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Christopher Cross made history when his debut self-titled album was released in 1980. The album featured the international hit songs Sailing, Run Like the Wind and Never Be The Same. It went on to win five Grammy Awards, including—for the first time ever—the four most prestigious awards: Record of the Year (for the single “Sailing”), Album of the Year, Song of the Year (also for “Sailing”), and Best New Artist. An extraordinary song writer, Cross wrote all these songs and another of the most famous songs of the time - “Arthurs Theme (The best that you can do)” which he co-wrote with Burt Bacharach & Peter Allen and featured in the film Arthur that starred Liza Minelli and Dudley Moore. Arthur’s Theme won the 1981 Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Christopher Cross has also worked with some music greats and shared the stage with some music icons – from Mike McDonald – who sang backing vocals on Ride Like The Wind through to singing backing vocals with Carl Wilson on David Lee Roth’s version of California Girls.
Early in his career Christopher Cross and his band were the opening band for Led Zeppelin and Jethro Tull whilst in 1970 he subbed in for Ritchie Blackmore from Deep Purple for a show in San Antonio.
Thirty years since his stellar debut into the music business, Cross continues recording and touring across the nation, stopping at venues such as the Depot (Salt Lake City). He has released multiple albums and continued to contribute to film and tv soundtracks – including shows such as 30 Rock (he wrote Lemon’s Theme for the soundtrack).
His most recent album, Secret Ladder was released in 2014. The 13 track album, influenced by the likes of Joni Mitchell and Randy Newman, was written mostly with Rob Meurer and again Cross has worked with the finest musicians including bassist Will Lee (of the Fab Faux and Late Night with David Letterman), drummer Keith Carlock (Steely Dan and Toto), guitarist Eric Johnson, saxophonist David Mann, and vocalists Michael McDonald and Jeff Foskett (Brian Wilson’s musical director.
Christoper Cross was terrific and his back up singers and band were wonderful. He's still got that amazing voice and I enjoyed his new material as well as his memorable hits.
Maybe I just had higher expectations, but it seemed like Mr. Cross was just going through the motions of playing his classics from his first two albums. At first I thought maybe age had already taken its toll on his vocal chords. But when he played other (less well known) songs his voice did come alive. If these were new renditions of his old classics, they fell short especially when you're a big fan of his music... The back-up band was excellent but shouldn't be used as a crutch for an uninspired performance...
Christopher Cross was excellent! His musicians were extremely talented; watching Andy Suzuki play the sax and keyboard simultaneously was incredible. The only thing I was not happy with was the order of the songs, they played "Sailing" early on and the encore was a cover of "Imagine" by John Lennon. To hear "Ride like the wind" live was unbelievable.
Yes, it was nice to hear his hits from the past. However, the reason to go is to see this great musician and composer show his stuff.
I had never seen Christopher Cross and this concert was really quite surprising. I saw Chris at the Birchmere which is a smaller venue, closer to a large night club than a theater. Chris sounded fantastic, better than on the radio. He is truly a talented musician and still plays music the way you first heard it on the radio or a CD. I will definitely be going to see him again when he comes around again. Made me go find my old Chris Cross CD's to listen too again.
Gave us the hits and some great songs I had not heard. Fun show!
My girlfriend and I go to 30+ shows per year. It's great to see the enthusiasm and love of the work displayed by most of the artists, especially those whom have been around for a very long time. Cross mumbled his way through his repertoire of "hits", and I felt bad, thinking maybe his voice was shot. But when he played his new numbers, or those old ones I had never heard, he belted some of them out with great strength of voice. It was easy to conclude that he is so k and tired of singing his well known standards, and did so with no gusto. We have seen many many 80's groups who come out and put their heart and soul into every performance, and we have returned to see them more than once. We were in agreement, we wouldn't go see Mr. Cross again, even if the show was free. Unfortunate, but true.
If you are a Cross fan, you will probably be happy with it. If you're on the fence and are curious, I would save your money. Cross has a decent band with him, they do a good job, but nothing memorable. Although Cross has never been accused of having a great voice, his limits as a singer were very obviouslv, he had trouble with some songs - his voice is certainly better on the records - the vocals on "Sailing" were painful. He did some decent guitar playing, but it was mostly repeating a couple of speed licks that he has in his arsenal. He tried mixing in some jazzier numbers into his playlist, with lots of chords and Ill defined melodies. After 75 minutes it all sounded the same, so we left. Sorry, we tried - but it simply was forgettable. even when he was playing his hits. Interestingly, he didn't seem to be into it and gave the appearance of just going through the motions. Virtually no eye contact, and his banter with the audience was fast and mumbling - couldn't decipher it, and the Birchmere is a small intimate venue with a great sound system. Not that I'm into demonstrative performers, but Cross gave me the feeling that he'd rather be somewhere else.
Concert could have been better. I agree with other comments made earlier. The main problem is that the band is too loud and it is hard to hear Christopher's voice. Some of the older songs were re-mixed and hard to recognize. Recommendation: Ditch the band and backup singers (or at least have the music mixers reduce the volumes of the others) and let Christopher's voice come through.
Was not a very good performance at all ! Very unhappy with performance.
Sounds like he did 30 years ago! Love his back-up vocals and great new takes on a couple of old classics.
With the exact pure sweetness Chris's voice always had, his voice shows not a trace of aging. Chris was funny yet mellow, and sang his hits plus more. He played 8 guitars with such expertise. His band was sensational and provided a lovely smooth jazz fusion fitting for Chris's vocals. Two female vocalists provided mystifyingly lovely harmonies. A media screen behind the stage displayed images of scenery, the movie Arthur, and images to provide texture. I adored adored adored this entire concert. Never wanted it to end. Can't praise it enough!!!
Sat five rows from stage, in the the center of the row. When Christopher Cross sang, with little support, the sound was great. However, his voice was almost inaudible when the rest of the band joined a song. Especially overpowering seemed to be the drummer/ drums. Maybe the concert was more enjoyable from farther back in this venue.
Voice is still amazing. Great music. 2nd time seeing him. He's a great musician
Cross did a wonderful show on his 66th birthday (he wouldn't let us sing happy birthday. He just kept on talking!) He did many of th favorites, some in new arrangements and a couple of great new songs,
Amazing talent and beautiful chemistry and music among band members. He's a solid person very grateful and humble of his success. His non top 10 songs would be to 10's if released today - wonderful jazz, rock, fusions His voice hasn't changed in 30 years it's pitch perfect
Great evening with a great musician and band and it was Christopher Cross's Birthday
He sounds just like his records. He is a great guitarist and the entire band was stellar!
High points for me: the musicianship was absolutely phenomenal, played all the hits I "expected" to hear, videos and clips on the background screen were great (e.g. Clip of Chris and Dudley Moore together brought tears to my eyes), very nicely paced show. Low point: show was too short, only 1.5 hours? I could have gone for another hour easy. Inserting a couple more songs like Laura would have made it a near-perfect show. But it was great. Highly recommended for fans of that 80s era music.
I was so excited to see Christopher Cross! By the 2nd song, I told my friend "this might suck" He barely sings, relying heavily on his backup singers...long instrumentals....when he does sing, he doesn't enunciate and if you don't know the songs, you have no idea what he is saying/singing.
