Concert review: Jesse McCartney

07/12/2005 7:45 AM, Reuters
Craig Rosen

It would be easy for cynics to dismiss Jesse McCartney's hourlong set Sunday at the Gibson Amphitheater as lightweight pop. But the thousands of screaming teen and preteen girls who attended the singer-actor's tour closer would likely argue that would be so totally wrong because he's so cute and he has some pretty good songs.

McCartney -- no relation to Paul -- is the male version of Hollywood Records labelmate Hilary Duff, who used her "Lizzie McGuire" TV series as a launching pad for her music career. He may have had a role on "General Hospital" at age 12, but McCartney found his first major success as a member of the baby boy band Dream Street. His solo debut, "Beautiful Soul," was released in September, just as McCartney gained more exposure with a high-profile role on the WB series "Summerland." The pump had already been primed with song placement on a few teen-oriented film soundtracks.

That exposure helped fill the amphitheater to 75% capacity Sunday with the sort of passionate young fans who would give record company executives hope for the future of a business whose health is debated daily.

At his best, the 18-year-old, his five-piece backing band and two backup singers offered the sort of light funk with which Maroon5 and Justin Timberlake have scored hits. In fact, Timberlake seems to be McCartney's obvious role model, as he made the move from a group to solo success with a mix of danceable numbers and blue-eyed soul ballads.

The one essential thing missing from McCartney's arsenal is dance moves. Although his surfer-boy good looks kept the mostly young female crowd shrieking throughout the set, it wasn't until the evening's final number, "Get Your Shine On," that McCartney opted to get his freak on with the two female backup singers and showed off some basic if unspectacular footwork.

While McCartney's voice was strong through most of the set, he did have trouble hitting the high notes on "Take Your Sweet Time," which he sang to a young female fan he invited to the stage. Still, it's unlikely that most of his fans noticed or even cared about that. They were probably too busy thinking about how lucky that girl was to be plucked out of the audience and receive a pat on the knee and a hug from dreamy Jesse.

With only an album's worth of material to draw from, McCartney's set -- including the encores -- ran only an hour, ending by 9:45 p.m. It was probably just as well for a good portion of his fan base. They may be on vacation from school, but some of his fans still had to get up in the morning for summer camp.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter