The Tour Threads Edition #4: Other Side of the Mirror

[petep9000]

Originally Posted by Musicman408

That sounds horrible. How so?

Hmm...well, where to begin. It's all really subjective, isn't it? I mean, what I found to be awful someone else might have found to be lovely. Like for example, I didn't like the 'tinkly' synths and 'Alice in Wonderland' theme. It just seemed, to me, like a step in a complete other direction from someone who was once considered the 'Queen of Rock', like she was headed to 'Lite Jazz' or 'Muzak' or something close to it. Her bands in the past always had great chops and seemed like they were a real band and had a blast playing together. The OSOTM line-up? Meh. I felt like I didn't know a soul up there except for Sharon and Lori, and Russ Kunkel. Oh, and I guess Bobby Martin from the RAL tour was up there too, but I didn't like him on that tour either.

Should I bother talking about her costumes and hair? Another radical departure from the Stevie persona we all knew. Late 80's hair can be forgiven, but those bathrobe things with padded shoulders? No one was wearing those in 1989! It was so obvious to me that Stevie was trying to hide someone newfound bulk in those new robes.

Stevie's singing style was dramatically different. The voice she sang with last on RAL and some of the 'Tango' sessions was over, replaced by a new voice she picked up by the 'Tango' tour. She was more nasal rather than throaty, instead of reaching for a note she just stayed in the same place diaphragmatically, and she didn't exactly move much either. But, I think there was a foot or ankle issue at one point in this tour- not sure. This was the beginning of the platform Reebok era too- again, there was a foot or ankle issue or something which everyone attributes this to. I don't buy it though- because not only her footwear changed, SHE changed.

The tour merchandise wasn't very striking. I wasn't happy with the black or red tee-shirt with the Stevie top-hat image, because it had been forever since she wore a top-hat on stage and I didn't like to be reminded of the comparison between those days and then. I did buy the white tee, with the weird crescent/Stevie image. Had it for quite a few years, in fact- it was a large size so it was good for sleeping.

I don't know, not good memories. I waited ALL summer for that Jones Beach show. I bought the tickets in May when they went on sale, and had to wait until August 25th. Back in those days, Jones Beach tickets were not available via Ticketmaster on the first day. You had to get there the day before the sale, and get a 'bracelet'. And you waited for HOURS. This secured your place on line for the next day. The next morning, you had to be there at 7 am and get on line, and hope all the people in front of you weren't buying Stevie tickets. When I finally got to the counter, I discovered there were no more floor seats left, I had to settle for mezzanine. It was just too, too much of a disappointment: 19 years old and spent a blazing hot morning in the sun with no shade for hours until I got to the box office window. Oh, yay- besides Stevie crappy seats, I scored 7th row for Tom Petty w/The Replacements, 3rd row for Neil Young w/The Indigo Girls, and more mezzanine seats for 'Poison'. Wheee.