Alright gang, I know you've all been waiting for this review from me and I apologize it's been a few days - my internet at home isn't up and running, so I've had to resort to using company time to write. I have so much to tell, so sit down, grab a cup of coffee and be prepared to read and read and read...
So first off, I want to tell you that this is BY FAR the best Diana concert I've been to. I think the only concert that could have topped this was if I had been at the Olympia for the Live in Paris taping.
As some of you know, TRX-C, SaxLix and I are very close friends (and that's all thanks to Remi - we only met and became friends through this forum) and we all went to the concert together. SaxLix and I arrived early and walked over to the main tent where Regina Carter and Diana would be performing Saturday night and we got there just in time to hear Diana's sound check! What a rare opportunity it was to catch her in rehearsals. Of course, the area was closed off and we couldn't get too close, but we were close enough to hear her working out the set list and bugs in the sound system.
Regina Carter performed the first concert and she was really great. I wasn't very familiar with her work, but I enjoyed her very much. She was about half way through her set when she mentioned looking over into the wings offstage and spotting John Clayton. Well, upon hearing that my heart started beating out of my chest! I've been a huge fan for quite a few years. A little while later, I knew this would be a special night when just a few minutes before Diana stepped out, I saw Jeff Hamilton! I've been dying to see these guys live for years! I was so excited, I thought I was going to lose my mind.
So Diana stepped onto the stage looking very beautiful and really excited. She was wearing blue jeans with the cuffs rolled up, which showed off a bit of those gorgeous legs she's famous for. She was wearing a silver shimmery top with a silver/gray jacket. She looked drop dead gorgeous (as usual, right?).
Right away she started in on "I Love Being Here With You". She did a little ad-libbing in the song and changed the line from "I love good wine and fine cuisine" to "I love good wine, good wine, good wine" and of course the wine drinking crowd went wild! Next, she played "Stop This World".
Diana paused after the first two songs to chat up the audience. She said, "We're really excited to be here. We've been really looking forward to this performance for a while. And it's nice, you know, because we don't ever drink wine." Of course, that got a big laugh from the audience and band members alike.
Then she introduced Anthony Wilson, and John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton whom she has known and loved for a very long time. Then she introduced the next song that she wrote "with someone I also know and love very well: Elvis Costello", and that was "The Girl In The Other Room". After that song, she said, "ok, that's enough from Elvis Costello and his wife."
Diana introduced the next number: "this next song was written by Nat King Cole and made famous by Tony Bennett", which got a huge applause and she said "Now I'm scared to do it". She sang "Boulevard of Broken Dreams", which made my heart practically stop. I almost broke into tears: it was so moving. She didn't once touch the piano during Boulevard; she was entirely focused on the vocal and emotional aspects of this song. Anthony Wilson took over the instrumental reigns with his guitar solos. This was, by far, the best song of the night.
After Diana melted the audience with Boulevard, she picked us all back up by played the up-tempo, high energy "Deed I Do". Each musician had an amazing solo and the crowd went WILD! After all of the solos, Diana ad-libbed again in this song singing: "Do I love you? Oh my, do I, Jeff Hamilton: deed I do! Do I want you? Oh my, do I, John Clayton: deed I do! I'm glad that I'm the one who found you, Anthony Wilson, that's why I'm always hangin' round you". This got huge laughs from her bandmates and a big applause from the crowd. I think it was GREAT to see her being so playful and silly - it was a Diana I don't think I've ever seen.
After a huge applause that seemed to never die from the audience, she took a minute to just breathe and look at the set list. Then Diana said "I'm just thinking about which tune I'd like to do... Not that I'm asking YOU!" Everyone laughed and not one audience member shouted "Peel Me A Grape", which was probably a great relief to her.
Then she started "Little Girl Blue", which was a great Nina Simone tune. It was amazingly beautiful and a little heart wrenching, I would love to hear this song appear on a future DK album.
Next was "I Was Doing Alright", which was an Ella Fitzgerald tune. It was a swinging tune with a lot of difficult changes and bridges. It was great!
During the crowd's applause, there seemed to be a bit of confusion on stage. Diana looked to Anthony, who looked at John, who looked at Jeff and Diana said "please excuse us for our strange little interludes". She started to look at the set list and looked back over at John and then back at the crowd and said with a laugh, "Who starts this?... It's Anthony, I think." I have a feeling it must have been an inside joke among the bandmates because they were all smirking like mischevious children.
So Diana introduced the next song, "This next song was written by Irving Berlin and I learned it from Fred Astaire". Well this, for some strange reason made TRX-C and SaxLix burst into uncontrollable laughter (it seems the band isn't the only ones with inside jokes
) and that got Diana's attention. She spun around on her bench, looked right at the five of us friends and said "What's going on over there? Am I missing something?" We all wanted to hide under our chairs in embarrassment at that point. Then Diana spun back around to the mic and said "So, yeah... I learned this song from Fred Astaire himself." Then she played "Let's Face The Music And Dance" with a little more ad-libbing, adding: "There may be great wine ahead, but while there's music and moonlight..."
Next, was "My Shining Hour", which I believe was a Sinatra tune. Then came a slowed down, moody version of "Sunny Side of the Street". She ad-libbed again on this tune and instead of "I'd be rich as Rockafeller", she said "I'd be rich as a lot of people I know". She was being really goofy and silly Saturday night and it was absolutely hilarious.
Her final song was "I Just Found Out About Love", which is one of my favorite standards and it was GREAT! She swung it, baby! SaxLix and I couldn't help but rush the stage like a couple of teenagers. At the end of the set, Diana lept off of her bench, literally skipping like a kid and jumped into big hugs with Clayton, Hamilton and Wilson. All four of them grinned like goofy children. It was great to see these four friends having fun on stage.
For her encores, Diana performed "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "I'm Walkin'".
John Clayton and John Hamilton are everything and MORE than I hoped they would be. I've been trying to see them live for a few years and could never get tickets, so this was a great surprise for me. Anthony Wilson is an amazing musician who should be respected for just being able to hold is own in such great company. But he did more than just 'hold his own', he blew everyone away.
This was a really great night - there are NO words for it. The crowd was amazing and I think Diana, et al, fed off of the energy. I don't think I've ever seen Diana so giddy and silly. I felt like we, the audience, were let into her own special world where she wasn't shy, inhibited or aloof: she was just plain FUN! This wasn't Diana Krall: serious jazz musician or press-shy diva. This was Diana Krall: our friend who entertained us on the piano.
by TRX-C on 30 May 2005, 21:30 
