Attended the Columbus show last night and as usual our man delivered. It was definitely worth the two hour drive there and braving the chilly temps. My day had started off really bad. Got called 5 times by work in the middle of the night because of problems they were having. So, I got about 3 hrs. sleep Tuesday night. I left work a bit early Wednesday to prepare for the trip and it the midst of prepartions, banged my head really good on a kitchen cupboard and almost knocked myself out. Having a raging headache and being somewhat dizzy I headed for the show. I brough a friend along who had never seen EJ before so I was looking forward to his reaction to the show.
First stop on arrival - the merchandise table. I was surprised by the great selection of items (this was not the case last October on that leg of the tour). I got a really cool shirt with EJ sitting on top of a piano. Though I noticed mine didn't have tour dates on the back, but other people with the same shirt did. Could it be a misprint? Also got a really cool GBYBR t- shirt, which was a really big surprise because EJ tends not to do anything to promote his older material. So, I got one of those and the Crop Circles CD, which I am listening to right this moment for the first time. So far, so good. I didn't get to look too intently at the merchandise as I wanted to find that guy with the wad of tix. No luck, though.
Our seats weren't that great, about 10 rows from the back of the pavillion on the right side. :-( This is an outdoor ampitheatre, but the sound quality was exellent, good acoustics. I was told there was a local noise ordinance and the show had to end by 11:00. I was getting nervous around 8:15, but then the show started and ended at 10:58. Perfect timing.
I won't go into detail song by song, but make a few observations about some of them. It was great to hear Grey Seal and Teenage Idol. I was disappointed that Roy Rogers was replaced by Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy as I never saw Roy done live. Captain was done with a heavier country feel and it seemed that at the beginning EJ was doing the guitar part on the piano. The piano was much too prominent on this song. It is an acoustic guitar song, but you could hardly hear them. On some of the songs, I really wasn't pleased with the sound mix. The drums were way too loud. On songs like Mona Lisas, you could barely hear the mandolin, the piano was drowning it out. In the past we complained about not being able to hear the piano enough, but it was over powering on some of the more guitar oriented songs this time. I don't recall hearing much bass at all during the show. I was glad that the annoying keyboard harmonica sound was toned down during Simple Life. It improved the song vastly. During The One, EJ's great keyboard work at the end was drowned out by guitars (now we get to hear them!). I really wanted to take control of the sound board last night and the video cameras! I have yet to see someone film EJ properly. Everytime he is doing something really cool on the keyboard they cut away from his hands to show some audience member or some other band member that really isn't doing anything all that interesting at that moment. I really don't need to see Billy snapping his fingers when EJ is letting loose on the keyboard! What they should do is have one screen split in two, with one side showing EJ from the front and the other showing his hands on the keyboard. Then have another screen that shows the band members on a rotating basis. This way you can choose what you want to look at. Of course with my seats being so bad, I'm thankful there were screens at all. {G}
OK, complaints are done. {G} I thought standout songs were Sad Songs (like it done fast like this, it really rocks), I Don't Wanna ... (play that piano boy!), Levon (awesome ending), Great Balls of Fire (Jerry Lee, eat your heart out) and Bennie and the Jets (EJ did the over the shoulder behind his back deal, that he did on the 1995 tour, which surprised me, because I didn't think he was doing it this tour. Glad my friend got to see that).
Oh, there was something funny, before Something About the Way... he said this was for all the couples out there or those who just came here tonight to get laid. He said something after that, but I couldn't catch it. Anybody?
I will say too, that Recover Your Soul was much better with EJ doing it solo. Not a fan of The Big Picture album, but that was a vast improvement.
For you fashion slaves, EJ wore a black suit and the shirt underneath had sequence (I think, it was sparkly anyway) collar, buttons and sleeves. Before the last encore he changed into shiny black bike shorts and a shimmering red jacket that had some sequence design on it as well. I have 4th row for Cleveland so I'll be able to give a better clothing description after the next show.
EJ signed loads of autographs. Probably 40 or so. People were just throwing there concert t-shirts up on stage and he'd pick them up and sign them. It was wild. He went to sit down and start playing at one point and a couple of shirts flew up at him. He laughingly said will you stop throwing clothing! Then signed the shirts and tossed them back.
I was really cold before the show, but as soon as the show started I was fine. My teeth were cold from smiling so much, though. {VBG} After the show, my headache returned as well as the dizziness. Could barely walk back to the car. Still managed to drive though. If any cop stopped me I could not have walked a straight line without even having had anything to drink, so I'm glad I didn't get stopped. {G} Anything for EJ, though. Lack of sleep or possible concussion not withstanding, I'd have to be dead and then some to keep me away. {G}
So, there you have it, be on the lookout for my Cleveland report.
Darla
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