My Cleveland Review, pics & vids

skcin · #1 10-21-2006, 09:33 PM

Disclaimer: for those of you that aren't familiar with my concert reviews, be aware that portions will contain useless information that nobody cares about but me. For some reason, I still insist on posting everything I can think of. I think I like to hear myself talk/watch myself type. I will try to split it up into sections so you can avoid my rambling if desired. Thank you.

OK, first of all, I was convinced that God did not want me & Theresa (bikerchic) to see this show. When driving to my house, T got turned away at the border because someone threatened to bomb the Peace Bridge (no, seriously.) So she had to go way out of her way to the Rainbow Bridge, and got to my house an hour after she wanted to be. We get going, all excited to be on our way. About an hour into the supposed 3 hour drive, we hit construction traffic jam. We sat for 25 minutes, then moved down the road a bit to sit for another 15. Mind you, there weren't actually ANY MEN WORKING, but the lanes were blocked anyway.

We wanted to get to the hotel by 3, ended up there around 4:40 I believe.

Fine. We're not totally screwed, but we are rushed. We call Curtis & his man Chris (they got a room at the same hotel,) change clothes/freshen up & have a beer. Carrie picks us all up around 5:30 & we head out to eat. Went to a place in Little Italy & told them we were in a rush & had to be outta there by 7:20pm. Dinner was good (except T ordered garlic cheese bread & she got 4 slices of buttered toast with a glob of garlic in the middle of each one - ew) and we left on time.

We finally find the Lakewood High School Auditorium with plenty of time to spare. The Willcall window was a folding table with voluteers handing out the tix.

I joked about this earlier, but it seriously was. I felt like I was at BINGO or a school craft show. T & I go to our 5th row center seats & sit down, chatting with the ladies next to us. For the record - if there's ever any show at this place again, it's the perfect scenario to get a video boot of the show. I saw 2 security guards, and they didn't seem to care what anyone was doing. Had I known, I would have brought my 8mm video cam with me.

The venue is pretty nice for a school. Seats comfy, plenty of elbow room, clean bathrooms. Small & initmate, we felt so close to him even from the 5th row (which was actually 8th including the pit.) Sound was my only complaint, as it was very loud & distorted at times. But not for every song. Venuew was about 2/3 full. The crowd was odd. On one hand many people sat, even in the pit, and even for more well known and/or rocking tunes.

On the other hand, people were cheering loudly in all the right places, yelling out requests between songs, and he received several standing ovations. There were a lot of diehard fans there from what I could see. You could tell he was really feeling our energy, and it showed in his performance. It was kickass.

BlackWidow · #2 10-21-2006, 09:41 PM

Wow..A High School? Sounds humbling...
Glad you had fun! Video to follow? Any Stevie mentions?

skcin · #3 10-21-2006, 10:01 PM

LB was loose, and cool, and funny. He talked with the audience a lot, kept yelling "you guys are really great tonight!" Smiling a lot. One guy yelled "holiday Road!" and LB nodded & said "hey, these guys know our setlist." The same guy yelled out later "Holiday Road. Again." LB laughed & said "does that mean we have to do it twice?" When he intro'd Brett, he said "he'll be appearing at the Ritz later" and Brett went to give him money for the "plug." When introducing Neal, he said something about knowing him for about 17 years, since the "Malibu days when none of us were behaving." He then asked Neal "maybe you were - were you behaving? I know I wasn't behaving." He did the sexy "I love you too" whisper also.

OK, the show itself. I am an obsessive Mac fan, and an avid Stevie fan. Before last night, I'd label myself a big Lindsey fan - more than casual, but not crazy. I'm changing that label. I love this man, I loved this show.

He was phenomenal. Vocals were pitch perfect, guitar playing was, of course, amazing. I couldn't keep my eyes off his fingers, esp. during Not Too Late & Big Love. Please, if you are even just a casual fan, you will not be disappointed in this show. If you have a chance to see him, DO NOT MISS IT! Here's my song by song review:

Not Too Late: Not a fave of mine on the album. Well, I love the chorus but I do NOT like the verses - too literal, they sound a bit ridiculous to me.

Seeing him play this live has changed my mind. His vocal was hushed yet urgent, almost mournful in a way. Great live, better than the CD. "...my children look away, they don't know what to say..." put a knot in my throat.

Trouble: Gorgeous, I've always loved this song.

NGBA: Nothing new, to be honest. Good, solid performance.

Second Hand News: My bouncing song.

I can't help it, it makes me bounce. Always fun. This was a crowd pleaser, the first song the avid fans stood for throughout.

Castaway Dreams: I got this on vid. Loved it. Lush & beautiful. Listening back, I'm wondering if some of the harmonies were pre-recorded. I didn't think so at the time, but it sounds really high & clear on the vid, I'm not sure if it's all Brett & Neal. I don't really care either way though.

Red Rover: Liked it better than when I saw Mac do it in Hershey in 2004. Taku shines brightly on this one.

It Was You: I so wanted this on vid, but missed the start & decided to just enjoy it & sing along. Avid fans screaming happily after the lines about each child. He smiled all the way through the song. It's such a happy tune, and fun to dance to.

Big Love: Nothing new, nothing groundbreaking. Even though I've seen him do it several times before, I had never been this close so I concentrated on his finger picking. Amazing. I don't know how else to describe it.

Go Insane:Desparate, gut wrenching, and LOUD!

Love it.

Under The Skin: Horrible. The sound was so muffled, so distorted, you couldn't hear LB's vocal at all over the guitars. I think they were trying for a dreamy effect, almost like you're under water. But it didn't work. Has this been a problem at other shows too?

Maybe it was an error, maybe the accoustics are bad at the venue. I almost thought he's stop & start over.

World Turning: Very cool, esp. Taku's solo & Brett's sound effect keys at the end. I will always miss Chris a little bit though.

I'm So Afraid: Dark, heavy, intense - just like it's supposed to be. Brett is f*cking FIERCE on bass on this one!

I KNow I'm Not Wrong: Do you guys know how hard it is not to dance to this?

Damn near impossible, but I had a request to get it on video so I had to take one for the team.

Tusk: Different than Mac, in a good way. I enjoyed it.

GYOW: Meh. This is usually one of my all time favorites live, but this time wasn't great. It didn't suck, it never really sucks, but not the best I've seen. I think the sound was off on this one too, if I recall.

Holiday Road:Do you guys know how hard it is not to sing the "whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh"s? Impossible, which is why you'll hear me doing it on the video. Pretty porrly, I might add.

Show You How:Probably my most loved UTS song right now. I knew I'd want this on vid, and I succeeded.

Save Me a Place: At first, I swear it sounded like he started playing "Why." I was so confused. Later, Neal's solo reminded me a little bit of "Albatross." This was the performance of the night, IMO. Sexy, dreamy, tender. Stunning, absolutely stunning.

Bleed To Love Her:Not bad, but I would prefer to hear "Steal Your Heart Away" just once.

Theresa really missed Down on Rodeo & SGCYM. I did too, but I appreciate the fact that he's attempting to make a few changes here & there so that every show isn't identical. I really hope most of the shows end up recorded so that we don't miss anything.

skcin · #4 10-21-2006, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BlackWidow

Wow..A High School? Sounds humbling...
Glad you had fun! Video to follow? Any Stevie mentions?

The high school thing was weird for sure. But I'd kill to see Stevie do a small intimate place like this. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen. And no Stevie mentions of course.

skcin · #5 10-21-2006, 10:09 PM

Now for shout outs for my peeps:

Theresa: I love you, you wacky Canadian bitch.

David: Thanks for showing us your pictures.

Please let your friend (Debbie?) know that I enjoyed talking with her at the Hard Rock.

Curtis: We have so much fun together when we hang, I wish it were more often. Chris is a doll, tell him that for me. So nice, so cute, and not afraid of our obvious mental problems. He's a keeper!

Carrie: Out of all the cute white lesbian rappers I've met over the years, you're the coolest & the funniest. We must meet up again. Sorry Theresa wouldn't have sex with you. She's an asshat. I can't thank you enough for driving, and I'm sorry that I forgot to key your mom's car for you. After all you'd done for us, the least I could have done was pee in the backseat.

Pics on their way...

skcin · #6 10-21-2006, 10:12 PM

I know these are too big, and I'm sorry. But I just don't want to resize them. Because I'm lazy.

skcin · #7 10-21-2006, 10:15 PM

skcin · #8 10-21-2006, 10:19 PM

skcin · #9 10-21-2006, 10:22 PM

skcin · #10 10-21-2006, 10:25 PM

skcin · #11 10-21-2006, 10:27 PM

skcin · #12 10-21-2006, 10:29 PM

Taku & Neal's pics didn't come out, but here's Brett:

UnwindedDreams · #13 10-21-2006, 10:29 PM

WOW!!! Awesome...thanks Paula!!!

skcin · #14 10-21-2006, 10:31 PM

carrie721 · #15 10-21-2006, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skcin

Carrie: Out of all the cute white lesbian rappers I've met over the years, you're the coolest & the funniest. We must meet up again. Sorry Theresa wouldn't have sex with you. She's an asshat. I can't thank you enough for driving, and I'm sorry that I forgot to key your mom's car for you. After all you'd done for us, the least I could have done was pee in the backseat.

yeah, i think that makes you ... what? oh yeah. A LYING WHORE.

it's okay though, i peed in the back seat and told her my freaky internet friend did it. i'm glad that we live fairly close - you're right, we should meet up again.

theresa - i love that you love the word "f uck," but i'm pissed that now i can't hear the title of lindsey's new album without thinking "under the foreskin" in my head. yeah, thanks. bitch.

also, you do know that if i'm ever in the toronto area, i'll totally be knocking on your door, right?

curtis - i think i liked you at the beginning of the night, but then you whacked me in the head with an empty six-pack, and all previous memories were erased

. jk. i totally love you, and paula said exactly what i was going to say about chris. also, we live so close that it'd be a shame not to meet up more often.

david - it was great to finally meet you. you have some great pics! and you're a lucky bastard for getting to meet lindsey again.