for a series of solos on the keyboard and guitar. Her strong voice carried her through the songs, but she wallowed in several attempts to preach social messages. After opening with a song dedicated to her sister who recently died of AIDS, she then discussed her recent sobriety. Before singing her latest hit "L.A. Song," she reminded the audience that "whether it's Alabama or L.A., the good life is not out there, it's in here." But for all her social consciousness, Hart still had no qualms about mooning the audience to expose them to her recently acquired tattoo.

Jewel, recovering from illness and a lost voice, had trouble reaching the high notes in her opening songs "You Were Meant For Me" and "What's Simple Is True." But she rallied her voice for four more songs, closing with a strange rendition of "Who Will Save Your Soul." She broke the song midway to introduce her band as well as some irritating skat-style lyrics which involved her imitating a kitten's meow.

Aguilera followed next and easily compensated for Jewel's weakened throat with a strong voice and heavily choreographed numbers with two male dancers. In a highly-charged performance that included "What a Girl Wants" and a cover version of "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire," she had the audience hooked. She closed with a seductive performance of her ubiquitous hit "Genie in a Bottle," looking very genie-like in velvet black pants and with an exposed stomach.

The concert's final act, Smash Mouth, delivered perhaps the best performance of the night, taking the audience through at least eight numbers and making the dance floor jump. Lead singer Steve Harwell came off brash and animated, perhaps from the alcohol he admitted to imbibing backstage. But whatever he drank worked. The set flowed smoothly and the longer length of the band's performance allowed for a wide range in their repertoire, which included their own hits like "Then the Morning Comes" and "All Star" as well as covers of Van Halen's "Runnin' With the Devil" and House of Pain's "Jump Around." With such a rich act, it's too bad many of the adults had already taken off--no doubt to relieve the babysitter back home.