Virgen: Phil Shane brings plenty of energy, fun

You can’t go to a Phil Shane show and sit still. His energy and entertaining performances cause you to get up and dance or at least wiggle in your seat.

He is the ultimate lounge singer.

I’m a Phil Shane fan. No doubt about it.

It amazing to see that this small, 67-year-old man can still bring it and sing it. He’s everyone’s friend, a star and a treasure.

Shane is coming to Orange County this week. He’ll be at La Cave in Costa Mesa on Friday at 10 p.m. He’ll also perform at Baja Blues at the OC Fair for free shows (with paid admission into the fair), from 8 to 11:30 p.m. Aug. 12 to 16.

The theme of the OC Fair is “One Big Party.” Go to his show, and you’ll experience that.

“It’s adrenaline,” he said of where he gets all his energy from. “I get up there, I can be tired, but the crowd’s there and I just get pepped up. It goes all night. That’s it — it’s from the crowd.”

I have many favorites from Shane. He can sing “Kiss” by Prince and nails it with a Tom Jones cover-like flair.

One time, I requested that he sing Stevie Wonder’s “Superstitious,” but he told me that was not in his library and instead floored me with “Suspicious Minds.” Basically anything Elvis, Shane will do well. Also, Neil Diamond.

It’s not really cover-song performances, as Shane puts his own touch on it.

All us Phil Shane fans became excited when the recent song “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson (featuring Bruno Mars) came out because we knew he would deliver a great performance of it.

After all, the song has the repeated hook: “Hot damn!”

That’s always been Shane’s signature statement. He says it when he’s in the zone. He says it a lot.

That song is an indication that Shane can attract fans who are young and not-so-young.

He also likes to sing Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines.” That will get you to dance.

“I love anything that makes you feel good,” Shane said. “I like happy music. I don’t really like depressing songs. I just want something that makes people feel good. So it’s not one genre. It’s just feel-good music.”

Music is Shane’s life. He left Orange County a while back to pursue his songwriting and singing career in Tennessee.

Shane’s love for music started when he was 5. His grandmother took him to an all-night gospel sing-a-long, and young Phil began to sing.

When he was 11, Shane played guitar after growing up with the piano. He joined a band when he was 13, and soon he was performing five nights a week.

In his younger years, he lived in Las Vegas, where he also performed for about 10 years.

“I never had another job,” he said. “I’ve never done anything else. This is my life.”