Bette Midler doesn't need flying carrousel horses or dancing cabanas. Her soaring voice was the special effect that stole the show Thursday night at Van Andel Arena.

But even though the Divine Miss M can mexmerize an audience of more than 9,000 with her hypnotic melodies, her two-and-a-half-hour show is a kaleidoscope of surprises.

One minute she's dishing up the salty humor of Sophie Tucker, and the next she's doing a touching duet of the kiddie-feel-good tune "I Like to Be Told" with a video of the late Fred Rogers. Every number left the audience wondering "What's next?" And somehow she kept coming up with something new and even better.

A really big show

The huge Kiss My Brass Tour, featuring a 10-piece band with five horns, wrapped each song with a rich, big-band sound. It was all framed with a gigantic Victorian amusement park set with hundreds of lights.

Midler arrived on a colorful carrousel horse that flew in from one side of the stage. Throughout the evening, park themes came up, including a huge, lighted-swan, tunnel-of-love ride for "Chapel of Love."

A quartet of sideshow banners introduced Delores Delago, a singing mermaid character who has been part of Midler's concerts for years. This fish-tales segment was one of the funniest and most amazing parts of the show, as Midler and her backup trio, the Harlettes, hopped, flopped and rolled around the stage in their legless mermaid costumes while singing bits of rewritten Broadway tunes such as "All That Shad" to "Chicago's" "All That Jazz." Then Bette made the big "Hello Dolly!" entrance, gliding down stairs in a chair and quipping "Try this, Cher!"

Midler sprinkled the evening with banter, much of it R-rated. She talked about Grand Rapids and told the audience she would like to come back in the summer, short as it may be: "What day in August is that?"

She claimed to be exhausted after the second song, but her vocal power and fancy footwork kept up strong all night. She may not have done the splits like the Harlettes, but the 58-year-old dynamo sashayed around the stage, bobbing her blond curls with more sass than any of the younger singers.

"I'm not retiring, and you can't make me," she repeated several times.

The best song of the evening, hands down, was a torchy, soul-stirring "When a Man Loves a Woman." Midler belted with such intensity that her body shivered like Janis Joplin -- and many in the audience were shivering, shouting and applauding.

Such a voice

She sang several ballads that showed off the clear, rich tones that earned her the Divine moniker. She meandered through a lazy arrangement of "Skylark" and introduced a thoughtful new song about Sept. 11, "Will We Learn," that led into one of the highlights of the evening, a big-band enriched "From a Distance."

But there were plenty of fast-paced numbers as well, including her 1973 No. 1 hit, "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," complete with a smashing trumpet solo. She offered two numbers from her latest album, "Bette Midler Sings the Rosemary Clooney Songbook," the upbeat "Come On-A My House" and the more sedate "Tenderly."

A trio of video screens that could be used in various configurations provided visuals for several songs. There was even an over-the-top Judge Judy segment during which Midler had to answer complaints about her failed television sitcom, "Bette." The video, unfortunately, went over about as well as the sitcom, but it served its main purpose of allowing time for one of the dozen or so costume changes of the evening.

Of course, Midler saved the best for last, with "Wind Beneath My Wings," closing the show and several in the audience waving lighters. Then she came out in knee-high boots for a "Keep On Rockin' " encore, told the audience Grand Rapids was "the happiest town we've been to," and used a transition about the coming of spring to lead into her final, and most recognized song, "The Rose."

It was such a hopeful ending, it made driving home on icy roads just a touch warmer.

Thursday, March 18, 2004
The Farr Side: Diving in with the ultimate diva
By David T. Farr
Sturgis Journal

The Divine Miss M is a true diva.The multi-talented Bette Midler’s “Kiss My Brass” tour is one of the year’s hottest attractions and it’s easy to see why. The show just finished its run through Michigan with a stop at Van Andel Arena last week.

Being a diva is knowing how to make a great stage entrance, and she’s a pro. I didn’t have to tell you that. You already know her persona.

The sounds of soaring seagulls and crashing waves combined with a seaside landscape provided the interlude for her entrance that was surely one to be remembered. Midler descended from high above on a carousel horse while proclaiming she’s “not retiring, and you can’t make me.”

She hopped off the horse in her anchors-away sailor pantsuit and began a brassy little medley of “Kiss My Brass/Big Noise” with her newly-formed Harlettes.

She’s not easy to categorize because she can sing anything. She proved that several times during the multi-media carnival stage production her show is.

She performed several of her well-known theatrical hits, including “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Skylark.” She even dusted off some of her old characters from years gone by like Sophie Tucker, complete with the Harlettes in beach motif. The jokes alone were worth the ticket price. And then, there was Delores Delago, the toast of Chicago.

Midler and the Harlettes were dolled up in mermaid costumes and zipping about the stage in electric wheelchairs. It truly was a sight to see.

She sang several numbers in this get-up, including fishy versions of songs from “Gypsy,” “West Side Story,” “Chicago” and “Cabaret.” I hope this isn’t the beginning of a vaudeville return.

When Midler cast aside the gaudy costuming to focus on her major catalog of hit songs, she made everyone stop and take listen to what a truly gifted singer she really is. Her voice, even at 58, is great. It didn’t show any signs of tiring as she belted out song after song, even on her Janis Joplin-esque versions of “When A Man Loves A Woman” and “Keep On Rockin’” from her movie “The Rose.”

Her performances of “Human Kindness” and “September 11” showed her compassion, and her tribute to Rosemary Clooney on “Tenderly” and “Hey There” was quite nice.

Some of her pop songs have become immortalized in the hearts of many fans, including me. Just watching other fans of Midler’s while she performed “Wind Beneath My Wings,” “From A Distance,” “Friends,” “Do You Want To Dance,” and “The Rose” shown how much she is loved.

“The Rose” is my Midler song. There is something in the sound of her voice and the lyrics to that song that tugs at my heart like only a few songs can do. Seeing her perform it live and fully orchestrated, like an anthem, was nothing short of magnificent.