Brown can’t get crowd to ‘wake up’

Spencer Patterson

Monday, May 24, 2004 | 8:10 a.m.

A crowd of 1,400 appeared dumbstruck when James Brown finished without an encore Friday night at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.

The sad truth is, the audience didn't deserve one after failing to match the energy of the legendary 71-year-old performer.

Apathetic crowds are hardly rare in Las Vegas. Tourists frequently drop hundreds to see big-name talent, only to chat over beers while the show unfolds before them.

But when you buy a ticket to see the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, you've got to be prepared to put in a little work yourself. Applaud the soloists, cheer between songs and get your vocal chords going for Brown's famous call-and-response sessions.

Whatever you do, don't force Brown to beg, as he did midway through Friday's show.

"Wake up, wake up, wake up," he implored, to no avail.

Even longtime hype-man Danny Ray -- who has made a career of working audiences into a frenzy for Brown -- seemed fazed by the crowd's disrespectful take-it-or-leave-it attitude.

Give Brown tremendous credit, though: Despite his relatively listless surrounds, the man conjured up a supreme effort, proving that he remains a viable live act some 50 years after breaking into the business.

From the outset, Brown looked and sounded quite healthy. The slimmed-down singer wore all black, save for some glittery white trim on his jacket.

Though he never did the splits, Brown pulled out most of his other familiar dance steps, spinning, shaking and bouncing his microphone stand away from his body and back again in perfect sync with the beat.

His voice rang out easily over his 11-piece band and four backup vocalists, with each "Hey!" and "Ow!" a bit more emphatic than the one before.

Unable to draw strength from the crowd, Brown instead looked to the ultra-tight ensemble onstage with him, the Soul Generals, to liven up the proceedings.

Saxophonist Jeff Watkins led the way, heating up versions of "Make It Funky" and "Get Up Offa That Thing" with raging tenor workouts.

Guitarist Damon Wood, whom Brown identified as a Las Vegan, also stood out, contributing a funky solo during "Doin' It to Death."

Less successful were the Godfather's forays into soul -- such as a tepid version of original No. 1 hit "Try Me" -- and his stint on a KORG keyboard during an instrumental take on "Every Beat of My Heart."

Such flat moments were rare, however, and were soon overshadowed by a heated finale that included a three-song medley comprised of "It's a Man's, Man's World," "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" and "Get on the Good Foot" and playful takes on "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine."

Still, Brown's two bikini-clad dancers seemed to generate more response from the room than Mr. Dynamite himself.

When two male twentysomethings perched near the soundboard weren't gawking at the two gyrating females onstage, they made cell phone calls to friends.

It seems the men were more interested in being able to say they were in the presence of a "living legend" such as James Brown than in actually savoring the experience itself.