The Music And Setting Made For A `Perfect' Night At The Pier

"Summer Nights at the Pier" with Chris Isaak and Will T. Massey last night at Pier 62/63.

"That was perfect!"

A young woman in shorts and tank top offered that one-line review last night after the Chris Isaak show at "Summer Nights at the Pier" on the waterfront. And she was right.

As Isaak crooned his neo-rockabilly songs and twanged his big guitar, the twilight over Puget Sound was soft pink and blue. Ferryboats glided on the water, and the bold Seattle skyline softened as lights began to twinkle after sundown. A cool breeze, carrying the salty aroma of the sea, was especially refreshing after the record hot day.

Add to that delightful setting the showmanship and good fun of Isaak and his tight, rocking band - as well as some surprisingly beautiful, touching songs - and you have as near a perfect concert experience as you can imagine.

The boyishly handsome Isaak, who has become a star the past year as a result of the smoldering hit ballad, "Wicked Game," cultivated a hip, silly image, with his iridescent green suit, funny, offbeat stage patter and good-time songs like "Dancin'," "Voodoo" and "Gone Ridin'."

Isaak and his tight four-piece band had a rave-up with a wacky medley of oldies - including "Woolly Bully," "California Sun" and "Spinning Wheel" - and at one point invited 10 or so women from the crowd up onto stage to go-go dance to the music. Isaak was the wildest mover of them all, bobbing his head and bopping on one leg across the stage.

The charismatic singer came across like a reincarnated '50s heartthrob, a pug-nosed cross between Duane Eddy and Elvis Presley. His songs floated on big guitar sounds, with lots of twang and rumble, and sometimes he sang in a cool, pure falsetto that was breathtaking.

While most of his generous set was made up of short, punchy rockers, some of the best moments came during the ballads, especially the moody, plaintive "Wicked Game" - which ends with the hopeless declaration, "Nobody loves no one" - and the tear-soaked, moving "Blue Hotel." They showed Isaak is much more than just a slick retro rocker.

His band - in matching black-and-gray suits - served him well, especially his longtime guitarist, James Calvin Wilsey. Drummer Kenney Dale Johnson and bassist Rowland Salley were a potent rhythm section and Johnny Reno graced several songs with fine sax solos.

The show was opened by Will T. Massey, a new Seattleite by way of Austin, Texas, whose first album is out on MCA Records.

The young redhead was full of enthusiasm and showed considerable charm, but his songs were one-fourth dime-store Springsteen and three-fourths rhyming dictionary.

"Summer Nights at the Pier" continues with Robert Palmer and Seattle Women in Rhythm & Blues, tonight; Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Baukman Eksperyans, Friday; Joan Baez and Stanley Greenthal, Saturday; the Lionel Hampton Orchestra and Dizzy Gillespie with Miriam Makeba, Aug. 9; and Smokey Robinson and Rod Long, Aug. 10.