From the S&S archives: Revenge is sweet

TRY AS I MIGHT to find fault with Eurythmics' concert Wednesday night at Frankfurt's Alte Oper, I just can't make the charges stick. Any criticism of Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart's performance — and that of the backing Revenge Band — would be mere nitpicking at a technically excellent and emotionally and visually satisfying show.

Sure, the 1½-hour concert had its low points — like any concert — during which it dragged on just a bit. But the peaks more than made up for them, generating the same electricity that comes across on Eurythmics' albums and videos.

Lennox's voice may have faltered on occasion and she couldn't always reach the high notes. But considering that she's suffering a bout of bronchitis bad enough to have made her cancel two shows last week, according to a record company spokesman, she did remarkably well.

The concert's impending excitement was anticipated from the start, when a giant white zipper was slowly lowered to open the black stage curtains, revealing a black leather-clad Stewart under flashing strobe lights tearing through the first of many hot guitar licks, as Lennox and the band burst into the scorching Sexcrime from the 1984 soundtrack.

From there, the British duo moved swiftly through a string of hits, including an elongated version of There Must Be an Angel (Playing With My Heart), featuring excellent harmonica and saxophone work by Jimmy "Z" Zavala; Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This), with a superb keyboard intro by Patrick Seymour; and the Lennox-Aretha Franklin duet Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves, with Lennox pairing up with backup singer Joniece Jamison.

One of the many high points punctuating the show was the sing-along tune Who's That Girl, during which Lennox dramatically portrayed the plight of the jealous lover to the accompaniment of Stewart's acoustic guitar.

What could also have been a highlight but didn't quite make it was the energetic Would I Lie to You? It was during this tune that Lennox peeled off her shirt and appeared clad only in black leather trousers and red bra, an act which, she said in a recent interview in Germany's Stern magazine, makes her "feel free" on stage.

Wednesday night the erotic potential was missing as Lennox seemed to have lost some of her spontaneity and appeared self-conscious about her near-nudity, moving about hunched over for the most part and hiding her chest, rather than being the exciting performer she really is.

But despite these few shortcomings, the dramatic display of the concert and the songs that hit their mark sent the fans home with the feeling that they had been part of a top-flight session.