Providence, RI, Providence Perf Arts Ctr, July 10

[Bud]

http://www.livenation.com/venue/getVenue/venueId/1318

[Bud]

Another screwy ticketing system, but this time in my favor!

If you received the Fan Club email, it says early purchase starts on 18 April. Well, I just got in and managed to get front row seats

[Coda]

Congrats, Bud! (Are you going to hold up a sign with the name of the message board?)

[imnoangel1975]

Congrats, Bud! Lucky you!

[cutes22]

Congrats, Bud! Front row seats!

[Bud]

Thanks everyone - very exciting! I've been thinking about a sign - we'll see as the date gets closer.

Actually, I got a front row seat. I'm going solo on this one. Providence is about 400 miles or so away from here, roughly equivalent to the distance between the Bay Area and LA, so I'll be flying up earlier in the day. My wife and I will see her together at Wolf Trap on the following Monday...

[mapache61]

Cool. After the Yoshi's fiasco, no one deserves it more. I've been lucky enough to sit front row twice. Nothing better.

[Bud]

Thanks mapache61 - this will be my first time in the front row!

Just learned that this will be one of her concerts with Chris Botti. Sure hope it doesn't cut into her performance time!

[Bud]

Oddly, there are still tickets available for this show...

[Bud]

I'll put my own run down together of this concert, but for now this is a reasonable summary. My writeup will include something not in this article - I finally got to meet her!

http://www.projo.com/music/content/KRAL ... aa2e.html#

Diana Krall serves up straight-ahead jazz

10:07 AM EDT on Wednesday, July 11, 2007

By Rick Massimo
Journal Pop Music Writer

PROVIDENCE — When you take away the big-band horn sections and arrangements that Diana Krall has surrounded herself with on her recent work, what are you left with? Actually, as last night’s show at the Providence Performing Arts Center showed, a bit more than you started with.

Starting off with a breakneck version of Peggy Lee’s “I Love Being Here With You,” pianist-singer Krall, backed by a trio of guitar, bass and drums, also shed the sheen of opulent production that make many of her records hard to wrap yourself around. Instead, she and her band came up with a solid set of straight-ahead jazz heavy on instrumental prowess and light on the pop-star persona that’s always been part of the Krall package.

“You gotta keep the old chestnuts alive,” Krall said while introducing Irving Berlin’s “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” and while that’s debatable as a general principle, the Berlin tune itself, with its interesting minor-major shift, made a good argument. Krall’s piano solos last night contained as much barrelhouse blues as they did the sleek harmony and occasional dissonance of jazz, particularly on “I Don’t Know Enough About You” and the stride-influenced solo intro to “Come Dance With Me.” Her solo on “Let’s Fall in Love” hinted at some interesting, darker territory over the bridge as well.

She wasn’t the only instrumental star, either. Krall’s bassist, the legendary John Clayton, gave a clinic with each solo on the melodic possibilities of jazz bass, and his bowed playing on “‘Deed I Do” and “East of the Sun, West of the Moon” were spectacular.

Much of the night was given over to songs written and/or made famous by Nat “King” Cole, including “‘Deed I Do,” and “You Call It Madness (But I Call It Love).”

While Krall’s voice is well enough suited to uptempo material, it can get a little cute, whereas on a good tear-jerker ballad she has few contemporary peers who can match her for offhanded, forlorn elegance. “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” was a good example, and the final encore of The Bee Gees’ “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” (an inspired choice) was a stunner.

Even with all this going for her, the set list still was still rather heavy on midtempo swing, with similar chord progressions and structures. (And even when the pedal was to the metal, such as on “Devil May Care,” there never seemed to be a risk of running off the rails.)

Trumpeter Chris Botti opened the show, and while he and his band exhibited chops to spare, his songs were heavy on lite-rock rhythms and simple harmonies. He’s got chops to spare, and particularly exhibited them on a low-register solo ending to Leonard Cohen’s “A Thousand Kisses Deep,” but all too often his renditions of vocal tunes didn’t have enough else going on to justify the omission of lyrics.

Only once did it really click — when drummer Billy Kilson’s solo evoked an erupting volcano, in the following instrumental Botti gave the impression of surfing down the side of it.

Concert

Review

Diana Krall
at The Providence Performing Arts Center last night

rmassimo@projo.com

[TRX-C]

Congrats, Bud. I thought you'd met her before, but I'm glad you finally had the opportunity. I guess it was Providence, in more ways than one.

The Bee Gees??? Man, I would have loved to have heard that. It's funny, about two weeks ago I watched a Biography on them. Truly interesting, and you forget how many hits they've had beyond that little Saturday Night Fever soundtrack they did. It's a good song, but the definative version of it has to be Al Green's cover. Well, until now...

[Coda]

Bud: Congrats on your good luck to meet Diana. We want details!

[christratton]

That is lovely that you got to visit with DK. I love her sense of humor and think she is just about the coolest cat around. I reckon it would indeed be fun to visit with her. Do you mind if I ask how you came about such good fortune? Was there an auction for charity? A radio station contest or drawing? Something through the site? Color me curious (and several others, I'm sure)!

-CS

[christratton]

How can you mend a broken heart was a superb way for Diana to end the set. I recall as a young'un being a big fan of the BeeGees. Then there was the backlash in which they became totally declasse. I think the fact remains they made some beautiful music. I enjoy them and loved Diana's gorgeous rendition of this, one of their most beautiful songs. Yummy!

-CS, an Arkie in CT

[Bud]

Sorry for the delay in posting this, and thanks for your congrats on my good fortune!

***

I mean this in a positive way - the one word summary of my experience at this concert was “retro.” It was retro in terms of the set and the venue. As the set list I posted demonstrates, except for a couple of selections from FTMO, everything else was pre-GITOR. She’s resumed opening with the appropriately titled and always enjoyable ILBHWY, which is what she’s done every time I’ve seen her except during the GITOR tour. As for the venue, the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC) is very ornate in a 1920s sort of way, very well maintained, and a great place to watch Diana. http://www.ppacri.org/aboutinfo/index.cfm

I was in the front row, sort of. I forgot to take into account the orchestra pit, where they seated people, at least one of whom had a backstage pass. Chris Botti and his band opened the show. It was a rock-jazz oriented set, and he is surrounded by great sides. I take away points for his style, which is electronically enhanced - how else does a trumpet note continue after he brings his horn down? - but it was enjoyable. He’s certainly a more appropriate opening act for Diana than Olabelle was. He played for 50 minutes or so.

There was about a 20 minute intermission as the stage was rearranged for Diana. Because I was a little late getting back from the break, I saw Diana briskly come on stage (as she always does) while I was walking down the aisle. I don’t really have much to add to the review I posted. There was the banter, where, among other things, she talked about that what people had told her would happen to her body during breastfeeding - in terms of expected weightloss - was B.S. (but she used the full word) I’m disappointed that she didn’t do A Blossom Fell or Little Girl Blue, because an indoor venue like PPAC would have been nice showcase for them. “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?” though, was a stunner, and had sort of the same flavor as “A Case of You.” It didn't come by request - it was her planned second number in her one encore. I really hope to hear it again at Wolf Trap.

So, you’re curious about how I got to meet Diana? Well, I attempted the tried-and-true approach that has been successful for others on this board (except of course for Greg - JD&F - who we know has special connections!). I simply walked around outside the venue until I found out where she’d come out to go to her bus. It was easy at PPAC, since it was just around the corner. Hardest to believe is that besides me, there was only one couple waiting - just three of us! I suppose that it helped that the concert was on a Tuesday night. Its hard to believe that it could have easily been just me. The security guards were friendly, and one of them regularly went back to check on Diana’s progress. She was relaxing having wine (what else?) with some folks, not sure if it was the band or not. Before Diana, we got to meet Anthony Wilson on his way out, and he was very friendly and we got his autograph.

After about 45 minutes Diana came out, and was actually somewhat apologetic that she’d kept us waiting. The couple stepped forward and exchanged a few pleasantries. My turn came along, and the first thing I did was pass her an envelope with a note and and a contribution to her charity, which I’d suggest might be something any of us do if we have an opportunity like I had. I intended to pass it her while she was on stage during the standing O, but that plan was sidetracked because of the orchestra pit situation. Then I mentioned my status on the board, and she said something about needing a password and stuff, which means of course that she is at least aware of our existence. I told her I could take care of it , but she said she doesn’t really spend much time on a computer. She said she uses a Blackberry instead, which is understandable, but will change I’m sure as the twins grow up. She also thanked me for putting time into the board, which was nice. The bottom line is that she really is a first class, genuine, down-to-earth, and “authentic,” and is the way I had hoped she would be but couldn’t be sure, given that old proverb about it being better not to meet your heroes. No pretenses, not a glimmer of a diva-like attitude. I did a take a picture with her, but it didn’t turn out so well. Sorry to say, I’m not planning to post it - leave it to me to catch her in one of her less than photogenic moments!! Of course the unavoidable fact that *I* am in the picture didn’t help either...

Next stop, Wolf Trap!

[mapache61]

Three cheers for our fearless moderator, Bud!

Nice goin', my man. And the charity envelope was a classy move on your part. Thanks for the review. Hope you get to hear A Blossom Fell or Little Girl Blue at Wolf Trap.

Finally, I know you're on a DK high, and hate to bring you down, but I must.
LA 9, SF 1 + LA 8, SF 7 + LA 5, SF 3 = sweep.
--mapache61

PS I know he pitched ok today, but will you please take Tomko back?

[christratton]

Good for you and thanks for sharing your story. I wonder if what you did is possible at every venue, or only at some. It never would have occured to me to do that. I am so pleased for you that you got to visit with Ms. K. She is a fine person, about as fine as they come.

Cheers!

-CS in CT

[Coda]

Hi, Bud. I'm glad you could use the old wait-at-the-stage-door system -- and that it worked for you. I had tried that in London, Ontario, in October 2001, and got pretty close enough to see Diana exiting the back door with a garment bag, but a security guard saw me and held me off.

At the Fox in Detroit, there are fences blocking the back stage door area from the public. I do plan to try again, though, for some miracle to help me out this coming Saturday.

[christratton]

Pls let us know how it goes. Hope your show rocks, too.

-Chris

PS: I love Black Crow, another song I wouldn't mind hearing in place of one or another of the usual litany. ...

[Coda]

Bud, by the way, I think you did a great job plugging this message board when you met Diana!