Ono Triumphs With Sean Lennon’s Help

Whatever you think about Yoko Ono, you can’t fault her timing.

By waiting all these years to make her Los Angeles concert debut, on Wednesday at the Roxy, she allowed enough distance between the past (tied to the volatile emotions surrounding the Beatles and John Lennon) and the present to be taken on her own terms.

And she also was able to employ the most suitable accompanists for her distinctive music: her and Lennon’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, and his band, Ima.

The result was both a fine coming-out party for the 20-year-old Lennon and a long-overdue triumph for the 63-year-old Ono.

It’s the most rocking mother-son combination you’re likely to see. Lennon, natural and at ease on stage, pushed out heavy guitar riffs and crisp electric piano licks, while Ono, frisky and personable, framed her spare, direct lyrics and poetry with her trademark catalog of squalls and squawks.

Long the object of misdirected scorn from embittered Beatles fans, the vocal style Wednesday was presented with remarkable control and expressiveness, and was received with deserved affection by the enthusiastic audience.

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Among them was Perry Farrell, who, along with two members of proto-grunge group the Melvins, joined the band for a gripping version of “Rising,” the title track from the strong new Ono-Ima album.

In the course of 10 or so minutes, the piece cycled from pensive to purgative to prayerful, from release to renewal.

That was followed by an encore of Ono’s 1972 “Mind Train,” a full-funk workout on which a sheepish Farrell did his best to keep up with Ono and Lennon on exchanges of improvised vocals.

It brought broad grins from all three--the perfect image for the evening.