It was a great concert.
To me, much, much, MUCH better than MSG.
I expected it to be, to tell you the truth. I think Stevie had a serious change in demeanor in the past two weeks and that was great. I was desperately hoping she'd be more animated and relax a bit more and enjoy herself and she did.
I was practically cheering when she and Lindsey did their little back to back thing. I'm almost positive it was before Silver Springs because, once she got back to her mic, I couldn't see her for a moment (amp was in my way...I was at the stage, too, but right in front of Lindsey) and I thought she was taking a moment to get into the spirit of the song because she had been laughing her head off a second before.
In any case, she was kind of warning him not to do whatever he had done (and it happened so fast, we don't exactly know what it was but it might have been some butt grabbing). He was teasing her and then leaned forward and said something to her and she was cracking up. I mean, seriously cracking up. It was a joy to see that smile. My camera had caused me so much trouble early on that I put it away after Sara and I was very annoyed that I didn't have it (but, thank you, Hejira, for the great pictures).
I loved the whole thing. Start to finish. If they were doing another leg closer to the summer, I think I'd be camped out at their collective feet.
I loved Silver Springs. It's such a highlight for me since I never saw them live until SYW--and they dumped the song very early on. The Dance version is what got me into the FM fold so I love seeing and hearing it live. It's fabulous. I know there was more interaction before but it's just fine now, too.
Sara was another standout of the evening. As was Storms. For Lindsey? Well, I have a total soft spot for Go Insane. Just singing along with the "Go, go, go, go's" makes me happy. And having him stand right over you and do the staring straight at you until you smile thing is always fun (especially when you're singing along to something and mess up the lyrics because he's doing that...)
We were also watching him in the dark. He watched Mick's performance but also was scanning the front row crowd, at one point, too.
I just had a great time. We only had one weird-o behind us somewhere (I never turned around to look) who kept shrieking that she wanted Lindsey's jacket--like he'd just take it off and throw it at her. Uh-huh) But, the one thing people on our side did was give everyone a very respectable amount of personal space. At MSG, there were bodies touching all over the place but it amazed me that, even at the end of the show, no one was pushing me into the stage. I mean, I expect it and don't care all that much as long as I can still breathe--but it was a pleasant change.
I love Philly, anyway. I've seen them individually and collectively in the Philadelphia area many times and the crowds are always so enthusiastic and warm.
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