DENVER STILL HAS TOUCH FOR HIS BRAND OF MUSIC
by Nancy Ball
Entertainment Editor
Kansas City Star
4/6/80

John Denver in concert at Kemper Arena. Presented by Jerry 
Weintraub and Concerts West
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     His Rocky Mountain Highness, John Denver packed them to 
the rafters at Kemper Arena on Saturday night for his first 
Kansas City concert since 1975.
     For two hours Denver, surrounded by his nine musicians on 
a center stage, held his audience in near-reverence with songs 
about love, leaving and coming home. He inspired them with 
humanitarian themes. He got them hootin' and stompin' with 
hoe-down bluegrass and even a little (ugh!) disco-rock.
     It was a glossy, well-rehearsed show with nary a note of 
real spontaneity, as predictable as his new RCA album, 
"Autograph" is trite.
     Now that he's 36, Denver's freshfaced sales job is 
wearing a little thin, but the blond folk singer has sold 
millions or records since his first LP was released in 1969, 
eventually taking peace, love and conservation to Las Vegas 
showrooms and television specials with Frank Sinatra and the 
Muppets. Both live and on records, Denver has continued to 
overcome the simplistic sappiness of many of his ballads with 
what seems like almost ingenuous sincerity, even though his 
detractors are quick to point out that Denver is socially 
concerned all the way to the bank.
     But darn it, has a likable presence, a well-controlled 
tenor voice, and he gives his fans plenty of his time, even 
though his performance has become a little mechanical.
     The crowd loved him. Even at his most saccharin, Denver 
is very, very good at what he does, whether you like it or 
not.
     The show started about 30 minutes late, presumably to 
allow the crowd time to get through the tangle of traffic 
outside. After the approximately 17,000 people inside had laid 
out a top price of $12.50 for tickets, around $2.00 for 
parking and $4 for glossy color program books, an announcement 
that no smoking would be allowed in the auditorium added 
insult to injury for a lot of folks. (I'm a non-smoker, so 
anything negative I feel about Denver's art has to do with a 
genuine reaction, not two hours of nicotine deprivation.)
     On top of that, the stragglers were not allowed to be 
seated while Denver was singing - as if his opener "Starwood 
in Aspen" were the national anthem. Though movement was less 
restricted later on, the mood in the hall remained reminiscent 
of high school assembly and/or church.
     The crowd was particularly pleased with "Matthew", an 
oldie with a lot of Kansas farm-boy lyrics, and was ecstatic 
with a pedestrian rendering of "Kansas City."  At times the 
pace dragged, as when Denver gave the band a break after a 
rousing "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" and soloed with hits 
like "Poems, Prayers and Promises" and "I'm Sorry."  But they 
are pretty songs, and throughout the concert Denver's voice 
proved a pleasant enough instrument to carry even the gooey 
"Autograph," which is more like Barry Manilow than John 
Denver.
     "They Say That the Battle Is Over," a preachy song by 
David Mallett about whales and other wildlife, left me feeling 
somewhat akin to a lot of people who may want to stomp on the 
Pillsbury Doughboy. I was uncertain whether my gut reaction 
was to send off $100 to the Cousteau Society or get up and 
yell "Nuke the Whales!"  The message was much more effective 
in Denver's own compositions, the dynamic "The Eagle and the 
Hawk" and "Calypso."
     All in all, Denver did a good show, supported by a superb 
bunch of musicians. It just all boils down to a matter of 
taste, and the show Saturday night suited Denver fans just 
fine.