| Let's start with the set list because it was different from the last show I saw:
Intro/Changing Of The Guard
The Queen Is Back
I Feel Love
Dim All The Lights
Con Te Partiro
Driving Down Brazil - the first time for this tour
Sand On My Feet
On The Radio
Mr. Music
Crayons
-----Intermission-----
Enough Is Enough (Duet with Mary)
MacArthur Park
Be Myself Again
Stamp Your Feet
Slide Over Backwards (as Hattie May)
Selah (Mary solo)
She Works Hard For The Money
Science of Love
Bad Girls
Hot Stuff
Fame (The Game) - yes, BOTH Science and Fame were in the show!
Last Dance
First, a few observations not directly related to the show. #1 - it was BLOODY HOT!!! And I'm talking about the actual temperature. Thank god there was an intermission - I really needed that 15 minutes to cool down, because it was starting to affect me. I can't even imagine what it was like for all the performers on stage.
#2 Apparently my iPod is psychic and knew I'm A Fire was not going top be performed, because it (over) compensated by trying to play every single version of I'm A Fire I have during the 2 hour drive there and the 2 hour drive home. That may not sound strange until I tell you that I had all of my Donna Summer songs on shuffle play and according to the iPod that's almost 400 tracks. So there was a lot more to choose than I'm A Fire. LOL
#3 Traffic on the Belt Parkway was amazing last night - both ways. I've never seen it that.... in motion. LOL No traffic jams at the airport or the bridge. Most of you probably don't think that's a big deal, but all the locals are picking their jaws up off the floor right now.
Most of what I have to say about the show is similar to what I said about Mohegan Sun, so I'll try to just talk about what was different (or what I didn't mention then.) First of all, I figured out what that opening music is that was driving me crazy - it's Beethoven! I don't usually hear that done with electric guitars and the like, so that's probably I couldn't place it last time. LOL
I Will Go With You - that last note is just amazing. Seriously.
Driving Down Brazil - that was a nice surprise! It's another one that really works live. It's been extended a bit so that Donna can have her costume change. As with I'm A Fire, the dancers come out to keep things pumped up while Donna changes.
Intermission - Cathy why are you writing about intermission? LOL This is why. I didn't get to go to the merchandise table after the show. I was there before when it wasn't really busy yet so I couldn't see what people were buying. I didn't go at intermission either (I was trying to drink my water and cool down so that I could enjoy the second half) but I did see what people had in their hands when they came back to their seats. They had Crayons! Apparently the casual fans liked what they heard and grabbed a copy right there at the show. :-)
Be Myself Again - since my phone wasn't going off this time (PHIL!) I was able to really appreciate this one in a live setting. When I first heard the album version of the song, I almost cried. And I have absolutely loved the song from day one. But I was a little worried about it live. All I kept thinking about (before I ever saw it live) was the casino shows where Donna sings a ballad the casual fans don't know and they tune out and start chatting about their dinner plans or whatever. (It makes me want to reach over and smack people! LOL) So I was afraid that this quiet little ballad would go unnoticed by all but the diehards. Not so! Everybody just gets sucked in by it and they love it! They listen, they don't chat with each other, and they go nuts at the end of it. :-)
Science Of Love - I had mixed feelings about this. When Hard For The Money ended and the music for Science started I was a little disappointed because I assumed (bad thing to do LOL) that if Donna was doing Science then she wouldn't be doing Fame and I really wanted to hear Fame live again. LOL (Yes, the Science lovers can smack me! LOL) But the disappointment only lasted a second. :-) That's another good one live and I think placing it before the Bad Girls/Hot Stuff medley is a good idea instead of placing it after the medley like they do with Fame. I probably won't explain this right, but something about the energy of that song just works better as a lead in to the big blockbuster hits than I think it would after.
Fame (The Game) - so the last noted of Hot Stuff fade into the night, the audience is going nuts, ad I'm expecting to hear the opening notes to Last Dance at any second...... except that's not what I heard. What I heard was the opening notes to Fame. YES! I know I talked about Fame before, but I'm going to say it again - Fame rocks live! It's in a really tricky part of the show between mega-hits and in some crowds even a really good song that is unfamiliar to casual fans will sometimes not get the response that it deserves. Fame is a brand new song and it holds its own between the hits. The energy level of the crowd does not flag for ever one second. It's the kind of song that I think could very easily become as permanent a fixture in the show as Hot Stuff, Bad Girls and Last Dance.
- some crazy person who edits this site ;-)
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