The Eurythmics' return to active duty has been, if less than epochal, at least not embarrassing. Both on 'Peace', the group's first new album in 10 years, and in concert, the group maintains a professional poise that, if occasionally bloodless, still retains enough emotive force to be enjoyable.
Reconvened for a US tour of blink-and-you'll-miss-it duration -- stops only in Los Angeles and New York -- the group deftly avoids the pitfalls that have befallen so many of their early-80s, video-driven brethren, avoiding both the nostalgia-on-parade of Culture Club and the ridiculous "cutting-edge" stylings of Duran Duran.
Then again, neither of those outfits had anything approximating That Voice. Annie Lennox's instrument remains a remarkably fluid and dexterous one, by turns smoky, soulful and giddy. Only a very small handful of the higher notes were left to her three solid backing vocalists over the nearly two-and-a-half hour set.
Eurythmics '99 is an eco-warrior affair: everyone was done up in camouflage uniforms, with Lennox and partner/guitarist Dave Stewart topped off by silver parkas. Towards the end she gave a speech about joining Amnesty International and/or Greenpeace, who are equally splitting the proceeds from the concerts. The chatter was kept to a minimum, however, as the pair -- backed by four capable if unremarkable musicians -- focused on delivering a frequently rousing show.
It's actually a bit surprising at this distance to realize just how many hits they had, and most of the signature tunes were touched upon, from a bluesy 'Missionary Man' and a slowly simmering 'Who's That Girl?' to an absolutely riotous medley of 'Ball and Chain', 'Would I Lie to You?' and a climactically pounding 'Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves.' Lennox's solo career also got a look-in, via a jaunty 'Walking on Broken Glass' and a stripped-down 'Why,' with just Stewart and Lennox center stage. (Stewart's own solo foibles, not surprisingly, were ignored).
Both eagerly worked the crowd, and Lennox toasted their partnership before launching into a gorgeous version of new single '17 Again' as images of Eurythmics past flowed on a video screen. A muscular and convincing reading of 'Peace is Just A Word' was followed by the inevitable closer, 'Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)', which was, just as inevitably, rocked up.
The crowd zealously lapped it all up, especially when Lennox trotted out her trademark melodramatic/crazed stare at the end of a kicking singalong version of 'Here Comes the Rain Again'. Whether there's a future for Eurythmics or not seemed, at least for one evening, a moot point: for a couple of hours it was the mid-80s again, and that was sweet enough.
