Dk in Portland, Oregon this FRIDAY

[harpfingers]

So, I am TOTALLY excited, can anyone tell? I also wanted to find out if anyone of the board will also be attending the concert. It would be fun to hook up for a few minutes or so and meet fellow fans. Only 3 more days!

[harpfingers]

WOW... WOW.... WOW..... That is all I can say. This was my first Diana Krall concert and it was awesome... We drove about 120 miles north to hear her and it was so worth the trip and expensive tickets.

Opening act was Olabelle... I totally agree whole heartedly with what was said concerning their sound. It sounded a little fuzzy and I worried that when DK and her group came out, the sound would be similar. Olabelle sang about 6 songs... mostly gospel, oriented. Then intermission.

The real concert started at 9p.m. Diana came out wearing long black pants, some stilleto heals, and a flowing black draping top that exposed her upper arms and connected once again at the elbows. She also had some kind of necklace with a green stone hanging from it and a glittery wedding band on her left hand. It was awesome being there. There were several times that I was like " oh yeah, I am at a Diana Krall concert." and then the next moment I would think " Oh my gosh- I AM AT A DIANA KRALL CONCERT., and there she is like 100 feet away!"

Audience was really good. She said that Portland was one of her favorite venues to play at. She made the comment that they had been travelling up the coast, and the farther North they went, the hotter it got. ( it was 102 degrees yesterday in Portland). Here was the order of her set :

Sometimes I just Freak out ( instrumental) I loved it
All or Nothing at All
Stop this World
Girl in the Other Room
Almost Blue
Temptation
East of the Sun
I'll String Along with You
Let's Face the Music and Dance
P.S. I love You
Devil May Care
Narrow Daylight
Black Crow
I Don't Know Enough About You

Encore:
Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You
Time ( Tom Waits) with Olabelle doing back up ( they were awful I thought, their back ups didn't quite match Diana's warm voice)

After the first three songs, she said something like " That last piece was called 'Mose Allison'. " Then she stopped a second and thought about what she had just said chuckled and said " I should just shut up and not talk the rest of the evening." The audience laughed at almost all of her dry jokes. There was a point in the beginning where she was talking and then turned around to Peter Erskine and said " Hey, babe what is going on over there with the chimes? I kind of like it."
Then, another time she mentioned the name Tom Waits and someone yelled "YEAH!!!" and she responded rather dryly with "thanks, doll." The audience was really good, applauded in the appropriate spots, didn't cat call her, or throw out suggestions for music and responded positively when she did some name dropping of song writers etc.

Some fun things, Temptation was awesome... she reached inside and pressed on the piano strings- like prepared piano (a la Bela Bartok style) While pressing on the keys. And distorted the singing a bit by covering the microphone. I also liked the psychedelic pink colors with that one.

In "P.S. I Love you" There is a line about the weather and how it is cool - and she sort of chuckled - no doubt thinking about how hot it was. I will have to look around for the exact lyrics.

Devil May Care was a lot of fun to hear live. I had binoculars and was looking through them just about the time that I noticed she had a burgandy colored velvet box on the piano that had mints in it and she put one in her mouth during the solo sections that Anthony and Peter had.

I was only slightly disappointed about not hearing Love me Like a Man. There was a point after Black Crow that she went into Love Me like a man, but then changed her mind and did a little Fats Waller, and then finally went into "I don't know enough about you."

Good time, I just sat there in awe most of the time. I had been looking forward to hearing Diana play live for quite sometime, so hence today felt like the day after Christmas... happy about the memory but sad that the big day was over. LOL

[TRX-C]

Thanks for the review, Harpfingers. I'm so happy that you finally had the chance to experience our girl live. I love your description of the "letdown" time after seeing the concert. You hit the nail on the head.

[SaxLix]

Well that was a great review Jeralee! I know what you mean when you said..."oh I'm at a Diana Krall concert.." and then the next minute "Oh MY GOSH, I am AT a DIANA KRALL CONCERT!".
I'm glad your audience respoded better than ours did. Poor girl. She tried so hard to make her humor work that night, and the yuppies gave her nothing. She'd crack a joke, and you'd hear a few people clap or yell, and she'd say..."OK.....2 people..." hahaha. Poor thing.
By the way. Did you catch a glimps of Elvis or Michelle while you were there???
Well Congrats again on attending your first DK concert! You go girl, with your binoculars!


-Kelly

[harpfingers]

No Elvis or Michelle sighting. I looked long and hard at the audience, but it was so big and I didn't see them. Elvis I think I would have definitely been able to identify and I didn't see him anywhere.

[Coda]

Jeralee: Congrats on your first DK concert! Good reporting!

I hope Diana does the muting-the-strings-from-the-inside bit in Detroit.
You usually don't see pianists do that sort of thing. (Elton John, maybe...at one of his concerts he was sitting on the floor for a moment and playing the keys.) Just curious, Jeralee: Can you describe what that did to the sound of the piano compared to using the soft pedal (don't know the correct name) on the far left (we have a three-pedal grand piano in our house)?

In my high school orchestra, I sometimes played bass drum. The girls had to wear long black skirts. I thought it was funny that in my long slit skirt and heels that I had to put my leg up on the drum stand and muffle the sound with my knee! It did make the concert more interesting....

[Rémi]

Congrats J on your first DK concert!

The girls had to wear long black skirts. I thought it was funny that in my long slit skirt and heels that I had to put my leg up on the drum stand and muffle the sound with my knee! It did make the concert more interesting....

Pics, we need pics Coda!

[harpfingers]

Coda,
It gave it a very percussive sound. By pressing her fingers on the strings inside the piano while simultaneously playing the corresponding keys with the other hand, it didn't allow the strings to vibrate, so the sound was cut short and it gave it a thud/percussive sound. It almost matched some of what Anthony was playing on the guitar.

Completely different sound than if you were using the une corde or tres corde pedals. When using the pedals, the strings are still allowed to vibrate, even though the sound is more quite or muted.

You can do something similar with harp - although we call it etouffe. ( sorry, Remi, haven't figured out how to put the french accents on my french words. )[/code]

[Rémi]

Can you describe what that did to the sound of the piano compared to using the soft pedal (don't know the correct name) on the far left (we have a three-pedal grand piano in our house)?

You can see Diana doing this on this Temptation video (at 3:51).
Click on this shortcut here. Highly recommended for DSL connection and higher.

Anthony, give me that Les Paul right now!!!!

[Coda]

Harpfingers, I think your detailed description of the muffled strings was right on--especially after seeing the clip that Remi graciously provided. I couldn't try at home anything as graceful as the way Diana muffled the strings. We have an upright grand, and I'd have to lift the front panel and let it rest on my back if I attempted it...or get someone else to help! Nothing as simple as slipping a hand inside the piano!

Sorry, Remi, my parents never took a picture of me at the high school concerts while I was playing bass drum!