DK in LA, Greek Theatre 7/17/04: SETLIST and brief review

[mapache61]

When the tour dates were announced, we knew this would be our only chance to see Mrs. Costello in 2004. So over the weekend, my girlfriend Joni and I indulged in a double-dose of DK at the Greek Theatre! Tickets came courtesy of Joni's employer (the local jazz station here in Long Beach, CA) and a great price on ebay for a nice pair of Sec A/Row K seats.

We live about 30 miles south of the Greek (an eternity in LA traffic) and decided to spend the weekend at a motel in the Hollywood/Los Feliz area, near the venue. While the pimp-n-ho clientele at the Dunes Motel on Sunset Boulevard may have been questionable, there was no doubt about Diana, baby! The lady was on FIRE Friday and Saturday nights...WOW! I ask you, does any jazz artist in the world play piano and sing better than this woman? I didn't think so.

On Friday, I forgot my pen and paper and was a bit too bombed to take notes. But I got my act together Saturday night and got it all down.
So without further delay, I present the complete set-list from:

The Greek Theatre, Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, July 17th, 2004
- Instrumental
- All or Nothing at All
- Stop This World
- The Girl in the Other Room
- Abandoned Masquerade
- I'm Coming Through
- Temptation
- East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)
- I'll String Along With You
- Let's Face The Music and Dance
- Devil May Care
- Almost Blue
- Black Crow
- I'm Walkin' (Fats Domino)
ENCORE I
- Narrow Daylight
ENCORE II
- 'S Wonderful
- Frim Fram Sauce
- Departure Bay

Ok, I may have been tanked on one too many $11 Heinekins (highway robbery!), but I could almost swear this setlist is NOT identical to Friday night's. However, Joni insists it is. I don't remember hearing "I'm Walkin" on Friday (an excellent choice, by the way), so if anyone does, please let me know.

Random notes on the shows:
- Diana looked fantastic! Friday, she wore a slinky black dress -- straight hair and big bangs (see photo in today's LA Times) replacing the wild-sexy-curly GITOR cover look. But she looked most comfortable Saturday, in faded jeans and a dark blue blouse with a white Kimono-like flower pattern.
- After the opening improv instrumental, Diana remarked dryly, "I don't know what it's called yet...that's the name of it."
- Peter Erskine is a man posessed! He was all smiles as he put his own stamp on a superb "Stop This World." I've seen Diana live a dozen times now (with and without a drummer) and Jeff Hamilton is the only one who compares.

Ok, I've gotta wrap it up.
More notes on the way tomorrow or Wednesday.

In the meantime, there were Diana concert reviews today (7/19) in the L.A. Times (beautiful photo, too bad about the review) and the Orange County Register (nice write-up, too bad about the outdated photo). Maybe Bud in Virginia can provide links?
mapache61

[TheViolinSkirt]

Unfortunately, you have to be registered for both sites to view the articles/pics online.

[JUSTADKFAN]

Hi, Mapache61:
My wife and I were at the GT on Saturday too. I was a little tired after driving 6 hours from Phoenix. After checking in and leaving the kids in an Anaheim hotel, my wife and I arrived too early to the theater (around 6:30), because I was under the impression that the show would start at 7:00. And then we were not aware of the "special guest", Ollabelle. I don't underestimate this new band, but we were eager to see Diana performing her music. In fact, I liked one of Ollabelle's songs (Elijah Rock, I think). So we had to wait 2 hours to see her (drinking $ 11 Coronas of course). You were Luckier than us, we were too far from the stage at section C, almost at the benches area. Could not get better seats this time. What you described is correct, the night was perfect and Diana did not dissaponted us at all. She's so great, so I expect to see her soon again anywhere.

Regards

Armando

[mapache61]

Armando --
Glad you made it to the show! I'm sure you'll agree Diana made the drive worth it. Actually, we didn't see Olabelle either night. But I did hear their last few songs (sounded good) from the concourse area while I gulped my refreshing $11 beer, and considered it a bargain when I laid eyes on the $40 Diana t-shirts!!! Too rich for my blood. But I did pop ten bucks for the tour program, which has some fantastic pics. I highly recommend it to anyone seeing Diana down the road somewhere.

Armando, we saw the show from your perspective on Friday night -- in the rear of Section B. I left my binoculars in the car, but thankfully the big screen videos saved the night. As someone mentioned in another review, one of the on-stage cameras had a great shot of Diana's fingers dancing across the keys. This was crucial, since we sat in the RIGHT sections on both nights, facing Diana. Cheers to the camera crew!

More random thoughts on the show:
- After the sweet opening instrumentsal, Diana slipped into All or Nothing at All, and one of the night's many extended piano jams. With Diana pounding out big beautiful chords on her Steinway, you couldn't have asked for a better opening number.

- On Saturday (up close), I became fascinated with Diana reaching into the piano to dampen the strings and plunk some raw notes. I'm not a pianist and have never seen anyone do this. Am I alone here? Has Diana been taking lessons from Jerry Lee Lewis?

- The Band: As I said earler, Erskine was lovin' every minute of it. It took me a few shows to become an Anthony Wilson fan (Russel Malone is still tops), but these days I'm starting to watch Wilson quite a bit, and man can he play! He coaxes some strange stuff out of that Gibson, and I like it.
I'm pretty sure I've never seen Robert Hurst on bass before, but this guy was nimble on the fretboard. However, Christian McBride was sorely missed on "Temptation."

- Next time you're in the area, I recommend these Greek Theatre area bars and restaurants: The Dresden Room, The Derby and Vermont Restaurant.

- Diana Quotes:
As another reviewer pointed out, on Friday night Diana messed up a piano part and yelled, "Sh*t!" -- then without missing a beat, asked the crowd, "Charming, aren't I?" This got a good laugh.
- Saturday, a woman in the crowd yelled, "I love you Diana!" DK snarled back, "I'm difficult." Big laughs.
- She talked about Elvis, called him "My favorite songwriter." Said he was on stage in New York.
- She also talked about one of her GITOR muses: Vancouver Island. Last month, Joni and I spent three days in the great city of Vancouver and listened to GITOR quite a bit. So when Diana said, "Here's some blues for the wilds of British Columbia..." and launched into a smokin' version of Fats Domino's "I'm Walkin" -- we were with her every step of the way.

I must say that some of the weekend's most surprising highlights came during the new material. Diana cares about these songs...and it shows. I, for one, can't wait to hear the next album DK's got up her sleeve.

All in all, a great weekend that could've only been better if we'd driven up to the Santa Barbara Bowl on Sunday night. If anyone went to this concert, I'd like to read about it.

Diana is putting on one hell of a show these days. Don't you dare miss it.
mapache61

[mapache61]

Violin Skirt, here's the LA Times review:

Talent, fine-tuned
Versatile Diana Krall veers down the songwriting path in collaboration with her rocker husband, Elvis Costello.

By Don Heckman, Special to The Times

There was a time when it was clear what to expect at a Diana Krall concert — a collection of standards and jazz classics, sung and played with rousing spirit, elegant swing and improvisational invention.

All those qualities were amply present in her performance at the Greek Theatre on Friday night. If anything, Krall, as she approaches her 40th birthday later this year, has continued to fine-tune her world-class jazz singing and piano playing.

But there were other elements in the concert as well. Her latest album, "The Girl in the Other Room," showcases a newly emerged aspect of Krall's skills: her work as a songwriter, mostly in partnership with her husband, rock performer Elvis Costello. And, understandably, she included several of the originals from the CD.

Which made for an evening with a sometimes distractingly split musical personality. Krall started with an instrumental — untitled, she said — giving her and the fine accompaniment team of Anthony Wilson, guitar, Robert Hurst, bass, and Peter Erskine, drums, an opportunity to warm up and stretch out.

She followed with "All or Nothing at All," its declamatory phrasing allowing her to punch out the melody with the propulsive drive of a jazz horn. And when she spun into her piano solo, her lines were filled with delicately roving curlicues, interspersed with sudden chordal bursts, an impressive example of her growing maturity as an imaginative improviser.

Krall was equally compelling in the other standards on the program: an atmospheric "Let's Face the Music and Dance," a gently rocking "East of the Sun" and a Nat King Cole-inspired "I'll String Along With You." And a pair of numbers by two of the jazz world's best songwriters — Mose Allison's "Stop This World" and Bob Dorough's "Devil May Care" — afforded Krall the opportunity to reveal the wit and whimsy in a lyric.

The material from "The Girl in the Other Room" CD was a different matter entirely. Songs such as the title tune and "Abandoned Masquerade," co-written with Costello, were dramatic departures from the Great American Songbook numbers that have been the foundation of Krall's career. Filled with busy, inward-looking lyrics, the new songs occasionally offered unexpected twists of melody — a tribute to Krall's budding composition skills but less effective as a full-fledged vehicle for her superior interpretive abilities.

Costello's "Almost Blue," Tom Waits' "Temptation" and Joni Mitchell's "Black Crow" were better, in part because they were dense enough to provide sufficient creative stimulation. Like a rendering of Mitchell's "A Case of You" that Krall has performed in previous appearances, they were revealing indications of her capacity to expand repertoire into more current material, so long as the material provides enough musical challenge.

Krall's "The Girl in the Other Room" CD has cracked the million-copy sales ceiling, so it's hard to argue with success. But the musical value of this pop-oriented stage in Krall's performing career is more visible, ironically, in the growing sophistication of her jazz piano and singing, rather than her capacity to prove herself as a genre-crossover performer.

[coolguy3]

Hey Everyone! I finally have some time to make it back into the Krallian fold, as life has been crazee recently. Remi and Lindsay - great work on this "new" site!!!!

My sister, who was visiting from Baltimore, and I attended both of DK's shows at the Greek Theatre. Both nights, she and the band were INCREDIBLE!!!! I'd never heard Robert Hearst play before.....wow...unbelievable bass player!!!! Of course, Anthony Wilson was totally amazing, and Peter Erskine, whom I remember from his Weather Report days, was superb, adding rhythmic textures and colors so tastefully....and Diana....well, what can I say....we all know how great she is!!!!

We were seated up in the bench section, in the center, which is actually a great location - clear view to the stage and perfect sound. With opera glasses, we were right on stage with the band

Friday's performance was marred for a few minutes by the person in the lighting booth behind the benches turning on either a radio or TV during the show. The usher said something about the noise being the spotlight - problem is, spotlights don't talk! Many of us nearby complained, and finally a security guard was summoned....after he paid the offending individual a visit, the unpleasantness ceased. Fortunately, there was no such problem on Saturday night....funny how the spotlight didn't talk again!

Also, the band touring with her, Ollabelle, was very good....they have a unique "mountain music" sound, and are all talented players and singers. If you have not heard their music, check them out at www.ollabelle.net - nice stuff!

Since reviews/set lists have already been given, no need for me to post the same thing again, so I will just say, if you read this, Diana - THANK YOU DIANA for coming to LA this summer!!!! It's been nearly 2 years (8/17/02) since the last time I saw you perform (Santa Barbara Bowl), and I was in desperate need of a Diana Fix!!!! Ahhhhh.....ya hit the spot, my dear! I missed you last year when you played here....I think it was Anaheim?...in July, as I was visiting my family back east at the time.

One question I have, though - why were the T-shirts $40 this year?!!!! They were $20 two years ago....jeeze, 100& inflation?!

All in all, it was a weekend well spent, being absorbed into the sounds of great musicians pooling their talents, with Diana, The Jazz Princess Herself, as the star she has so rightfully become!

CG3, over and out for now