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Engelbert Humperdinck
((Greek Theater; 6,187 seats; $ 35 top))
Band: Thomas Reynolds, Randy Leago, Jeffrey Wills, Roy Vogt, Charles Tilley, Randi Block, Melissa Britt. With Louise Sarah Dorsey.
His biggest hits were 20 or more years ago, and his new albums hardly ripple the charts. But there's still a loyal audience for Engelbert Humperdinck, as proved at Thursday night's Greek Theater show. What's more, he seems to be attracting new fans -- the audience's demographic range was surprisingly wide.
One of the last romantic singers working the pop -- as opposed to jazz or rhythm & blues -- markets, Humperdinck these days comes across as a contemporary answer to Dean Martin. He sweats more than Martin ever did, but the seeming informality is strikingly similar, as is Humperdinck's way with a song, particularly on broadly swinging ballads.
There was plenty of kidding around between the ballads, with humor that those who are not fans of Humperdinck might regard as smarmy, and a set of impersonations that included some bizarrely witty moments -- Elvis Presley singing "Wooden Heart" Las Vegas-style, for instance, or Julio Iglesias chewing out his guitar player before mealy-mouthing his way through "To All the Girls I've Loved Before."
In addition to his own big ones --"Release Me,""After the Lovin,' " and so on -- the singer premiered several songs from his new album for Nashville-based Core Records, notably, "If I Could Love You More," the instant-standard "There's No Song Like a Slow Song" and duet "Healing" with daughter Louise Sarah Dorsey. A couple of songs from the singer's latest album, '50s hits "Too Young" and "Unchained Melody," went down especially well.
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