David Cassidy on the Web
Look at him now
David Cassidy rocked The Canyon on Saturday with a crowd-pleasing set
August 24, 2006
By Mark Wyckoff
VenturaCountyStar.com
The transformation was effortless, riveting and just a little bit eerie. It came 13 songs into David Cassidy's set Saturday night in front of a packed crowd at The Canyon in Agoura Hills.
Cassidy was in the middle of "Common Thief," a gritty Bill House-penned tune that explores the shattered psyche of a man robbed of his own identity. One minute Cassidy was in rock star mode, commanding center stage as he played his maroon-red Parker electric, and then seconds later he had switched off the magnetism and was instead projecting the sad-eyed shell of the man he was singing about. "Look at me now, don't turn away," he sang, his character desperately pleading for a scrap of human kindness. Cassidy's hollow stare was a grim indicator that a bitter end was inevitable for this tortured soul.
That performance of "Common Thief" was a tour de force of both singing and acting and a definite highlight of Cassidy's 18-song, 95-minute set, which mixed solo hits and well-chosen covers with songs he made famous as part of the classic 1970 television series "The Partridge Family."
The concert, in essence, was a celebration of Cassidy's 38-year-career in show business, which began in 1968 with a role in the Allan Sherman musical "The Fig Leaves Are Falling," exploded with the success of "The Partridge Family" and then veered off into every conceivable direction.
Fans at The Canyon had brought artifacts from every facet of Cassidy's show-biz journey, including "Partridge"-era scrapbook pages, his 1990 self-titled Engima Records CD and a Las Vegas magazine cover story from 2001 when Cassidy was busy in Vegas performing in his own "At the Copa" production show. Cassidy took in this spectacle of mass adoration with a mix of grace, awe, mock fear and self-deprecating humor.
"For many of you who have come and seen a lot of the shows I have done, I can tell you that, for me, it never gets anything less than an emotional moment when I see you sitting there with photographs of me half-naked when I was 23," joked the 56-year-old Cassidy. "I can only imagine what you're doing with them when I'm not with you."
He could be serious, too, as he was right before his 1972 solo hit "Cherish," when he paid tribute to his mom Evelyn Ward, who was in the audience. "What do you need to say? She's the best," he said. "I love my mom so much."
Cassidy last played The Canyon in June 2004 and since then he's streamlined his band from a six-piece unit down to a leaner, meaner four-piece group featuring guitarist Matt Sullivan, bassist Frank Fabio, drummer Teri Coté and keyboard player Rob Cooke. "Common Thief" proved a powerhouse showcase for them all, from Sullivan's squawking guitar and Cooke's fiery organ to Coté's authoritative drums and Fabio's rock-solid bass lines. They even kicked in with a note-perfect, on-the-spot arrangement of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" when Cassidy unexpectedly launched into the 1968 Otis Redding hit.
One wished Cassidy would take more such liberties with the set list, digging beyond the obvious hits and pulling out key album cuts like "Preyin' On My Mind" from '74, "On Fire" from '76, "The Last Kiss" from '85 and "Since I Fell For You" from '04. As war continues to rage on in Iraq, Cassidy's touching "Message to the World" from '90 would seem like another obvious choice.
If Cassidy's set isn't exactly adventurous, it satisfies the droves of fans who show up for the sunnier pop hits, like "Could It Be Forever," "Summer Days" and "Echo Valley 2-6809." Even if you've heard them before, it's tough not to marvel at Cassidy's honeyed voice, still rich, powerful and full of color.
He wrapped the show with his anthem, the 1970 No. 1 hit "I Think I Love You," adding a hysterical splash of irreverence when he started riffing on the song's opening line, "Don't you know I've been a sleeping, and right in the middle of a good dream," which suddenly morphed into "Don't you know I've been doing laundry tonight, and right in the middle of a big load. " Cassidy pulled himself together, barely, and made it through the rest of the song. By the end, the entire Canyon crowd was standing up and rocking.
Cassidy would come back for one encore, an emotional version of the 1951 Johnnie Ray hit "Cry" that Cassidy dedicated to his late father, Tony-winner Jack Cassidy. "With my brothers, my family and my mom all here, I think they know he is shining his light down on us tonight," Cassidy said.
Cassidy's performance was mesmerizing; even the crowd, fresh off their "I Think I Love You" high, sat in silent attention as he sang about heartbreak and loss.
His hands were incredibly expressive, especially when they traced an imaginary tear running down his cheek.
The singer and actor in him had fused together again. Dad would have been proud.
