Prescott show

[Joan NYC]

Greetings All,

Anybody besides me, see Burt in Prescott, AZ ? He performed to a sold out house at the Yavapai College Performance Hall, a wonderful small venue, on Friday night March 17 (St. Patrick's Day) and what a show it was! I've seen Burt and the gang three times before, and this was by far THE very best they've ever been. Burt was dressed in his regulation black suit, but he added a beautiful drapey, long, coral-orange-colored scarf this time. It was the only color on stage, and it was a great exclamation point to the stage picture.
The program started with his huge medley of hits and movie theme numbers, (minus The Blob) and moved on to the new material from At This Time. This was the first time I've seen the additional two band members, David Joyce on keyboards, and Elizabeth Chorley on violin. The live violin plus Rob's keyboard strings created a full string section sound on several numbers. It was nice to see Tom Ehlen step out front as a soloist on the Chris Botti In Our Time number. He did a great job. As usual, Josie, John and Donna, were terrific. Donna appeared to be nursing a cold, but she still sounded rich and smoky on her solos.
It was so great to see Burt move from the big Steinway, sit down at the small Kurzweil keyboard facing the audience, reading glasses and sheet music in front of him. He sang more at this show than I've ever seem him sing before, including some songs from the new CD. Even sang Wives and Lovers, something that's usually done as an instrumental number at his shows. (Do you think he's getting the message of an all-Burt CD?)
He really seemed to be having a wonderful time. He was so relaxed and funny, cracking jokes, and teasing with the band and singers. His patter with the audience was new, probably because he had new things to say, especially about the CD, which was on sale in the lobby.
The audience responded in kind, and gave him three standing ovations and encores. It was truly an exciting show.
Afterward, Burt sat on a chair at the edge of the stage and patiently signed all the CDs that the line of fans put in front of him (and it was a long line!)
I was thrilled to say hello to him again, and told him I would see him again soon back in NY at BB King's on April 3. Anybody else going that night?

Hope to see you soon,

Joan

[vincent.cole]

Bonjour Joan;

Thanks for the recap of the Burt Concert in AZ!

I will also be at B.B. Kings, Monday, April 3, 2006.

P.S. Maybe we can say hello to each other before the show. You know what I look like from my mug shot.

[someonenameddavid]

Hey, did they introduce Liz as Elizabeth Chorley?

I thought that she was going by Eliza James in public (Chorley is not a commercial name you know... how many famous Chorleys have there been? google and find out...)

Guess which Englishman who lives in Oklahoma who has a violin playing daughter is going to the New Brunswick performance on Saturday then


David Chorley

[Joan NYC]

She was listed as Elizabeth Chorley in the show program, but I thought Burt introduced her as Eliza. Now it makes sense. Thanks for clarifying this.
I'll be in New Brunswick tomorrow night, too. Row W on the right side facing the stage. Maybe you can introduce us to your talented daughter.
See you there!

[someonenameddavid]

well I'm going to hang with my daughter after the show... I will probably get an autographed copy of his CD.... I suggested to my daughter that the business manager ought to have special CD inserts made for the CDs sold "on tour" which would give the fans at the "live show" a little extra reason to buy a copy there ( remember, indirectly this is my daughter's livelihood we're talking about )
I'll be with a tribe of relatives, most importantly liz's grandad who is 94 and wouldn't go if i weren't going ( in my real job I'm a doctor with specialization in geriatrics... the perfect son-in-law ) so he feels secure with me around... not too much opportunity to hob-nob with the great and the good because my first duty is to grandpa.

So if you see someone at the back who could possibly be mistaken for Austin Powers in a dark alleyway and can do a really good "Shrek" voice imitation, who is assisting a dignified elderly gentleman with a walker... that's me.

david