Ugh... the wifi here at the hotel is moving at a geological pace...
Anyway, here are some random observations...
-The "Acid Bunny" T-shirt is still available for sale (Wayner, are you listening?
)
-The 2008 Crystal Visions tour programme is being sold for $10
-Stevie didn't wear the boots at all- it was Frankenboks for the whole night.
-No outfit changes all night and the red shawl did
not make an appearance.
-Stevie was looking really good! And take it from one who's seen her a lot recently; she has definitely lost a few pounds and she seems much lighter on her feet and, dare I say,
nimble.
-She did not wear gloves for the Edge Walk. Her hands are as soft as ever.
-Security SUCKED. I mean they SUCKED. Did I mention that they SUCKED? Not only did they prevent people from shooting video and taking pictures, they did not let people up to the front until after EOS was practically done! Here she was ready to do the Edge Walk, and the lip of the stage was completely empty. M*****f***ers!
-All of the arrangements that were changed for "Unleashed" are back to their standard solo arrangements, including the high wail and "Baby, baby, baby..." at the end of GDW and the high kick at the end of "Stand Back." I happen to prefer these versions.
-The upper level sections in the back were empty despite the small size of the Event Center. But I guess that's not too bad considering it's a Wednesday night in the middle of the periphery on the exurban outskirts of Nowheresville that is virtually inaccessible via public transportation! Seriously. What genius decided this was a good place to put up a casino?
-Overall there is a strength and control in her voice that I had not heard recently, particularly in the vibrato. I know she gets a lot of guff these for not using her vibrato, but it was definitely there and being used very properly. She didn't go for any crazy notes, but she sounded very clear and very, very strong.
-"Love Is" was devastating. Wow. I caught a tiny bit of it on video before the rent-a-guard at the stage told me to stop filming.
-For her ending speech, she mentioned that she was working on a new album, but she also said some things I had never heard before. She said that as she was figuring out how to bring "Love Is" to the stage, she went to the piano demo recorded in 1995 because she did not particularly like the version on TISL. Neither did Sarah MacLachlan. Neither did her producer. So she basically considered it "lost" until she rediscovered it on the demo tape. Interesting... Considering it was on her "opus," I think it's rather odd that she would be deriding the album version like that. Then she thanked everyone for showing appreciation for this "new song," because "it's hard to bring a new song to the stage in front of... (pointing) so many people."
-I was test-driving a new camera (to me), and the results weren't too great:
