By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
August 15, 2008
Chris Isaak knows all about his image, and he’s here to set the record straight.
“The biggest misconception about me or my music is that people would come to see us play live and think that I would be some very artsy type who came out in a black turtleneck and sang sad, sad songs very quietly until I broke down in tears and was led offstage,” Isaak says. “In fact, I do sing slow songs and I do sing ballads, but I also have a great rock band and we love to get it swinging, have fun, make jokes and put on a show.”
Without missing a beat, he adds, “Then I break down in tears and am led offstage.”
Isaak, who is playing a sold-out show Saturday at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, has been touring hard for more than two decades. Whether he’s mercilessly teasing his band, Silvertone, dancing up a storm with pretty young things or working the now infamous mirror-ball suit, Isaak does what it takes to entertain the audience.
“I am always aware that we have fans who really don’t miss a show — bless ’em for showing up,” says the 52-year-old singer best known for the hit single “Wicked Game.” “So we always try to make every show a little different and I try to wear a different stage suit every time I come through town, although people always ask me to wear the suit of mirrors. I usually pull it out for at least one song, even though it weighs 36 pounds.”
Isaak has a new album to be released by the end of the year. And fans can also look forward to seeing him stretch his thespian skills in the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’ The Informers.
“That was shot in Uruguay last year with Mickey Rourke, Winona Ryder and Billy Bob Thornton — a lineup of my favorites,” he says. “I plan on seeing it [when it comes out], but I usually fall asleep when I show up onscreen. It can be very embarrassing at a premiere.”
He also has high hopes for a new talk show he’s hosting for the Bio channel called “The Chris Isaak Hour.”
“I’ll have musicians on the show, talk to them and demand that they play,” he says. “I’m also trying to figure out how to use some puppets on the show. We start shooting in September, unless the networks come to their senses or the government gets wind of my plans.”
