Bette, bold and brassy, brings fabulousness to Pepsi Center
By Ricardo Baca
Denver Post Popular Music Writer
Sunday, February 01, 2004 -
Photo: BaltoBoy Steve

If Bette Midler's got a joke, she's got a million. And she's not afraid to use them - all of them.

And she'll even localize them, depending on which arena she's playing that night.

In fact, have you heard the one about John Elway? I guess the soon-to-be hall-of-famer would have been at Bette's concert Saturday night at the Pepsi Center, but he was too busy planning his steakhouse.

Miss M's mood was expectedly fabulous Saturday, and it matched that of her still-adoring audience.

She shouted out to her front-row Cherry Hills fans, sent props to her nearby Hilltop "peeps," and told her "Cheesman Park boys": "I'm glad you stopped cruising long enough to come visit me."

She joked and talked so much that she only made it through five songs in the first 40 minutes of the show. Which is just how she likes it.

Bette made a grand entrance on a floating carousel horse. The stage was decorated like Coney Island, and the brass-and-woodwind-heavy orchestra was playing the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' "Hey, Pachuco!" - only the back- up singers were shouting, "Hey, Bette Midler!"

"I have returned!" she stated majestically, before launching into a comedy set that bombarded Saddam Hussein, Mary Tyler Moore, the '70s and Christina Aguilera.

"I opened the door for trashy singers and big (breasts)," Midler said, explaining that Britney, Christina and the like have yet to send her a thank-you note.

After moving briskly through a loud and proud "Stuff Like That There," - which took advantage of the titular brass in her "Kiss My Brass" tour name - she settled into piano-bar singer mode for her take on the jazz standard "Skylark."

But it was only after hitting "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy" and playing around with "I'm Sorry" that Bette finally touched on her new album, "Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook," with the old-school ballad "Hey There."

The song was the high point of the first act, and it proved that Midler is touring for all the right reasons and not only promoting her latest project - which, nevertheless, is quality.

The rest of the show, song-wise, was dominated by familiar ballads, including the brilliant ("I Think It's Going to Rain Today"), the tacky ("When A Man Loves A Woman"), the inescapable ("From a Distance" and "Wind Beneath My Wings") and the overdramatic and mismatched ("Shiver Me Timbers").

Bette wasn't afraid to shake it, and she did it in style ("Stuff Like That There"), but also while reaching a tad too hard for nostalgia ("Chapel of Love"). Mostly, Bette focused on the parody, the spoken word, and parodying herself via the spoken word.

But the spoken parts and the cabaret elements of the show were sometimes lost in the cavernous Pepsi Center, not known for its acoustics.