KLAC toasts its format with ‘Martinis’

“Mistletoe and Martinis” was the perfect title for radio station KLAC-AM’s first anniversary concert celebration of its current “Fabulous 570” format Sunday night at the Universal Amphitheatre. With memories of Ol’ Blue Eyes, Dino, Sammy, Mel and Nat drifting through the packed theater, a second-generation Sinatra, Cole and Torme on stage and a program showcasing the Great American Songbook, the notion of grasping a martini and kissing under the mistletoe seemed exactly on target.

But there was more. The station’s success in creating a format reaching beyond generation-limited golden oldies scheduling was clearly displayed in the presence of revival swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and pop- and blues-based singer Steve Tyrell, opening for headliners Natalie Cole and Frank Sinatra Jr.

Add to that the onstage presence of various KLAC disc jockeys -- including Daisy Torme, Mel’s daughter -- an enthusiastic, age-diverse crowd reveling in the music, pre-concert partying and swing dancing, and the evening made a convincing case for the crossover potential of the station’s new format.

Each artist did what he or she does best. The Voodoo Daddies jammed through tunes such as “Minnie the Moocher” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing),” filling the aisles with gyrating jitterbug dancers. Tyrell’s laid-back, folksy style found the heartbeat of, among others, “This Guy’s in Love With You” and “Georgia.”

Cole, consistently displaying her jazz chops, romped through “Let There Be Life,” “Teach Me Tonight” and, of course, “Unforgettable” (sung with video projections of her father) and “The Christmas Song.”

Closing the long, engaging evening, Sinatra -- his voice eerily reminiscent of his father’s sound and style -- uncovered the rarely heard “Whatever Happened to Christmas?” adding a strutting “New York, New York” and, best of all, a dark, atmospheric “One for My Baby (And One More for the Road).”