Live review: Plastic Ono Band and friends at the Orpheum

Near the end of two nights of tributes to herself, Yoko Ono lay on top of a grand piano, Lady Gaga by her side. The 77-year-old legendary widow uttered her signature ululations, while the 24-year-old pop star wailed in that big voice of hers.

For the first time in an evening of poignant, strange and thrilling star turns, Ono seemed slightly disarmed and tickled -- like at last she’d again found a collaborator equally capable of making mischief and merry. At the end, they lay in each other’s arms, two notorious provocateurs in a surprisingly tender embrace -- a pose not unlike that snapped by Annie Leibovitz 30 years ago, when a naked John Lennon cuddled his wife, Ono.

The two songs by “Yoko Gaga” -- as one fan shouted, to Ono’s amusement -- capped an almost three-hour (including intermission) Orpheum Theatre show Saturday that ranged from sublime to self-indulgent. The evening was billed as a performance by the Plastic Ono Band, the amorphous supergroup Lennon founded in 1969. Sean Lennon has taken over his dad’s role as musical director; looking increasingly like his father, he led a gifted psychedelic funk band — including the musicians Yuka Honda and Cornelius — and supported a diverse array of talents, such as introspective actor Vincent Gallo and New York noisemongers Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore. The stage abounded with women and Asians, evidence of the integration Ono pioneered.

Coming on the eve of celebrations of what would have been Lennon’s 70th birthday, the unstated but obvious goal was to give the woman whom John loved but so many Beatles fans hated her artistic due. The Gaga moment may have been Ono’s ultimate triumph: The Lady who emphatically pushes many of the same buttons Yoko does saluted the woman whose pioneering feminism helped make her mega-success possible: “Thanks for being so brilliant and such an inspiration to so many women.”

But the show also provided ammo for Yoko haters. Gaga’s avant stunts succeed because she possesses enormous musical talent, particularly with her powerful voice. Ono, not so much.

The evening launched with a 15-minute film bio of Ono. (Somewhat creepily, Paul McCartney, with whom Yoko has often had her disagreements, has also been opening his shows with a film bio.) Then the woman of the hour came out, looking fit in a black pantsuit with an angular top hat astride her short hair. She, er, sang songs old and new, including her post-Lennon disco hit “Walking on Thin Ice.”

When Ono did her vocal improvisations with Ornette Coleman’s band in ’68, or with Sean in the ’90s noise group IMA, they made sense as experimental music. But those “yeow”s and “ai-yi-yi”s can be a strained fit for pop styles, even psychedelic funk jams. The first hour was unconvincing.

It’s too bad Ono doesn’t have conventional vocal chops, because the show’s second half proved she can write some pretty great conventional songs, along with the unconventional. A smorgasbord of artists captured her range: Actress-author Carrie Fisher found the show-tune melody in the feminist parable “What a Bastard the World Is.” Experimental duo Tune-Yards de- and re-constructed the hippie anthem “We’re All Water.” Ono demonstrated her ageless ability to adapt to new forms, as she provided the sounds of a woman giving birth while RZA rapped a chilling version of his song “See the Joy.”

Lennon and Harper Simon played a sweet, lovely acoustic duet of John’s 1971 tribute to his wife, “Oh Yoko!” As Simon said, “There’s not a lot of sing-along moments in this show, but this is one.”

The concert ended with another one, an all-aboard rendition of “Give Peace a Chance.” Guests contributed their own versions of the protest song’s verses. Gaga repeated a chant of “gays in the military.” By this point, the baton had been passed to the Lady, in her silver wig and bejeweled catsuit with its see-through behind. “No bottom, Lady Gaga, that’s bottom for me,” the suddenly prudish RZA critiqued in his “Peace” verse, to Gaga’s evident annoyance.

No worries, Lady Gaga: As Ono could tell you, change breeds haters. And at least today’s pop Jezebel doesn’t have to wait 40 years for the world to kiss that bottom.

— Evelyn McDonnell

Photo: Sean Lennon, left, Lady Gaga and Perry Farrell perform with Yoko Ono and the Plastic Ono Band at the Orpheum Theatre. Credit: Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Rich]

AUTISTIC not ARTISTIC!
I attended last night's performance and I can say now unequivocally-YES! Yoko Ono broke up the Beatles!
Glaringly absent throughout was any music nor barely a mention of the whole reason Yoko Ono exists-John Lennon. To sum the WHOLE evening--just because you call something art or music does not make it so!
This was painful beyond belief and the entire event needed a serious pre-show intervention from someone, anyone, with any balls to be truthful as to how God-awful it was! I have heard two cats mating that sounded more melodic!-Seriously!
Note to Sean Lennon: PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE abandon your mother and
make some real music with whatever is left of your genius father!

[Michael Betancourt]

I'd like to add that on bass was Haruomi Hosono. He is internationally known for being the bassist, producer and founder of Yellow Magic Orchestra, who are considered the pioneers of synthpop/electropop. He is also a very well known and respected producer/solo-artist in his native Japan.

[Dee]

Yoko Ono is a fraud. Gaga is a spectacle. Their show not worth watching.

[Robert]

I would have been a lot more moved by the performance of "Give Peace a Chance" if Yoko could get along with Julian Lennon. How can she expect everyone in the world to get along if she can't even make peace with John's oldest son? If we all dropped our weapons, the muslim terrorists would kill us all in a heartbeat.

[Lou]

Actually, Yoko and Julian Lennon are finally getting along, mostly because Yoko stopped being so greedy and finally gave Julian a cut of the Lennon estate. This is, no doubt, thanks to Sean Lennon's influence since Yoko never did much for Julian for decades after John's death.

I'd like to thank this reviewer for an honest review. Usually reviewers are so eager to prove themselves "hip" they don't tell the truth, which is that Yoko has very little musical talent. Her dance hits have been hits thanks to the remixers, not because she's done anything.

Still, her art is what she should be known for. She deserves respect there. It just bugs me when music reviewers try to inflate her musical abilities.

[dean woehrman]

Wow! I guess im in the minority, as always. I saw this show and was blown away. The raw, emotional, artistic expression was inspiring. You were expecting a pop show? Shame on you. Yoko did her thing at top volume. Sean lead an awesome hard rock combo that you just don't find anymore. The electro influence was icing on the cake. The musical variety provided by the guest artists just enforced yoko's message. It all coexisted fabulously. Listen to Yes, I'm A Witch. That album made me a fan, though I always liked her lilting voice ever since hearing happy christmas. peace & love

[Scott Guitteau]

Come on bitter Beatles fans put down the haterade and don't go to a Yoko show looking for John's music. I was there both nights and they were both excellent shows with the RZA in supernatural force fri. night, Iggy another great addition as well, but serious props to Sean and his band who really glued Yoko and her appearing guests together by providing the matrix of master visionary musicians like Nels Cline and Haruomi Hosono just to name a few, I mean come on haters, Yoko is more like Ornette than John, and we all know not everyone goes to see Ornette for a dose of pop. Gaga was a great addition to Sat. night's show and she can really play piano despite the fact I wouldn't go to see her live, credit to her for really bringing 2 great nights to a close and kudos to Yoko for choosing Gaga as a perfect polar opposite,
Avant Garde Vs. Pop, long live them both.

[ocean child]

I went both nights and have no regrets about being there. The show ran the gamut from a rock band just banging it out with great precision and intensity, to performance art, cabaret stylings, and of course, the avant garde. Iggy Pop on night one really did it for me though and Sean's story of Iggy kicking Phil Spector in the leg after Spector had insulted him at a family party at the Dakota before Iggy came onstage was another plus.

For the people who didn't get Yoko Ono's performance, it's important to remember that Yoko was a conceptual/abstract artist before she stepped in front of the mic. She comes from the world of artists like John Cage, Jackson Pollock, Can, and Captain Beefheart. No slight against Beatles' fans, but I think that a typical Beatles fan wouldn't know or have an appreciation for artists such as these. Anyways, she also had a rock solid band behind her, especially with Nels Cline on guitars and Sean playing multiple instruments i.e. bass, guitar, drums, and piano.

Being that the price of these tickets ranged from $60 to over $100 dollars, I find it odd that people actually went to the show with the expectations of hearing Yoko solely cover John Lennon solo numbers or with their arms folded with an attitude like, "prove to me that you're as valid musically as your famous husband".

Maybe it's her fierce independence as an artist and woman that has made people so uncomfortable all these years? But If that's the case, doesn't that defeat the purpose of what John Lennon actually stood for and tried to accomplish as an artist and a musician?

[BVJ]

Disgusting comment up top, Rich. Using "autistic" as a way to degrade someone is vile.

[Canadian Traveller]

I travelled from Canada to attend both nights of the performance and must say that I was completely blown away by each evening's events! It was like a rollercoaster and I have to say that Yoko and company reached me on every level. The person I attended the show with was not as familiar with Yoko and they too were very moved by the concert. We both felt this to be one of the most remarkable events we have ever attended and we've both been to many performances over the years. OUTSTANDING!!!