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BY JAY SANDERS Z100's Last Chance Summer Dance Waterfront Park Sept. 6
Rarely among popular music forms is there such a division of labor between tasks as there is in Top 40. The roles of songwriter, producer, musician and singer are usually performed by completely different people, and the creative process occurs primarily in the recording studio. Attempts to replicate the music live are an afterthought for many Top-40 outfits. In short, most performances by such "bands" aren't worth a damn. Yet enough Z100 songs got their hooks in me this year that I couldn't pass up a chance to check out some of these acts live. On Sept. 6, I joined 14,000-plus eager Portlanders at Waterfront Park on a sun-drenched afternoon for Z100's Last Chance Summer Dance. I arrived around 3 pm and was pleasantly surprised with the contents of my press packet: a set of backstage/VIP passes. As I was coming in, reggae purveyor Inner Circle was wrapping up. Would the band play the song that got it here, the "Bad Boys" theme from Cops? You bet: extended version, no shame. Negligible performances by Inoj and PM Dawn followed. (In fairness, Inoj's first single is pretty boss.) Next, it was time to throw a bone to the patiently waiting preteen set: Five busted on the scene. The boys had strong dance moves and worked together as a team, though I was fortunate enough to see a more poignant act of camaraderie backstage before they went on; one of them licked his finger, then fixed his buddy's makeup. Their dancing was tight, which explained all the preshow stretching I observed. Unfortunately, they lacked any semblance of personality, as they robotically ran through choreographed dance steps. One other observation (you didn't hear it from me): From the side-stage view, one could hear singin' through the speakers, but lips weren't always movin'. In contrast, rapper Mase stepped up and delivered the day's first inspiring performance. He definitely won the popularity contest. Things erupted when he and his crew mounted the stage, and he proceeded to masterfully maintain this frenzied momentum for the duration of his performance. Mase played songs from his solo album and delivered big-time with his segments of Brandy's "Top of the World" and the set's bone-crusher: Notorious B.I.G.'s "Mo Money, Mo Problems" (hands down the best song on the radio). Panties took flight. As a bonus, Mase dropped his drawers and sported his boxers for a minute. My friend, due to his unfortunate proximity, caught a little eyeful of that package every girl was dreaming of. The low-point of the night (tied with PM Dawn) was Billie Myers. She pulled every stunt in the manual to convey her ferociously untamed "femininity": Climbing the rafters, screaming, hosing off the fans and delivering "in your face" expressions to every camera aimed her way. But even a cover of Nirvana's punk rarity "Teen Spirit" couldn't salvage the wreckage. Her main feat proved to be thinning the crowd a little for Art Alexakis and the Wallflowers. Jakob Dylan's crew concluded the Last Chance Summer Dance with a return to the type of non-manufactured music so rare on Top-40 radio. Yet seeing the Wallflowers play live on every televised MTV event of the last 12 month doesn't leave room for too many surprises. Their cover of the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" was a nice exception, and it was cool to hear it with shitty drumming. They flubbed their duet of "Santa Monica" with Alexakis, and I wondered if it made Art think twice about ditching his old bandmates. The action behind the scene wasn't terribly thrilling. Most bands arrived right before they went on and left shortly after. Exceptions were a few PM Dawners and Billie Myers bandmates who ventured out into the audience in search of a little sweetback. I was reminded of something told to me a few weeks ago about shows like this: "You can't tell what's legit ass and what ain't." The high point of the day for my friend and me occurred when two eager young ladies mistook us for members of the Wallflowers in the VIP lounge. My friend botched this opportunity just as I was about to suggest that, before adjourning to the Porta-Johns, "we go see Jakob." In one of the oddest occurrences, after finishing their set, two dreadlocked and camouflage-clad members of Inner Circle plopped down on the hood of a cop car. They spent most of the afternoon, literally hours, in congress with uniformed members of the Portland Police. Maybe they're not such bad boys after all.
originally published September 16, 1998
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