I went On Friday night. My parents actually took me for my Birthday plus they are Bowl subscribers. The place was SOLD OUT!! My parents were amazed at the amount of people there. Even the crappiest seats waaaayyyyy in the back were filled. I was a little freaked out about being one of the youngest people there and I turn 42 this Monday!!!! I remember my parents yelling at me to turn "Love To Love You Baby" down all the time, now they're excited to see her live lol!!!!
My review:
After telling my parents Donna doesn't have corny dancers onstage taking away from her God given talent, out come 3 frickin' dancers!!! Then Donna appears on the big screens, I can hear my mom saying God, she's beautiful. (yay!) She was. Her wig and makeup were just flawless. Every costume change she did, I thought was beautiful. She even looked thinner to me.
'The Queen Is Back' was horrible. The backup singers sang most of it. Donna just whispered her part (which was inaudible a lot of the time). and there were times where she just would sing anything! That should have worked as the opening song and she should have belted it out at the top of her lungs. By the end of the song, I was actually thinking is she sick, tired, drunk?? Thank God she redeemed herself.
"I Feel Love" is one of my favorite songs. I'm always happy when she does it live, but the arrangement she's been using these past years just doesn't translate well live. That song was an innovator when it came out. Ahead of it's time. It needs all that synth trickery pulsing through out it. Even if they use a pre-recorded backing track from the original, it would still be fantastic! "Dim All The Lights" was it's usual thing minus the slow intro. I wish she would remember both of the verses during the "do it tonight..." instead of repeating the same one twice.
"I'm A Fire" was pure perfection! It sounded exactly like the record. She really proved herself on that one.
I remember seeing an interview a while back where she said that for the tour she was only going to do a few new songs and the rest her hits. To tell the truth, I was looking forward to that, especially with that older audience. But after each new song, I was growing more and more happy that she is doing most of the album. "Sand On My Feet" went over EXTREMELY well! The iPods on stage with the dancers 'inside' them for "Mr. Music" was brilliant! During "Crayons" she explained she named the album that because she's 'out of the box' Uh, aren't Crayons kept in a box though? I'm just saying.
The best part was the stage lighting and imagery. "Enough Is Enough" was amazing with the rain effect and the umbrellas. I did have a moment of agony come over me when she started quivering her lip during "It's raining". If I had to hear that damn 'it works for Barbra' shit one more time I was gonna puke, but she didn't (Thank you Donna!)
"MacArthur Park" (my favorite song in history) was flawless as always. Even her stories were interesting and kept pretty short. The crowd laughed a few times with her. I don't think "Slide Over Backwoods" went over too well, probably because only those who had the CD would understand that she was a different persona singing it. It didn't make a whole lot of sense. Mary's solo was great. A real treat.
"SWHFTM" was cool. "Bad Girls"/"Hot Stuff" always amazing to see Donna straddle the mic stand and kick some ass on stage. I loved it when she strutted off stage with it. But again, can she remember that it's "dialed about a THOUSAND numbers first, then a HUNDRED????
And then "Fame (The Game)" rocked the place. My favorite performance of the night. The shades, the black dress the images on the screen. Awesome! Although, you'd think she'd know how to pronounce Bette (Davis)?? The first song should have had this much energy in it.
I think a great evening was had by all. As the thousands of us ushered our way out of the place all I could hear were good comments about her. I just wish she would reach way back into her catalog and give us more pre '78 songs. Oh! Virgin Mega Store was there selling CD's and I have never seen so many Donna Summer CD's in my life. Every title that was still in print was there in mega quantities. I hope they sold a lot.
PEPE (stolen from the forums) |