From HighSierra9
Sent: 25/08/2006 23:08
Hello,
I attended the Saratoga Concert and thought is was wonderful. I did not get any pictures because of mistakingly taking one and my flash lit up the whole place. That was the end of the camera. I did record the entire concert however on a small digital recorder and it is quite listenable.
I've been to many of kd's concerts and this was probably the best one I've seen and heard. The reason is because she was so relaxed and herself. She did not come out an bless the audience like a Buddist Priestess with prayer hands, nor did she wear that awful outfit of last year. In stead she was in blud jeans, and black tunic over a white shirt. Her arms opened wide numerous times to embrace the audience and her smile was ever present. She sang songs of her past, and never mentioned the remake of the country album. She bantered with the crowd, laughed and just seemed to have a great time. She has definitely slimmed down and looks very fit and well. From a comment she made early on it appears that she is still looking for a lasting relationship.
All in all it was a wonderful evening under the Northern Calif stars. kd san Ingenue, Don't Smoke in Bed, Big Boned Gal, Chatelaine, Still Thrives This Love, Helpless, Halleluhah, Fever, Simple and even Barefoot from a request, plus more. She sang for about and hour and a half and gave an encore.
If ever kd seemed like the tomboy next door, this was her night. She was radiant and sexy and humble and just plain wonderful.
From: ljay_bean Sent: 26/08/2006 11:17
Finally, it's the 23rd of August, and concert day is upon us ! It feels like we have been driving around California for months, every place we visited was so different from the last .. San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Los Angeles, Moonstone Beach .. but now we are here in Saratoga. The area is lovely, it feels like an old-fashioned village, doesn't really seem like part of the large sprawl of San Jose/Silicon Valley. There are more nail boutiques and beauty salons along the main street (Big Basin Way) than I've seen in my life before ! Jaffa and I resist the temptation to spend all afternoon having our hair done ( yeah, right! ) and opt instead to sit outside a funky little coffee house sipping lattes and watching the world go by ...
... it's 5pm and time to head into the hills ! We put the top down on the Mustang and cruise along Big Basin Way, taking a sharp right hand turn into Pierce Way, climbing the steep road out of Saratoga towards the Mountain Winery. Finally, the gates of the Winery loom up on the left hand side, and the local sheriff directs us to join the queue of cars already waiting there. We sit baking in the sunshine for a few minutes, until the queue starts to growl forwards ... the gates are open and we are in .. climbing again up a steep winding road that seems to go on forever ! No signs of habitation, but lots of grape vines
.. Jaffa gives a running commentary on the views while I try not to plunge us off the track and over the edge of the hill .. hill ? Hmm .. now I see why they call it the 'Mountain' winery .. it feels like we are on top of the world, and it's not just from the excitement !!
Eventually, we reach the top, and clamber out of the car .. still no sign of habitation, just a large car park .. what's this all about then ? We thought the place was supposed to be spectacular !! We follow everyone else along a path leading from the car park through the vines, and then we start to see something ahead .. finally ! We are here .. we peer over the edge of the path into a small hollow .. we can see some seating, and part of a stage !! A few bars of music drift up, and Jaffa squeaks with excitement - 'I can see someone on the stage .. dark hair .. white shirt .. yes ! It's kd ..' I rush over, but she's already disappeared again. Poo ! We bounce happily down the track to the ticket booth, and face our fears .. will the tickets be there ?? Uh-oh ... yes ! Of course they were there .. I have to flash my drivers licence but in return we are handed two nice shiny bits of cardboard, and we are in !
Ooh ! A merchandise stall .. we rush up, but are disappointed .. there are no promo items at all ! Only Reintarnation (which of course we already have) and some Holly Brook stuff .. no offence Holly, but after coming all this way we were hoping for a 'we saw kd at the Mountain Winery' t-shirt at the very least !! Damn.
Oh well, at least we are *here* and the excitement is building ! There's the proverbial buzz in the air as more and more people swarm in .. we wimble off to find our dinner reservations. I'll skip over the course-by-course account of our meal, and say only that the view from our table was magnificent .. if anyone else is lucky enough to attend a concert there, then make a reservation for the Chateau Deck .. you won't be disappointed ! Oh .. and yes .. the wine was pretty damn good and not even as overpriced as it would have been in Europe !!
We wandered down from dinner at about 7:15 and entered the concert bowl .. god, it's tiny !! Far smaller than we thought it would be from the information we gleaned from the website. Even though our seats are ten rows back from the front, we are only about 20 feet away from the stage, practically right on top of it .. wow ! The place is less than half-full when 7:30 arrives and two people wander quietly out onto the stage .. a chap who plonks himself down at the front of the stage with his guitar, and a slender auburn-haired girl who slides behind the piano, plays a chord or two, then suddenly launches into song .. no announcements, no fuss .. suddenly the concert has started ! Half of the people sat waiting don't seem to realise, or care, and carry on their conversations. Holly carries on singing, and eventually most people do shut up. She does four songs, but I have to confess we don't know what they were ! Despite having her cd, we haven't yet found the time to actually listen to it .. will make some time now though, as we did enjoy her performance. After the first song, she commented on how happy she was to be opening for kd, as she had been a fan for ages. She was pretty funny from then on, announcing her next song 'Saturday' and describing how she had wrote it one day believing that it was actually a Saturday, only to find out later that it was actually a Thursday, but that it was quite appropriate to sing it at the concert because that was also a Thursday ! ( Yes .. it was actually Wednesday ). Anyway, we barely knew what the day was ourselves, and it was a catchy little number. If anyone hasn't heard Holly Brook, then go get the cd .. she's pretty good !
From: ljay_bean Sent: 26/08/2006 11:18
The interval comes .. it's 8pm and the light is starting to fade. The concert bowl is filling up, people drifting in from various entrances. The noise level builds and builds as the ten-minute bell rings .. surely no more people can cram in here now, but they do ! Then the five-minute bell rings, and miraculously people start to quieten .. the lights start to dim slightly .. scattered applause .. then the large doors at the back of the stage open and the band comes bouncing out .. the crowd start to go wild, then quieten down again as they realise kd isn't yet out ! Everyone is staring rigidly at the imposing doors, willing them to open again .. waiting .. waiting .. then laughter ! Applause starts on the left and spreads rapidly .. kd has sneaked onto the stage from back left, where no-one saw her at first ! She runs to the front waving as everyone cheers and claps wildly. Without further ado, she launches into her first song 'Tears of Love's Recall' (err, well we *think* it was that, but I will apologise at this point if we get anything wrong .. we were both well excited and far too carried away by the occasion to even think about trying to make notes. And it was pitch-black by this time as well !) This was followed immediately by 'Helpless', and 'When We Collide'. kd did appear to be slightly tense at first, but soon relaxed as the crowd welcomed her. After the third song, she spoke to the crowd, saying how good it was to be back at the Winery, and thanking everyone for attending (as if no-one would have gone anyway!!). The opening chords to 'Miss Chatelaine' then struck up and everyone laughed as kd did her usual prancing and pirouetting, confirming to everyone that of course she was barefoot as usual as she posed by the piano, kicking her legs high into the air ! After this had finished, kd then announced she would be doing a trio of songs by her favourite chatelaine, Peggy Lee, and kicked off with 'Don't Smoke in Bed', followed by .. erm .. 'Its a Mystery' .. and ending with 'Fever' where she did her usual cuddling up to David Piltch. It was an excellent rendition of Fever, and even kd herself commented at the end 'it doesn't get any better than that'. The crowd agreed with enthusiasm !
kd then treated us to her usual banter along the lines of 'so many hits, so little time...' and just when the crowd was all fired up for 'Constant Craving', launched instead into 'Still Thrives This Love' ! Seems she was in a playful mood .. we then had 'Constant Craving' followed by a bit more banter - saying that the next song was especially for the women who were sat in the bleachers to stage left - and also for Mary Cheney .. yes, you guessed it .. it was 'Big Boned Gal'. kd was on top form, strutting from side to side across the stage, ensuring that all parts of the crowd felt that they had received some special attention.
After BBG there was a little more chat when kd explained that the next song was a 'special request for Jenny' and threw herself into 'Dont Let the Stars Get In Your Eyes' .. despite repeated hollering from the crowd though, we never did find out who Jenny was. kd then laughed and said that it had gone down so well, that they would be doing another request for 'Jenny' the following night, making us realise that we had all been had !! More repartee ensued when kd then started chatting to someone in the front row about Edmonton and what a nice place it was ! She asked the lucky chap what had brought him to the States to which he replied ' taxes' ! This brought a huge laugh and vehement agreement from kd (although everyone should try living in England and *then* complain !!! ).Oh, and don't get me started about the price of 'gas' - lol. Anyways ... kd then continued to joke, saying that all the 'Kerknuckle-heads' living in the States had improved the culture .. citing William Shatner as an example before admitting that she couldn't think of anyone else. The crowd obligingly helped out with Pamela Anderson, thus proving kd's point completely ! The whole night was full of laughing and joking, and it felt very warm and intimate. The small size of the venue was fantastic for this .. it felt almost like we were all at a party in kd's parlour or something ! kd then fired off into the most beautiful rendition of 'Hallelujah' .. now, I'm not exactly the most sensitive soul on earth, but I defy anyone to sit under the warm night sky next to their loved one, looking up at the brilliance of the stars above with the cicadas chirping in the background, and listen to kd singing this song not twenty feet from where you are seated, and not be moved ! It was awesome. Say no more.
After the rapturous applause had finally died away, a woman in the audience called out 'kd, can I make a request?' .. kd paused and looked out .. 'sure you can', she said. The call came back 'I've been coming to your concerts since I was thirteen, and I've never heard you sing Barefoot live ...'. There was an almost audible gulp from the lady with the microphone !! 'Erm .. well .. we've not played it for years and years .. we'll probably ruin it ...' then she turned to the band and asked if they could remember it. With only the merest pause, Teddy struck into the haunting melody as if he had been practising it that very morning ! kd managed to recreate most of the song quite beautifully with only one or two 'la-la-las' throughout - and no howling, shame. The crowd showed appreciation in the usual manner, and we had another laugh when kd commented 'so, you were thirteen when I did that track .. hmm .. I don't have a problem with that!'
We then had the Jane Siberry track 'Love Is Everything' and as far as we can recall, there was another song after this but we don't remember what it was (sorry!). The lights went up and kd said her farewells to tumultuous acclaim ! Strangely, a fair number of people actually left at this point, including some from the rows towards the front. Jaffa shot down the aisle to the front of the stage bashing everyone out of the way with her camera, and I followed hot on her heels. We stood right at the front, me applauding wildly, and Jaffa trying to get some pictures as kd and the band were leaving the stage, then one of the ushers approached us. Uh-oh, I thought .. we are about to get booted out of the way .. instead, she pointed to two seats in the front row, right at the centre of the stage. 'Sit there' she said ! Well, we didn’t wait to be told twice, and slid our bums onto the seats just as kd returned for the encore !!! As the band were getting ready, kd turned and noticed Jaffa and I sat in what had been previously empty seats and made comment to us !! 'Where have you been', she said .. a witty response sprung to my lips - '.. all your life, you mean?' - unfortunately for me, it sprung about three hours after the concert had finished - at the time, all I could do was stammer lamely ... ' .. erm .. England ..' Damn, I thought immediately, what an inane thing to say. kd obviously agreed as she just replied ' .. England .. hmmm' and wandered off for a drink of water. Guess I impressed her there eh !
kd then stood at the microphone not three feet directly in front of where we were, and announced her next song, a duet that she had recorded with Tony Bennett. However, both Jaffa and I were far too gobstruck at having kd practically in our laps to pay any attention to the song itself, other than Jaffa managing to get some photos of her hula-ing with a white towel during the track. ( Jaffa hasn't posted these as they are blurry due to camera tremble .. well, camera *operator* tremble if truth be told !!). The very last song of the evening was 'Simple' and then it was all over. Everyone shot to their feet and crowded hopefully around the stage ( which was only about a foot high ! ) but kd didn't shake any hands and simply said goodnight before vanishing off.
All in all, it was a fabulous experience and a wonderful concert. We would happily travel all the way back again if kd was to do another concert there .. the size of the place makes for a very intimate and cosy feel, and we would recommend it to anyone.
Photos here
