Fantastic show. The entire floor was on its feet almost the entire concert. I also got to see Stevie's dogs
I feel I had the best seat in the house. I was in the second row in section 121. I waited for weeks before buying my ticket and boy did that pay off. When they opened up seats on the side of the stage, I jumped. It was the second row probably 15 yards away from the stage. The front row was never on sale and last night I found out the reason. The front row was reserved for several people with backstage passes. Members of the crew would come out to greet them and they would go backstage at different times. After the Pretender's set a guy came out holding Stevie's dogs. I am not in Stevie world so I don't know if this was her assistant or her nephew. It was a young guy (late 20s?). He did look like a cross between her brother and Lori so I was guessing it was her nephew who used to tour with her. But he came out to talk to some girls who were locals and the girls brought him drinks. I also could see back stage and see Stevie's boots walking around before she took the stage.
The Pretenders were incredible and flawless. They sound just like it was 1984 all over again. Chrissy is from Ohio and immediately mentioned how much she liked Pittsburgh and what a great crowd it was. She really acknowledged the fans that were on their feet and by the time of Brass in Pocket, THE ENTIRE FLOOR WAS ON ITS FEET. She thanked everyone and once again mentioned she knew it was going to be a good crowd. Chrissy was flawless and you would never know she was sick. She sounded so good. However they did not do their full set. I was looking forward to "I'll Stand By You" but that song is not in their shorter set. The Pretenders came on about 7:10 and were off the stage shortly after 8. Chrissy is such a pro. During "In the middle of the road" her guitar string broke. She put down the guitar and just picked up the microphone while her crew frantically searched for another guitar. During the song she reminded the crew quickly between vocals "can I get another guitar?" Her crew quickly fixed the string and put the guitar back in the stand for her to pick up and she continued on like nothing happened. After a 20 minute break, Stevie took the stage.
There were 2 floating cameras and guys carrying cameras all over the stage and crowd. Stevie was really into the show. I was just a bit disappointed the city was washed of any recognition (I think because of the recording). There was no Pittsburgh post card in the background and no "HELLO PITTSBURGH" Stevie just mentioned that the show was so good that she wanted to record it and "your city was picked."
I must admit that I have stayed away from Stevie solo shows over the years because of her short and redundant sets year after year. When I saw the setlist for this tour, I knew I wanted to go. Gold and Braid was a good opener mostly because the ending has an intense vocal and its nice to hear Stevie have that passion with her vocals again. For that reason, I would say its a good opener. Stevie's voice does not have the range it once had and some songs can almost sound boring live because of this. So glad she dropped Dreams. Chrissy did come out and sing Stop Draggin with Stevie. I enjoyed the story about Belle Fleur because I never heard it before and it was fun to picture Stevie driving an old Toyota around. The song was very good live too. I love Wild Heart and Bella Donna but they should both be full songs instead of one verse. As soon as those songs get going, they stop. But to hear them live is really something because in your wildest dreams you would never imagine it. I am not a huge fan of In Your Dreams and 24k Gold but I must admit she picked some good songs from them to do live. I thought New Orleans would be a tough song to do live but she nailed it. Starshine was a bouncy rocker which is very good live. The only song I was not thrilled with live was "If you were my love." I thought it fell a little flat. Gold Dust Woman was definitely a highlight!!!! I have heard it a million times live and the way it was performed during the Mac's last tour was sensational. Waddy really turned it up and the song was equal to the Mac's performance easy. At the end Stevie actually called herself a crack head looking for drugs. She shook around as much as she could. One interesting part is that she added a second chorus after the first verse. I did not know if this was a flub and her band had to react (that was my first guess) but then I got worried and thought the second verse was going to be cut. But thankfully not which brings me to my only pet peeve of the night. Stevie's most epic live song is Edge of 17. Its a sin to remove the second verse. I mean really. Her second verse is some of her best writing.
I went today maybe I will go again tomorrow
The music there was hauntingly familiar
Well I see you doing what I tried to do for me
With the words of a poet
and a voice from a choir
and a melody, nothing else mattered
(chorus)
The clouds never expect it when it rains
But the sea changes color but the sea does not change
And with the slow graceful flow of age
I went forth with an age old desire to please
on the edge of seventeen (oooooooaaa)
THOSE LINES ARE CUT FROM THE SONG
I don't know how She can cut these epic lines from the epic song. The song had a long intro and long ending. In addition she pretty much added another verse at the end about the nightbird and doves crying, etc. I don't see how removing this 90 seconds of verse makes the song longer with all this added stuff. It really pained me to see and hear this edit.
The crowd was on its feet almost the entire concert. I have never seen a Stevie solo concert with so much energy from the fans. I thought the Mac shows last time were something. Clearly that energy is back. I am so glad I did not get floor seats because unless you are in the first 10 rows its a mess down there. A fan handed Stevie a flower head wreath at the end of Edge of 17 and she wore it and danced around. Pretty cool!