Back in the Pink, Red, and Green — in Santa Barbara
Portland-Based, Kitsch-Driven Pink Martini Brings Its Holiday Show Back to the Arlington Theatre, in the Band’s 30th Anniversary Year
It makes perfect sense that Pink Martini and the Arlington keep on meeting like this. When the popular Portland-based “little big band” returns to the venue for another of its famed holiday shows, presented by UCSB Arts & Lectures (A&L) on Tuesday, December 17, the site and sound elements will once again align.
Between the group’s beloved and campy retro-global songbook and the Arlington’s campy faux Spanish village decor, good-natured kitsch and artifice will once again conjoin. Maybe it takes a faux village to complete the atmospheric picture sought after when founder/pianist Thomas Lauderdale launched the Pink phenom 30 years ago. Also in the founder spotlight is singer China Forbes, who has been on board for most of the three-decade run, occasionally replaced by Storm Large.
Speaking about the broad age and demographic appeal of his group, Lauderdale said in an interview, “We’ve been really lucky, because we have a sort of a broad kind of repertoire, which is pretty adaptable. We can go from a club to a symphonic setting to a party. We have this broad appeal to people of different ages and even who speak different languages. Most bands don’t really have that kind of spread, and so I think it’s awfully difficult to be in a band where all of the songs sound pretty much the same.
“So, there is that and generally we’re more optimistic than a lot of other bands. A lot of the songs are sad, but there’s sort of a sense of hope, I think, in general, in terms of the band, its repertoire and its presentation. I think that is also unusual.”
The meteoric success story of the band, which has played the Hollywood Bowl many times and other major venues around the world, begins with a hit in France — the Lauderdale/Forbes original “Sympathique.” And they were off and running, building up a discography, starting with “Hang On, Little Tomato,” and an expanding library of music, including Latin, lounge, vintage pop, jazz, classical lite, and other corners, and in multiple languages.
The Lauderdale/Forbes creative pact continued during the pandemic lockdown. They co-wrote the popular new singles “Let’s Be Friends” and “The Lemonade Song” in that period and racked up several millions Spotify hits. Pink Martini — in the pared-down Lauderdale/Forbes duo — was also one of a handful of artists who provided us with live-streamed “house concerts” for the A&L “at home” season under COVID regulations in 2020.
Another aspect of Lauderdale’s recipe book is a respect for elders, international heroes, and legends in the margins. A recent example of its legacy-tending nature came with the release of “I Told Ya I Love Ya, Now Get Out,” a hit for Mamie Van Doren in 1947. They collaborated with the pop queen herself at age 90 in 2021. A short list of significant guests and collaborators over the years includes Phyllis Diller, the great jazz singer Jimmy Scott, Rufus Wainwright, Rita Moreno, and the original cast of Sesame Street.
“When we first started playing, the goal was to appeal to Democrats and Republicans alike, and to appeal to everybody in the family, from the great grandparents on down. I’m really happy that the audience is that diverse. Ultimately, people go out and want to experience a broad range of what it’s like to be an American. Therefore, I think that our audiences are just as much of a spectacle as the show itself,” Lauderdale laughs.
“I like that concept of audience as spectacle, and the idea of dancing with your grandparents. There really aren’t enough intergenerational activities in this country. I think that’s terrible. It used to be that every household had grandparents living with grandchildren, a whole cross-generational situation and everydayness.
“After World War II, that shifted in the country and it became more nuclear in the familial sense, how the household was set up. That was to the detriment, I think, of American society. We’re not one to necessarily honor our history and our predecessors very much, which I think is totally sad and tragic. It’s also wrong,” he said.
Expect a wide age range at the Arlington next week, and a setlist which will likely include “White Christmas” and a samba line version of “Auld Lang Syne.”
The Pink Martini Holiday Show Featuring China Forbes takes place at the Arlington Theatre (1317 State St.) on Tuesday, December 17, at 7:30 p.m. See bit.ly/4gjxHHc.
