The day began with two sleepy people (Deb and Jer), just returned to Houston from the previous two shows,( actually with Jer being dragged kicking and screaming out of his bed) forcing themselves up in time to pick Jen up from the airport. Jen is possibly legally insane, basically she is the Paul Carter of the female gender. After a little while relaxing (*Relaxing entails Jen and Deb, consuming about 4 bottles of champagne, and attempting to walk straight). Jer, Jen and I set off to get Mayra, who drove here from Monterrey, Mexico. Stopped off for the obligatory fajitas and margaritas on the way to the Woodlands ... which is far north of Houston. Jer is now getting used to the hot climate here ... and didn't even comment on the high temperatures.(But did nearly black out about 4 times at the Woodlands)
Jonny Lang opened the show again to a very receptive audience. The entire pavillion were on their feet as he waved goodbye at the end of his set. The man can rock ! Interestingly enough, many of the people at this venue were there for Jonny Lang primarily, including two crazy guys next to us in the front row of the pit. Security was nice enough to let one avid teenage fan into the pit area for Jonny's set ... she had driven three hours for the show and only had enough money for one ticket ... so her mother was in the car waiting outside ... really sweet. Almost time for the man....
During the intermission everyone socialized much more than at the other shows. This was nice in that you got to know a lot of the people around you ... except for the back section of the pit ... who we later found out were all Compaqers. Pretty easy to spot them as they don't stand at all during the show ... and they all wear the same polo shirts and cocktail dresses, with their VIP passes hanging around their necks and their poker faces on. *
*The Compaq situation is really a sight to behold, the entire pit up jumping, singing, dancing and having a nice time, and then the compaq section sitting down as Deb said "Poker faced" Cannot be the best advert for their company... I even took my vip pass off because I didn't want anyone to think I was with them.
There was also a women in the front section with her Sugar Daddy, and she was snogging half the men in the pit in an attempt to try and get up front beside Chris, it was quite funny as she would run back to Sugar daddy once in a while for encouragment or something.... thats unconditional love for you..., then there was the couple right in front of me... Chris was clearly flirting with the women and playing half the songs right to her, and the guy was clearly uncomfortable.... but after a while he seemed to calm down.
Who would ever have thought that Houston would be one of the best shows on the US leg of the tour ?? The entire show reflected the spirit of each member of the band, their interactions and sense of enjoyment at doing what they do totally obvious. They were all ON tonight. From the moment that the lights dimmed prior to A Thousand Years until the final ping and sparkling lights at the end of Fragile, the show oozed spark, with perhaps the exception of Brand New Day, which now seems dull and old.
The setlist was the same as the two previous shows ... no mistakes on the lyrics by Sting and quite a good bit of interaction with the crowd. No Tomorrow We'll See ... but a superb version of Moon Over Bourbon Street. Sting did his Satchmo bit during the second verse only. Chris' trumpet solo has been extended for Bourbon Street now but without Sting's voice at the same time. This frees Danny up to enjoy watching Dom being delivered his customary glass of wine ... and in last night's case ... Kipper his glass of beer. Danny is still quite busy during other songs though ... !!!
At one point during Englishman Sting said, "Are you sure this is Houston, Texas ? Because it's beginning to sound like some town I used to go through that doesn't sing." That got them up and singing for sure ! He also commented once again on how hot it is in Houston ... not an understatement.
A lovely surprise for this Houston crowd when Jonny Lang sauntered back onstage at the end of Fill Er Up with his guitar. He did a phenomenal solo to end this song. The audience went nuts and Jonny gave his beautiful grin ... clearly a great moment for him to be onstage with Sting.
During Brand New Day Jer mentioned to Chris that he thought it was sounding too slow of late ... Chris looked a little surprised ... seerms that he took this to mean that his playing was too slow on it as he apologized to Jer about that as he left the stage ! Jer is now doing the walk of shame, having insulted the man's horn ... and has vowed to amend any misunderstanding tomorrow in Birmingham. Obviously Chris wasn't terribly offended as he played right into Jer's ear during Lose My Faith.
Roxanne was the highlight for me at this show ... and ... yes ... he did the bassline to Can't Stand Losing You (unlike in recent shows) ... staring right at me and Jer.
Anyways the setlist was:
Fred etc, more interaction tonight than any previous show, but will fill in later privately.
Off to Alabama on Tuesday... will write a review from there, and then Home for a week and then back to Central Park.
Again, another long one, but that seems to be the way I like it...
Just home from the obligatory trip to Houston--had to go, I had a ticket for someone else, and didn't know where to FedEx it.
What a whirlwind 30 hours from LAX to IAH and back again, hosted by the wonderful and generous Deb. I can never repay all that she did (but I'll have a gander at it!)
After being picked up from IAH by the kindly Deb and an irate redhead, Deb and I lounged around drinking champagne, having a grand time, trying to beat the heat.
After getting Mayra (what a sweet lady: it was a pleasure meeting you! And yes, sister, you do rock-out!), we ended up at Woodlands, ready for a hot show. And I do mean hot: being from SoCal, it's a shock to be in 90 degree weather at 8 p.m. without the off-shore breeze. Yadda.
After getting to the Woodlands, Jer & Mayra almost got hauled away trying to dump their extra tix, so Deb and I disappeared into the venue, quickly and silently...
As Deb & Jer mentioned, many of the folks in the pit were very friendly, very talkative, and very giving: after the Lang opening I was in desperate need of a dollar bill, and a kind Johnny fan gave me one. As far as that goes, I will only say that my favorite roadie is the wonderful Prince disguised as a Court Jester, and his gift to me was worth so much more than a dollar! Thank you, my liege!
Anyway, as I said Most of the people in the pit were nice; one wench (I believe she is the same woman with the Sugar Daddy Jer mentioned) decided to challenge me during the second half of Sting's performance over the seats that Mayra and I paid good money for. She smacked me on the arse, pinched my arm, pushed and shoved me, even threatened me, etc., etc., but I chose to ignore her.
At this point I would like to acknowledge the wonderful security men and women of the pit at the Woodlands; I found out after the show they were looking for any excuse to throw that woman out on her arse. I am hoping that in the grand scheme of things I did the right thing by ignoring her, but... 'Nuff said 'bout that.
I was so excited about being in the first row pit for the first time ever, and the experience wasn't disappointing. Again, thanks to pit security, Mayra and I stood up against the stage the entire time, clapping, singing, dancing (you go, girl!) and most importantly *standing*. We made eye contact with Chris, Jason & Kipper, and Jason especially enjoyed my "nice horn" comment to Chris early on.
If you want a blow-by-blow concert review, read Deb and Jer's. I have not been to enough shows to impartially critique Sting: I love whatever he does (although bnd does need a bit more pep). But they looked like they were having a blast, and they ROCKED! [sigh] Will I ever tire of seeing him? I doubt it.
But he held my hand after one of his many journeys to the right side, made eye contact with me and smiled (sorry Jer, I know you hate this kind of stuff...), and got sweat in my eye this time as he played the end of Fragile right in front of me. (Although, that was a bit unfortunate when I was trying to focus in on him).
All in all another excellent experience, which is what makes a Sting Concert rise above the all rest: the total experience.
Thanks again to Deb & Jer & Mayra.
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