No stenographer-- supposedly the place had not accomodated Our Hero with phone line... too bad, I had been practicing my touch typing for days... The venue was a small (500 seats) theater, general admission, with a steep slope (meaning excellent sight lines and every seat a good 'un)... and the consensus among the cognascenti was that this was a good show. It was my only one of the tour, but I was pleased... as per usual, all four piano songs were flubbed (even Free Male & 21!)... but the rest of the show was a sizzler, and da man was in excellent voice throughout. He was battling a cold, and the5e was some horseness-- but he has learned to use such physical limitations, and this was a particularly soulful, "on" evening vocally. The vocal highlight of the night, I think, was the exquisite "Mated"... in addition to Todd's wrenching, deeply felt singing, Jessee's playing was right there with him. Todd would stretch out the part that goes "but it's way beyond what we call love", and Jesse would stop playing... until Todd wound his way back to "If anyone should ask" and Jesse was right there on a dime... Todd introduced Jesse as "the guy who's beencarrying me the last 3 weeks!"... By the way, maybe he can't play the piano, but lordee can the man shake a banana!... "#1 LCD" was awesome, killer ("He was channeling Jimi!"-- Ms. Plum) and a truly sublime moment for the fans; all hot and bluesy and so frigin'-- electric... and Tiny Demond too was a highlight; I'd never heard it on acoustic... I thought the show kicked off quite well, with a perfectly executed LCM, Cliche, and a passionate There Goes My Inspiration... I Want Yo, of course, ewas chill-inducing... and the encores-- sure its only got 4 chords, but the version of One World was particularly spirited; according to several, one of the best ever... the show seemed shorter than the others on the tour; could this be due to elimination of the need for on-stage tech support?
...and of course the meeting of the awizzers was almost as much fun as the show. Saw Mr. Rogers and family (wife and-- get this-- in-laws!)... Anne, Lia (who I finally meet in person), 'Chele, Russ'n'Sue, SOB, KSB, yadda yadda... I guess Michele and her touring buddy Dave win the award for the longest drive (Cleveland)... I did not buy any t-shirts (there were none left after SOB got thru) but I did buy the CD... which I got Todd to sign afterwards (I asked him to make it collectible as I handed him a pen. He said, "It'll be collectible... delectible...")... I asked the guy selling the merch, "Am I gonna get one of these soon as a patron?" and he said, "Well, theoretically..."