MUSIC REVIEW
J.C. Chasez still in synch, but star power dims as he goes solo
By Katie Johnston, Globe Staff, 12/22/2003
The mother in the minivan who directed a long, anxious look at the small crowd outside Avalon after dropping off her teenage daughter at the J. C. Chasez concert had no reason to worry: Not only were there plenty of police officers and parents present at the all-ages show Saturday night, but the 'N Sync star started well before 8, was finished by 9, and didn't offer anything more startling than a few hip thrusts and a set of flawlessly synchronized dance routines that seemed over-the-top on the small club stage.
At 27, Chasez is already a veteran of sold-out arena shows, and he knows what sells: catchy pop tunes, finely-tuned choreography, and plenty of costume changes. This is one of his first solo club gigs, though, and the members of the young, mostly female crowd didn't quite know how to react to Chasez up close and on his own. They watched him and his scantily-clad dancers as if the performance were a music video: with a few head bobs and raised arms but mostly mute stillness interrupted by a few seconds of polite applause at the end of each number and a chorus of screams when Chasez reappeared in a new outfit.
This subdued reaction was probably due in large part to the fact that the crowd had never heard these songs; his solo album, "Schizophrenic," hasn't been released. And without the energy of his 'N Sync mates and the fanaticism of the now-defunct boy-band craze, Chasez's star, no matter how cute or catchy, does not shine nearly as bright.
Backed by a five-piece band in green scrubs and a dancer in a skimpy nurse's uniform, he strode out in a white leather suit to open with the throbbing "All Day Long I Dream About Sex." Tinges of engaging reggae, Michael Jackson-flavored soul, and Lenny Kravitz rock 'n' roll followed, interspersed with formulaic ballads such as "Build My World" and the otherwise unmemorable "Come to Me," made instantly familiar by a sample of Corey Hart's mesmerizing "Sunglasses at Night."
Chasez has a decent voice, and the 'N Sync years have taught him impeccable stage presence. With a polished yet genuine gusto, he skipped and strutted around the stage, jumped and twisted in perfect unison with his eight dancers, and shook his curly mop of slicked-back hair.
"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for four of my best friends," he said after singing the fluid "One Night Stand" and shrugging off a fur-trimmed velvet coat and black fedora with a red feather.
He ended with the album's first single, the hip-shaking "Some Girls (Dance With Women)," which surely stuck with his young female fans as they left the show and climbed into their mothers' minivans but might very well be forgotten by the time they graduate from high school.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
