Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Elliott Yamin is the easiest "American Idol" vet to root for this side of Kelly Clarkson. His likability allows him to take risks without coming off as goofy. Among the risks Yamin got away with at the 9:30 club on Monday: crooning "Sharing the Night Together," Dr. Hook's fun but idiotic (how else can you share the night but "together"?) cozy-up single that was originally released 30 years ago this week.

He also pulled off dancing with a giant gecko that stormed the stage during "Movin' On," the first song on his self-titled debut CD. Tracks from that disc dominated Yamin's approximately one-hour set, and most found him trying to conjure a lite-funk, Stevie-Wonder-via-Justin-Timberlake vibe. Yamin, who all night flashed a million-dollar-smile that the tabloids say he got with only $50,000 worth of cosmetic dentistry, shamed neither Stevie nor JT.

"Find a Way," an antiwar plea that Yamin dedicated to members of the military, seemed to be trading on Marvin Gaye's "What's Goin' On."

Yamin, though only 29, repeatedly revealed a weak spot for '70s soul man Donny Hathaway. He dismissed all but the keyboardist from his fabulous large band (led by drummer Glen Sobel, who put on an amazing display of stick wizardry all night) and braved "A Song for You," the Leon Russell gem famously covered by Hathaway. By now most fans in the club probably regard the song as Yamin's own, because he's been singing it since his 2006 "Idol" run.

Most brazenly, Yamin offered up "Little Ghetto Boy," Hathaway's Blaxploitation single from 1972. Its lyrics -- "Little ghetto boy/Your daddy was blown away/He robbed that grocery store/Don't you know that was a sad, sad old day?" -- make for a tough sell for a white boy from Richmond's West End. Then again, no tougher than the Christmas album just released by Yamin, who on this night was sporting a Hanukkah shirt with a menorah and the slogan "Jews Do It for Eight Nights." Again, the guy can get away with anything.

-- Dave McKenna