Denver Charity Gala - Fan Reports

September 18, 2004

Back from Denver and seeing Donna in concert. As you know, it was a special event, The Childrens' Hospital. Donna was very moved by it that she mentioned during the show, she visited the hospital during the day. She even called up a few of the kids on stage and dedicated a stunning version of "The Great Love of All" to them. 

The first thing Donna came out saying was she recorded a song years ago called "Denver Dream" and she loved that song. She said to the audience "if you stick around long enough after the show, I might sing it for you!!! The song lineup was:

This Time I Know It For Real
MacArthur Park
Could It Be Magic
On The Radio
The Greatest Love Of All
Someone To Watch Over Me
Enough Is Enough
I Don't Want To Work That Hard
Dim All The Lights
She Works Hard For The Money
Bad Girls
Hot Stuff
Last Dance

- Veronica, NJ

Well let's see where to start? Let's call it a "Denver Dream" concert !

The Children's Hospital event in Denver was not only very posh and sophisticated but very well done. The atmosphere
was like a fantasy land with elaborate decorations and lighting. There was a silent auction, great food and a live auction
that followed. But I must say the highlight of the evening (naturally) was when Donna hit the stage. 

Now about the setup - she had a full band and a nice new set design very simple but effective. The music started with a medley of her hits while a video montage appeared on 2 large screens. Then Donna appeared in the middle of the stage wearing a nicely tailored black tuxedo jacket and pants with a pair of black satin shoes with rhinestone trim. She looked very trim and fit and wore her hair long and wavy. Everyone was commenting on her shoes. One girl kept yelling out "those shoes are TIGHT Donna" over and over again.

She had opened with This Time I Know It's For Real. Then she did MacArthur Park, Could it be Magic and On the Radio (for which she pulled my friend Julie up on stage as a backup singer with 2 other girls). Next she did the classic Enough is Enough Red Ferrari story and duet with Mary (her sister) and Dim All the Lights with no slow part at the beginning this time. Then she spoke a little about the event and the children for which it was for and invited 7 or 8 kids up on stage. She then did a stellar performance of The Greatest Love of All putting Whitney to shame I might add. Then it was Someone to Watch Over Me before picking up the tempo up with She Works Hard for the Money for which the crowd went crazy! Not bad for a bunch of stuffed shirts and evening gowned socialites who you would expect to be very somber. But that's what Donna does to people, she brings out their wild side! Anyway, she finished out the show with Bad Girls and Hot Stuff. Then she left the stage but came back for an encore of Last Dance (of course). All in all it was for me one of her best performances and it seemed like she too had a very good time.

- Kevin O, Phoenix, AZ 

Kevin sent in these pictures to share with all of you. Click any image for a larger version.

 © 2004 the authors/photographer