Just woke up in Cleveland after sweet dreams of last night’s concert at “the Q”. Keith was definitely right on his game and Cleveland was lovin’ him!! And I am so glad I finally got to see Sugarland after missing them a couple times earlier this tour due to cancellations. It was a terrific night!
But it was an extra special night for even more reasons! #1 - because I got to share this weekend with my daughter Jen, whom I see far too seldom since she is a grad student at the University of Michigan. Jen was the one who first introduced me to Keith’s music (thank you Jen!). Cleveland is just a few hours from Ann Arbor so I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a little roadtrip with her. #2 - it is the last weekend before the new school year starts for me and I love to do something fun to top off the summer. Last year all my girls and I saw the Counting Crows, Sara Bareilles, and Maroon 5. Too bad we couldn’t get everyone together this time. #3 yesterday was my birthday and I can’t hardly think of anything that I would rather do on my birthday than see Keith perform! I actually got a notice from my hospital that my annual CT-scan was scheduled on my birthday (come on now - who wants to spend their birthday drinking yucky things and getting up close and personal with that big donut shaped machine!!??) So I called and told them “No way Jose! I’m going on a KURT!!
Sugarland was a great opener - they had the audience on their feet nearly the whole time and were a lot of fun. I had watched their TV special not long ago and their set last night was quite similar. They have some fun staging elements that add to their performance. I was kind of sorry that they chose not to include “Stay” - I love the way Jennifer sings that. My daughter told me their song “Night Swimming” is actually an old R.E.M. song - I hadn’t realized that.
The lines and crowds out in the lobby during the break were pretty brutal so we just barely made it back to our seats for Keith’s introductory music and the whisking away of the black curtain. We were about 6 rows beyond the end of the catwalk tonight so had a pretty nice view all evening. For some reason security remained pretty tight all night at the Quicken. They stayed in position in each aisle and continued to check tickets and turn back those who tried to move forward (except for those very front rows between the runways). I was a little sorry about that because I thought Jen might enjoy spending some time near the front stage (Mom too!). But we had a blast anyway!
Keith looked quite stunning in black on white plaid last night and dark jeans. Kind of reminded me of his highly favored black button-down shirts in the past, but short sleeved and plaid these days, Although my first shots of him singing Hit the Ground were close-ups of him with those several buttons undone, I had to back off to include his fetching stance, swinging hips and those amazing thighs keeping time with the music (first clip).Oh my! Tonight was a night for some major flippage of those bangs and lots of those sexy little body moves that make it impossible to look away. Keith is so fluid and feline when he moves. Other male country singers seem so stiff compared to him.
In Stupid Boy Keith really stretched out the “Long gone, long gone” so we were kind of holding our breath!(3rd clip) The fiery guitar solo was terrific as usual. He was all smiles and gave some lucky person a nice thumbs up in the middle of Where the Blacktop Ends (see clip). When chatting with the audience Keith mentioned several of the dives or bars where he and the Ranch had played in Cleveland in the early days. He also poked fun at the VIP boxes again tonight although without quite as much flourish as earlier.
Although I had realized that Security was sticking around more than usual before Keith made his move to the small stage, I decided to take Jen back to that location anyway, since this was her first show this tour. We made it back there by a rather circuitous route to avoid security, but arrived to find that the stage area was surrounded by a rope and one needed a special wristband to enter (perhaps these were “general admission wristbands”?). So Jen and I were turned away but we decided to stay in a more distant position in the aisle outside of the ropes. Keith-mania came to our aid once again - as Keith slowly approached the back of the arena the excited chaos within that general admission area (with many people rushing out to approach Keith) was enough to both totally distract Security and empty some spots near to the small stage and we slipped under the rope in the confusion! Sweet success! So we got a half dozen good clips back there (with the occasional hairy head from the eventual pressing crowd). Look at those smiles and dimples in the second Making Memories segment! He ended Only You Can Love Me with an emotional “You know its true baby!” and a little more (“My love is true.”?) - see if you can tell the last few words he sings.
We tried again to approach the front stage afterwards but our tickets were checked and we were guided back to our seats. Keith was at his best - both musically and physically in Who Wouldn’t Wanna Be Me (sorry that heads blocking my view lead to a premature end to my video). Tonight I noticed the video screens were lowered to their horizontal position in WWWBM - is that usually the case?? I’m usually not quick enough to catch some of the little interactions or collaborations between Keith and the guys but I did capture he and Chris R. playing the introduction to Sweet Thing. Don’t you just love the little hand gestures Keith throws into his songs?! I think it may have been during Sweet Thing when Keith accepted a gift of some sort from someone up near the stage. He certainly is a master of inserting those little behaviors or gestures with no apparent break in his performance. The guitar solo in Til Summer Comes Around was just heart-stopping, gut-wrenching - I felt just wrung out by its intensity, Wow!
No song was improvised for Cleveland, but Keith had fun hamming it up with a rhythmic introduction to Raining On Sunday. Just look at the expression on his face! He looks like the cat who ate the canary, delighted with the effect he was having on the audience. And in fact he told us “I love you Cleveland!” before he actually went into the song itself. The ROS guitar solo lent itself to more dramatic flipping of those bangs to add emphasis to what he was fingering out of that guitar.
I was so excited when Keith announced he wanted to bring out Sugarland again so that they could do a little song together. He indicated that they had only had a brief run through before the show, but they harmonized beautifully on the Eagle's tune Seven Bridges Road. What a treat!!
I also loved watching that face and the gradual build up of emotion during You’ll Think of Me. At one point for an instant Keith had a rather Elvis like sneer of that upper lip and gave us another very powerful ending. His music had us going from one emotional extreme to the other all night. In You Look Good in My Shirt he could hardly contain his giggles and interactions with the audience - both his laughing and his moves in that song were oh so sexy. How can he - after nearly two hours hours of vigorous performing - look so damn gorgeous and delighted as he plays out in the risers?? (see clip)
I caught a couple bits of Keith and his fractured mirror guitar in Somebody Like You, but far too soon I got that dreaded flashing message “Memory Card Full” so pardon the withdrawal before the climax! During Keith’s end of the show thank yous he got good participation by his crew tonight with dozens of them showing up on stage at the appropriate moment. During Days Go By Jerry caused a bit of a commotion by heading off stage and wandering a bit among the audience in front while he played (following the lead of the master : ) )
I learned later from hubby that my daughter Sara had actually written to Keith a week or two ago, sending him what she called “a heartfelt plea” that he wish me a happy birthday at this concert. I know Keith doesn’t do that sort of thing but it was so sweet and thoughtful of her to try and make it happen. She certainly knows her mom and what would tickle me!! But it was a wonderful birthday as is - one I will be remembering!!
A couple longer clips that I've put on YouTube:
Keith and Sugarland Singing Seven Bridges Road
No comments:
Post a Comment