Whine & Cheese

Melissa

Still recovering from last night's concert...

... as we joined the lesbian community of the Greater Phoenix Metro area... of Tucson... of Arizona... of New Mexico... of the entire Southwestern region of the United States to see...

Melissa Etheridge in concert!

Boy, there were a lot of lesbians!  Ok, I know what your thinking... what the heck did you expect?  That's like saying, boy there were a lot of heterosexual males at the football or hockey game.  But the sheer proportion was staggering.  It was some bizarro world where, for a few hours, there were more gay folk in the world than straight... that said, the gay boys didn't represent all that well last night.  We were literally surrounded... two lesbian couples in front of us, a couple next to us, 3 single gay gals on the other side, and a very eardrum-bleeding screaming couple behind us.

As always (and expected)... Melissa was AMAZING!   She wasted no time... refreshingly kicking the show off a mere 5 minutes after the ticketed start time of 8pm... and rocked on for nearly 3 hours!   Without a new album to support, her last release was a greatest hits collection, the show was pretty much all her hits, all the time... none of that unfamiliar "new" stuff that so often bogs down concerts.

Melissa conversed with the crowd often... and in a very non-robotic way... no sense of that canned chit-chat thrown out on each and every stop (I'm looking at your Madge, Celine, and Cher!).  The show was pretty well-structured... a lot of it had to do with love... finding love, getting love, losing love, reeling from bad love, and embracing good love.  Also, a particularly striking section had her pairing "Silent Legacy" with tributes to Matthew Shepard ("Scarecrow") and 9/11 Flight 93's Mark Bingham ("Tuesday Morning")... and her own battle with breast cancer... "This Is Not Goodbye" and the goose-bump inducing anthem "I Run For Life."

One of my favorites was her latest release... one she was asked to write by Al Gore for his documentary An Inconvenient Truth... "I Need To Wake Up"...  highly recommended for download (maybe I can coerce Scott to nominate it as the "Boogie Boogie" song of the week!).  Just a wonderful song that not only speaks to the impending planetary issues... but also can apply to one's own life (global warming or not!).  And Melissa is not just talking the talk, she revealed that her tour buses are all fueled by bio-diesel.

Though she writes most of her stuff, one of the highlights was her cover version of Janet Joplin's "Piece of My Heart."  Vocal comparisons aside, this has become one of her signature songs... thanks to giving one one of the most memorable Grammy performances in recent years... performing bald and still weakened from chemotherapy.

Before I wrap this up, I do have to give a shout-out to one of Melissa's bandmates... guitarist Philip Sayce... AMAZING!   

I am no guitar aficionado... but I have seen my fair share of concerts... along with some greats like Eric Clapton... and Sayce is simply one of the most incredible guitarist I have ever seen.  And yes, he wasn't too bad on the eyes either (he had a bit more hair last night, this pic was taken from an early stop on the tour).

So just a wonderful concert... passionate and inspiring!  With last night's show, Melissa also enters some rarefied air... in the "seen most times in concert" department, Melissa joins Bruce Springsteen and Cher as folks I have seen 3 times (she is Todd's first three-timer).

Shockingly enough, it appears Melissa changes up the set list every night... a rare thing these days!  Granted it is 80% the same each night, but it is still nice to see an artist who likes to do something at least a little different each night... you can check out the set lists on Melissa's official website.

tags:  melissa etheridge

Madonna Rides Into Town

... and she brought her riding whip!   

Madonna emerged from a giant disco ball (reportedly covered with $2 million worth of crystals) and literally kicked (and whipped) the show off with an equestrian-themed/S&M take of Future Lovers from Confessions on a Dance Floor.  A video-ized Madonna introduced the real-life Madonna proclaiming "I'm going to tell you about love"... and the roar from the crowd told her she was about to receive a whole lotta love right back for the next two hours.

So, I really don't know where to start. 

The show was amazing... the ticket prices made me question my sanity (and that's saying something!!)... but the production value of this show is so high... there were really no regrets... your dollars wree certainly on display during this visual feast... plus that you are in the presence of arguably one of the most famous women in the world.   

I came away from the evening with a total (increased) respect of Madonna's artistic vision.  You know she had total control over every aspect of the show... and she has certainly come a long way from her bubble-gum pop musical roots... sure there was an incredible amount of ego on display... but the night was a mix of fun (even kitsch), but also "message."

She turned political a few times ... in the "shock value" (and most press publicized) moment of the evening, during Live To Tell Madonna puts herself up on a mirrored crucifix (with a crown of thorns, no less!)... but against a video back-drop of the devasting toll of AIDS in Africa. 

And let's just say, it is pretty clear what Madonna thinks of Dubya and Tony Blair. In a video sequence for Sorry... the two world leaders make mulitiple appearances (beside images of more notorious "evil doers") as the words "Don't Speak" are flashed across the screen and the song's chorus "I don't wanna hear, I don't wanna know/Please don't say you're sorry/I've heard it all before" is repeated.  Dubya also gets a shellacking during I Love New York, "If you don't like my attitude / Then you can F off / Just go to Texas / Isn't that where they golf"... that last "golf" line was changed to something about sucking a lower appendange on the current President.  Yowza!

Yesterday I mentioned that Madonna, like many "divas," has a thing about air conditioning... and that surfaced last night.  Past the mid-point of the show, Madonna said something to the affect of "A word to the management, turn off the air conditioning.  Sure enough, it did heat up (literally) for the remainder of the show... and this turned into the primary focus of an article about the concert in this morning's newspaper.  Apparently, a half hour before showtime was 75 degrees inside... at showtime (40 minutes "late"... at 8:40p) it was up to 80... and by the end of the show, it was a very noticeably toasty and moist 87 degrees.

So that's a good segue to say to say... at times, she was a bitch.  There was minimal chit-chat with the audience beyond the prerequiste "Hello... [insert city name]"... I sensed every aspect of the show was planned out, orchestrated, choreographed...  right down to her swigs from the water the bottle. 

Ok, back to the bitchiness... me thinks, this was "part of the act" as well ... her diva 'tude and tantrums are legendary... so you expect (and want!) to be put in your place!  When she told you to jump you jumped, when she said dance you danced... when she told you to roll your arms during Hung Up... well, you better f&ckin' roll your arms... NOW!!   Ma'am, yes ma'am!!   Heck, even her dancers seemed to be trained animals (at times literally), catering to her every whim and asked to do some amazing physical feats... and they were truly incredible... for these folks (and yes, some hot male bodies) a spot on a Madonna tour is as prestigious a gig as you can get in the dancing world.

Finally, at age 47, Madonna looked amazing!  For some reason, I thought she was coming across ever so slightly chunky of late... but her body is incredible... if anywhere, her age is showing in her face.  But her legs were incredible... and she still exudes sex appeal.  Our seats were great... at times, I would say we were about 60 feet away from her (both at a side stage "arm" and a mini-stage that extended halfway out to the floor).  During Hung Up, we had a most excellent rear view of her humping the boom box... and well, even for a gay guy, I have to say she had a fine ass.

So I guess that's it... sorry for the ramble...  believe me, my mind is still processing everything...  I am sure I could go on and on. 

I know some folks consider it a SPOILER, so I have included the song/set list "after the jump" (if you are reading this via Bloglines or some other feeder... avert your eyes)...  I certainly didn't commit it to memory, just pulled it from the Web and "confirmed" it...

Oh, btw... no encores... which was fine with me! I have always found "planned" encores (you know when the artists leaves the stage having never sang their biggest or most current hit) to be annoying and manipulative... so it was quite refreshing that the show was over when it was over (the first time)!!

UPDATE:  From The AZ Republic... a much more focused (and pretty much on target) concert review/re-cap: Madonna dances through Glendale spectacle

Burnin' Up

Tonight's the night!

Yep, it is the big Madonna stop in Phoenix!

Not that I would have ever forgot it , but I was reminded of the show when I had to put that TicketMaster charge into Quicken this past weekend... yeesh!   I am hoping complimentary lap dances from her male back-up dancers are included with the price of admission!   Shockingly enough, the buzz is that the show is actually worth the steep price of admission.

While I doubt she'll sing it... I have a feeling we'll be... burnin' up! 

Allegedly Madonna has called for minimal/no air conditioning at the concert venues.  This is not unheard of in the divahood... Aretha Franklin has been known to throw a hissy fit and storm out if the air is on... while Celine Dion has a highly controlled temperature/humidity performance "bubble" at Caesars Palace.   So we'll see, even without air conditioning, Arizona's infamous "dry heat" may do in the Material Girl!   (Though the weather has been very strange here for the past two days...)

This is also the start of an unusually high density activity schedule... Friday night we are supposed to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat... Saturday, Todd's parents stop by to pick up Lucy (who arrived for a short doggie stay yesterday)... Sunday is a Diamondbacks game... then Monday, Todd is off to France.

So more tomorrow... that is, if I can recover after being out on a "school night."

Cinco de Maya

Tonight we are going to see a true American living legend... Maya Angelou!

Her resume runneth over... writer, director, actress, producer, poet, civil rights activist, teacher, recording artist, cookbook author... for starters!

Nominated for a Tony award and fluent in 6 languages, Angelou is best known for her autobiographical work I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and On The Pulse Of Morning - the poem created for and delivered on Bill Clinton's first presidential inauguration.

She is even "celebrated" in La Vie Boheme from the musical Rent, with Mimi & Angel offering up this tribute:

To hand-crafted beers made in local breweries
To yoga, to yogurt, to rice and beans and cheese
To leather, to dildos, To curry Vindaloo
To Huevos Rancheros and Maya Angelou

We should expect the unexpected.  Her publicist couldn't tell our local newspaper what the night will hold.  Angelou doesn't bring notes to the stage -- every "perfomance" is different.  That's for sure.  We did see her several years ago.  She was really getting into one of her poems... and with a wild arm swing she knocked her glass of water off her lectern... the look on her face was priceless, but she didn't miss a beat.

But I am sure the now 78-year old Angelou will provide inspiration and words of wisdom.  Here are few of her "famous" quotes that jumped out:

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude. Don't complain."

"I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver."

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it."

"If you have only one smile in you, give it to the people you love. Don't be surly at home, then go out in the street and start grinning 'Good morning' at total strangers."

"There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure truth.'

"Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it."

Tuesday Mish-Mash

Usually it's mish-mash Mondays... but a day late with a few unconnected thoughts...

Madonna - Well, I wasn't the only crazy person to spend oodles of dollars on Madonna tix.  Today's paper reported that it took only 16 minutes to get to "only single seats left" status.  With that kind of demand, a second show has been added two days later on much more concert-friendly Saturday night... but I wasn't going to roll the dice on that!   We also had $44.50 worth of fees added for the pair of tix... I remember the days when paying that alone for a concert seemed like a big deal.  I'm getting old!

Queen Night - No, not more about Madonna... tonight is Queen tribute night on American Idol.  USA Today has published tonight's song selections.  I won't spoil it for you... but will just give some cryptic comments.  Elliott is singing a song that I thought would have been perfect for Ace... while Ace's choice seems questionable to me and fear the 'interpretation'... Kellie has the most interesting choice and potential train wreck... Bucky is likely saving himself by song choice alone. 

West Wing - I think that it is a little sad that there has been little press about the result of the Presidential election on The West Wing.  I think the show has been better than ever, but it certainly seems to be leaving on a whimper buzz-wise.  The NY Times has an interesting piece (registration may be required, sometimes I can read the full piece without it) about the outcome ... seems like the election would have swung the other way if John Spencer had not passed away in December.  Looking forward to seeing past cast members return in the closing weeks of the show... though next week's episode looks like a tear-jerker.

MINI Cooper - Yesterday was my car's one month anniversary.... which I find hard to believe... on one hand it seems like I just got it... on the other, it seems like I have always had it... it has just over 600 miles on it now... and received its second fill-up over the weekend.  Got about 27 MPG on the second tank... but still lovin' it... and with the weather warming up, it has been nice to ride around with the sun roof open and the windows down!

Justify My Love Ticket Prices

Well, Madonna tickets went on sale this morning... and I managed to snag us some.  Thanks goodness the days of having to call-in or sleep-out at a ticket booth are over!

Though my online experience was not without its moments. I was all signed in to Ticketmaster as 10 a.m. approached, I kept hitting the reload button... and just at 10 a.m....  I got a message that I had "exceeded the maximum number of hits allowed" and "please try your request again in a couple of minutes."  Arrrrrgh!!!  Couldn't they have mentioned that somewhere before I got trigger-happy!?!

So I switched to another browser, tracked down the page again... submitted my request and then it says it will take "approximately 2 minutes" to pick out tickets... so I scrambled back to my other browser, which had now forgiven me... and suddenly I have my choice between 2 sets of tickets... and better yet, despite the lag time (every second counts!), I got lucky:

Section 101 - Row J

So pretty darn great... but I have a feeling why it is called the Confessions tour... and it has nothing to do with the of the album/CD... it's because no one will want to admit how much they paid for tickets! 

If we weren't wracked with enough guilt in the past couple of days, now I have to deal with the fact that I am paying to see Madonna for an amount of $$ that could feed a family in a third-world country for probably a significant period of time.  Eeek!  I think a charitable donation is in order to get the karma back in balance.

While at Ticketmaster, I checked out our "Online Order History" (stretching back to 2003 )... I pretty much am sure our TiVo knows we're gay... but I am thinking Ticketmaster probably has a good clue as well:

Madge Alert

Yes, Madonna is coming to town!

I am a little surprised.  Even though we're one of the biggest metro areas in the country, last night I wondered if she had ever been to Phoenix.  And the answer is yes...  21 years ago!   Now that makes me feel old... it was way back during her Like A Virgin tour... so that even pre-dates my tenure in the Valley.

So, I am sure you may surmise, I have never seen Madonna in concert!

I know shocking!  Celine, Bette (twice!), Cher (thrice!), Dolly, Reba... so Madonna seems like it would be a much-needed hole punch on the gay card (and Barbra is threatening another farewell tour, oy!).

But old age is kicking in too... the concert is on June 8th, a Thursday (ugh!) night... it is at the arena out in boonies (for us)... and tickets (going on sale Monday) are $60-$355 (+ countless surcharges).

The North American stops are: LA, Vegas, San Jose, Fresno, Phoenix, Chicago, Montreal, Hartford, NYC, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlantic City and Miami.

Vegas Shows: Struggles & Shake-Ups

Obviously we did not book the most popular shows in Vegas this most recent trip. 

As you know, our Gladys Knight show was cancelled last week.  Innocently, I thought the star of the show might just be suffering from a head cold, but when Jeff called to book show tickets for later this month and was informed that this Saturday night would be the last show!   I scoured the Internet looking for news about this, but only came up with this link which mentions a big shake-up in shows at the Harrah's properties.  The article mentions the official closing of the Queen inspired musical "We Will Rock You" at Paris... and notes shows like Gladys, Clint Holmes (Harrah's), Scintas (Rio), and Jubilee (Ballys) are all on the chopping block.   So I am now really disappointed we didn't see Gladys... glad that we did see her last year... and hope she'll find a new well-deserved Vegas showroom!

And likewise, it appears Avenue Q is struggling at Wynn Las Vegas.  This gossip column from the LV-Review Journal quotes Wynn as allegedly saying he "made a mistake" about the show.  Wynn is bringing in a new marketing executive with hopes to boost its run in Las Vegas.  There was a pretty good crowd for our Saturday night early performance of the show... but apparently they are only regularly selling half the 1,200 seat house and have not even opened the balcony.   So the show might just be singing one of its signature tunes "It Sucks To Be Me" or perhaps the show is only "For Now?"

Vegas Shows: Fall '05 Edition

With our Vegas trip coming up in just a couple of weeks, figured it was time to get down to buying some show tickets.  It is an especially nice trip since it is a "business" trip for me... so hotel & gas (and at least one meal) are not directly coming out of my checkbook...  best yet, the only commitment (meeting an East Coast business partner) is Thursday evening... so the rest of the weekend is free (ssshhhhh!).

So after some discussion with my other half... we decided to go to a couple of shows (though Todd will be "officially" finding out about this along with the rest of you!)... and btw, Happy Birthday!  (Todd's birthday is week we are going... how convenient!)

Since we enjoyed her show so much the first time.... on Friday night we are going back to see...

Gladys Knight at the Flamingo... it is really a nice and cozy venue that harkens back to the Rat Pack days of Vegas (I think Gladys may have even said that they did play at this particular showroom)... and there is not anyone much cooler than Gladys!   I will just have to start practicing my "woo woo!" back-up singer moves for "Midnight Train To Georgia"... or, umm... maybe not.

On Saturday night, we will get our first look at the relatively new Wynn Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.. and be seeing....

Since Wynn has an exclusive contract with Avenue Q, the only place you can see the Tony award winning musical is in NYC or Vegas (no touring productions!).  We ended up with seats in Row P... I guess it would have been cool to be in Row Q... but I take seats one row closer!

"D"-lightful Surprise

My big Friday night birthday surprise from Todd were tickets to see Kathy Griffin!   I became an even bigger (huge!) fan of Ms. Griffin during her Bravo reality series My Life On the D-List, so you might be wondering why exactly I couldn't figure out that we were going to see her?!

Well, the show was out of town! 

About a month (??) or so ago, I looked up Kathy's tour dates on her website.  The closest she was going to be to Phoenix was Tucson... but since it is about a 1.5 hour drive each way... I didn't even bother to look at the date (or the day of the week).  So Todd gets big brownie points, (a) for picking up on it (honestly, I was not intentionally dropping a hint... and I am more than willing to admit when I do!), (b) tracking it down, (c) realizing that we could swing it on a Friday night... (d) that it was conveniently around my birthday... and (e) keeping it a secret for an extended period of time!

Kathy was just great!  She came out wearing a shower cap after Tucson was hit with a freaky deluge of  rain... saying that she had perfected her bangs and didn't want to ruin her hair. 

With an stand-up act that is largely based on celebrity foibles and misfortune, I have to give Kathy credit for almost immediately putting her own impending divorce out there. She did not linger on it, and seemed genuinely depressed about it... but hoped getting out on the road would help her get through this tough time.  The cheering (dare I even say... raucous!) audience certainly did not let her down.

It was a very gay crowd... I told Todd that I thought every gay person in Tucson must have been there (along w/ some of us from Phoenix).  But with Kathy flip-flopping between adoring and mocking (destroying!) pop culture icons, it only makes sense that she has a big gay following... and as a D-Lister she is also has the "outside looking in" perspective.  So her humor is right up my alley... and we agreed that I certainly could be one of Kathy's "gays"... though I am sure I can just get in line with probably a million other gay men who think the same thing.

If you have seen Kathy, you know this chick has some balls... just fearless!  Her biggest targets of the night included Tom Cruise (he has gone so whacko even the gays don't want him), her former E! red carpet colleague Star Jones (she said Ms. Jones upcoming book on finding love should just be titled "How To Make It Work With A Gay Guy"), and celebrity/right winger Patricia Heaton.  I was particuarly thrilled with the Heaton rant, since she really bugged the crap out of me going on Entertainment Tonight (or as Kathy calls it "the news") during the Terri Schiavo case... and even "big fish" like Oprah, Mel Gibson, and Republicans (You have the White House, the Senate, the House... so shut the f&ck up!) were not left unscathed.

Kathy puts on a very spontaneous show... if you saw the Bravo series, you know she comes out with her own notebook of brain-stormed notes of current hot topics.  I would guess you never get the same show from night to night and definitely get the feeling that you are meeting up with an old friend who has all this juicy gossip to tell you about.  At times, Kathy would just go off on tangents... holding out her hands and going "Oh wait... I have to tell you this!"  Even after doing nearly an hour and a half of material, the audience still seemed to want more.

So just a very fun evening and I don't think Todd could have come up with a more perfect (or fitting) gift... though it still kills me a bit that I didn't guess what it was (guessing right is one of my strengths). 

The rest of the weekend was fairly low key... which was totally fine... we are both still recovering from our East Coast trip and getting ready for the Vegas trip in a couple of weeks... and  flirting with some kind of head cold... so catching up on TiVo was a perfectly acceptable activity!

Oh, I do have to tell you about Saturday... I am on the verge of a *major* splurge... which, the more I think about it, really smacks of an impending mid-life crisis... stay tuned!