Did you miss the memofi The Air Supply concert at the SCERA Shell on Monday night was a family affair.

The SCERA Shell grounds filled early on the uncharacteristically frigid beginning of summer. Plaid comforters and fleece blankets overlapped on the hillside, creating a quilt of fans. But you had to wonder, were some of them even alive in the early 1980s when Air Supply ruled the airwavesfi

First, there were the cuddly couples.

Jack and Diana Stephens of Salt Lake City, perched stage left, eagerly awaited the songs they fell in love to. Married in 1983, the Stephens are a product, literally, of Air Supply’s romantic lyrics.

Then there were the throngs of women.

“I don’t mean to sound like a horse breeder, but normally we get a lot of females,” Air Supply guitarist Graham Russell said during a backstage interview before the concert.

But among the crowd of 4,000, there were flirty teenagers and rambunctious children as well.

Had they heard Brad Pitt sing “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” in the film “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” last yearfi Perhaps. But like many bands of the ’80s, Air Supply songs are well-known, but the individual band members are not.

The youthful crowd giggled at Russell’s esoteric introductions, such as this one for “Faith in Love”: “The music is the thunder in our hearts. Behind the thunder is the goddess of love. She holds the dove of peace and she’s going to let it go.”

Others drew their sweatshirts over their eyes when lead singer Russell Hitchcock “shook his tail feather” in red leather.

Whatever the varied opinions, Air Supply has stood the test of time. Touring for around 30 years, Russell and Hitchcock have outlasted many of their one-hit wonder peers.

In fact, the duo are hardly “one-hit wonders” like the Tommy Tutones of their time. Many in Monday’s crowd may have been surprised to hear Air Supply croon songs that are still requested on stations all over the nation.

The five songs that have reached multi-million play status on the radio were all performed Monday night.

“You don’t realize how much they did,” said audience member Mark Standefer, of Provo. “I searched online last night and thought, ‘They did thatfi’ “

In its debut performance at the SCERA, Air Supply pleased the mixed crowd with a mixed setlist. Hitchcock built momentum slowly but surely with “The Power of Love,” “Just as I am,” and “Even the Nights are Better.”

Love ballads certainly continue to be the duo’s one and only forté as they lullabied the crowd with four new hits: “Faith in Love,” “Miracles,” “The Future” and “Goodbye.”

A short instrumental interlude undoubtedly made some in the crowd restless, wondering whether it was worth it to brave the chilly air for cheesy love songs.

All it took was a change of clothes for Russell and Hitchcock — a pink silk shirt and red leather pants, respectively — and a “Two Less Lonely People” singalong for patrons to start thinking they got their money’s worth. But then Hitchcock exposed his chest, showing off wrinkly tattoos and the thought was amended to, “more for my money, definitely!”

Somehow, the red leather boosted the duo’s confidence because for the remainder of the show it seemed there were 4,000 less lonely people in Orem.

Russell and Hitchcock went out and mingled with the audience for “The One That You Love,” stopping for hand holding, cheek kissing and photo taking. Star-struck children screamed like Clay Aiken had just entered their presence.

The pizza parlor singalong continued with “Lost in Love” and “Every Woman in the World,” and arms swayed in unison to “Making Love Out of Nothing at All.”

The “I’m-so-lost-without-you, I-can’t-live-without-you” motif of every song got a little old, but kudos must be given to two men, who, after so many years, can still interact with a crowd and make women swoon with their leather and silk combination.

A few patrons trickled out before the encore, but diehard fans, whether for nearly 30 years or for one hour, stuck around for the requisite encore of “All Out of Love.”

“People go to Air Supply concerts and think they’ve heard every hit song,” Russell said before the show. “That’s never the case.”

And so the crowd roared upon Hitchcock’s suggestion that the duo return to the SCERA next year. Although it’s not clear how Russell and Hitchcock did it, Air Supply was every man in the world for Utah Valley families Monday night.

Air Supply

May 29, 2006

SCERA Shell

1. Power of Love

2. Just as I am

3. Even the Nights are Better

4. The Song

5. Here I am

6. Chances

7. Faith in Love

8. Miracles

9. The Future

10. Goodbye

11. Sweet Dreams

12. Two Less Lonely People

13. The One That You Love

14. Lost in Love

15. Every Woman in the World

16. Making Love Out of Nothing at All

Encore

1. All Out of Love