DATE: Friday, September 26, 1997            TAG: 9709260807

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   37 lines

SHERYL CROW BESTS POOR PA SYSTEM, WOWS BEACH

For a medium-sized GTE Amphitheater crowd on a drizzly night, Sheryl Crow wrapped up her current tour with a solid show.

After touring off and on for 15 months in support of ``Tuesday Night Music Club,'' her multi-platinum debut album, and her self-titled follow up, Crow mixed up hits for about two hours.

Crow, who also played a few dates on the Lilith Fair Tour with such acts as Jewel and the Indigo Girls, opened up with the mid-tempo rocker ``A Change Would Do You Good.'' She followed that with ``Run Baby Run.'' Both songs featured tasty slide guitar by Todd Wolfe and Crow's strong vocals.

The lyrics, however, were lost in the shuffle - thanks to the Amphitheater's sound system. Crow had opened for Blues Traveler at the more intimate Boat House. And something was lost in the open, high-tech Virginia Beach goliath.

Which is sad, since Crow writes songs which have a point past their hooks. Her story-telling style suffered when the words were mangled.

That said, she sounded great, and most folks know the lyrics to her many hits, which radio has played and replayed until our brains have grown gelatinous. They sure have great hooks, though.

Crow's voice and guitar playing were notable on the hit ``Leaving Las Vegas'' and ``If It Makes You Happy.'' The latter brought the joint to its feet.

In ``Leaving Las Vegas,'' she cleverly inserted ``Virginia Beach'' into the lyrics. Everybody fell for it and clapped.

She had a great band, too. Good band. Good show. Missed the lyrics.

Julia Fordham opened up in place of Michael Penn, who dropped off the bill and into never-never land. Fordham, a journeyman singer-songwriter from England, seemed like a nice lady with a good voice. She drew appreciative applause. It would have been nice to hear Michael Penn.

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