Bonnie Raitt: Ann Arbor Summer Festival.
This versatile blues, rock, and pop songster was transformed, virtually overnight, from a longtime cult heroine into a genuine pop star when her 1990 album Nick of Time won 3 Grammys. She’s since drifted away from the spotlight, mainly because she’s never compromised the traits that got her all the attention in the first place--her superb taste in ballads and bluesy rockers by contemporary composers and her subtle interpretive skills. She sings with an understated, deceptively easygoing passion, by turns gritty and gentle, raunchy and sweetly soulful. Tonight, she performs songs from Slipstream, a new album showcasing her clear, powerful voice and expressive slide guitar work that includes 2 covers from Dylan’s celebrated 1997 CD Time Out of Mind, “Million Miles” and “Standing in the Doorway,” as well as reggae-influence version of Gerry Rafferty’s “Right Down the Line.” Opening act is Marc Cohn, a reclusive singer-songwriter known for his resonant baritone and his introspective lyrics. His new CD, Listening Booth: 1970, covers classic songs from the title year by Cat Stevens, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Van Morrison, and others.
8 p.m., Hill Auditorium. $35.50-$65.50 in advance at the Michigan League, a2sf.org, and by phone, and (if available) at the door. 764-2538. [map]
