Review: Amy Grant relaxes Orpheum audience

The Orpheum Theatre became Amy Grant's living room Friday night.

Drawing in the crowd with a laid-back approach to hits, misses and some that weren't even fully written, she seemed like an old friend, reminiscing about the past and hoping for the future.

Indeed, Friday's concert -- done to benefit Girls Inc. -- was her first in months. It had a few rocky moments (even she admitted as much) but so much heart the audience couldn't help but love her. Grant, in fact, preceded just about every song with a story -- some funny, most telling, all touching. She didn't shy away from her past, either. She talked about first husband Gary Chapman and admitted his father was the inspiration for many good lines -- including "threaten me with heaven."

She said daughter Millie was the inspiration behind "Baby Baby" and told how she planted fruit trees on a family farm that never seemed to bear fruit while she lived there. When she revisited in recent years, those trees were blooming. The song that resulted, "Better Not to Know," captured Grant's current state of mind.

Indeed, Friday's performance was ripe with new songs -- including one that she had worked on earlier in the day. When it came to the second verse of "Find What They're Looking For," she simply vamped and said it would have something to do with her children. That laid-back approach said plenty about Grant's current state of mind. If she hasn't thought of a title for the next CD, she might think about "Revelations." At 47, she's deeper than ever and filled with introspection.

Interestingly, some of the old stuff had falsetto parts that now sound a bit like a yodel. Grant still hits the notes (in a self-critique, said the audience would probably say she was a "little rusty") but there's a soulfulness that wasn't present before. Even "Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet" had a different resonance.

Grant joked with the audience -- even offering someone in the front row some of her potato chips -- and forgot to plug in her guitar so often the crowd took to reminding her.

Like husband Vince Gill, she's the kind of person who makes those around her feel comfortable immediately. She started the show with an acoustic number (how many performers do that?) and wasn't afraid to start over a couple of times when she didn't get the chords right.

She offered up a cover of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" and sounded like Bonnie Raitt often enough to suggest where her career is headed.

Still, nothing beat those contemporary Christian numbers that made her a star. When Grant performed them, it felt like she was home and we were invited in with her.

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