San Diego recap

[mark]

I was lucky enough to attend Burt's Friday, Aug. 27, 2004, performance in San Diego, the first of two open-air Summer Pops concerts with the San Diego Symphony at the Embarcadero on the edge of San Diego Harbor. It was a great night for a number of reasons.

Tickets were hard to come by; if not a sell out, it was close to being one. The San Diego Symphony opened the show with a brief set of light classics and popular songs. At the break, I had the chance to meet Alvina and her husband, who had come from Florida to see the concert for her birthday. She was an absolute delight, regaling me with stories of seeing Burt through the years, including seeing Burt and Anthony Newley together in the early 1970s. She was thoroughly charming and her bubbly enthusiasm for Burt was infectious.

The show began soon after. Burt took the stage in a light gray jacket and trousers and sat down at the piano to play the opening notes of "What the World Needs Now Is Love." The show was basically the same one he's been doing in recent years--a series of jaw-droppingly expansive medleys punctuated by several solo spotlights--but I was pleasantly surprised to discover a number of changes from the last time I'd seen him perform. Burt sang "The Look of Love," which I don't recall seeing before, as well as part of "Close To You." One of the benefits of seeing Burt with a symphony backing is hearing "God Give Me Strength" rather than "I Still Have That Other Girl," which I think he tends to perform with the self-contained band. John Pagano does a fine job with it and it is, in my mind anyway, a superior song to "I Still Have That Other Girl." The band also played more extended versions of both "What's New Pussycat" and "The World Is A Circle," and there was also the nice addition of some wah wah guitar to "The Blob." I hadn't seen him solo in more than a year so some of these changes may be old hat by now and I might be missing others.

Burt was forced to cut the show a bit short to accommodate fireworks in the harbor, so it ended after "That's What Friends Are For" without segueing into the reprise of "What the World Needs Now Is Love." Also thanks to the fireworks, there was no encore, so no "The Windows of the World," but the San Diego Symphony did its part to make up for the omission by performing "Soul Bossa Nova" during the fireworks.

After the show, my friends and I had to wait a while before finally getting backstage. Burt's production manager had told me I'd be on the backstage list, but as often happens, the security guy didn't have that list and wouldn't let us back. We hovered by the stage for a while and were close to calling it a night when I spotted Sue, Burt's tour manager, on stage. She immediately greeted us and brought us back. I had been warned that backstage was likely to a madhouse with Burt's family and friends in attendance and it was indeed quite hectic. I honestly didn't expect to get much of a chance to talk to Burt (I'm not the type to force myself on celebrities), but I had hoped to say hi to Rob Shrock or David Crigger and ask them a few questions. Unfortunately, both had left by the time we got back there, but when we entered Burt's trailer, Sue spotted me and immediately brought Burt over to say hi--"You remember Mark. He does the Web site." I've met him four times now, and while I doubt he could pick me out of a lineup, he's always been gracious and expressed his appreciation of the Web site. He looked relaxed, healthy and amazingly vibrant.

I told him I'd enjoyed the show and mentioned all the emails I'd received about the recent tour of Italy. He said it was fun but hard. I asked him about his solo CD project for Sony UK and he said that he'd recorded four things for it, but it was still a long way from being released. My friend Nichole noticed a Taurus medal on his neck and they talked a bit about astrological traits. Alvina, who was backstage with her husband, joined in the conversation, but then someone tapped Burt on the shoulder and he was whisked away for a photo. I didn't get a chance to take any photos, but Alvina's husband took a photo of me, Alvina and Pam from Cali, which hopefully will find its way onto the site in the near future.

On the whole, it was a wonderful night and it was great to finally meet Alvina as well as Pam.

[Roberto Pinardi]

Great Work!!!!

Bye
Bob

[crazyforburt]

thanks for the great report mark..oohh the look of love...hope he sings it in charlotte... another gracious burt story...is there any other kind? not when he is with his fans..thanks again....almost like being there

[Vincent Cole]

Mark;

Ditto on your post!

I am glad that Burt's people look out for you!

Where will most of us be, with out the Burt Bacharach forum, to keep us up to date with the greatest Pop Composer of the 20th & 21 Centuries!!!

Mark, hope one day to meet you at a concert!

P.S. Email about the idea I had about Burt.

[Alvina 2758]

Well, Mark said it all pretty much but I will say he was a delight as well, and what a hunk. It was so special finally putting a face with the legendary name from this forum. We came home to wait for yet another hurricane after just sorta getting over one 3 weeks before so flying debris, limbs and such piled up not yet picked up are a great concern. Pray for all of us. I did want to send a note before we lose power again and no computer. It was an enchanted evening and meeting Mark and Pam was the absolute best. I had taken a little gift bag with little things for the kids, Burt and a little thing for Jane. I had intended on doing a little more however the storm delayed my efforts. In any case I was so very impressed with Burt and Jane's children. They thanked me more than once not prompted by parents at all that I could tell. It says a lot for their parenting. I just wish Vincent had been there as well then it would have been even better. I have spoken with Burt on several occasions over the years but never even tried to ask to go backstage and I must thank LeAnna and Kimico of the San Diego Symphony for that and I didn't even ask them to do it. I just indicated I was gonna try to contact Burt's people to ask. They took it from there. Wonderful in so many ways, the city was gorgeous and all we met were so very nice. I am gonna send some pictures to Mark, however I do hate sending mine. Not only do they look too much like me but I have been having a bad hair 4 months lol since a hairdresser went amuck and I was the target.........losing hair by the inch. At least it will grow but did it have to be so seeing Burt Ha!
Take care all and I will post as soon after the hurricane as i can.

Mark when I post a reply it says this username is taken, so I added the numbers. I will figure this out one day lol.

[mark]

Thanks for sending the photos so quickly, Alvina. You can see them posted here --http://www.bacharachonline.com/bacharac ... index.html

And once again, good luck coping with Hurricane Frances. Be safe.

[alvina2758]

Now that was fast Mark. I think my husband was surprised that I sent one with him in it. Thanks for a great job on this site. It means so much to us all. Still looking out for the hurricane. It could hit here late tomorrow or Sunday........who knows? I will let you know when we have power and computers.

[Brianthesquid]

Hi Folks,

Here's the deal with me...I bought the 2 cd version of the look of love a few years ago and fell under the amazing spell of this man's book of songs. Sure...I should have bought the full 3 CD box set, and I WILL, especially after seeing the man in Denver this past weekend. I was there on business, looking for something to do, walked over to the performing arts center and bought $45 tix that just about put me on the stage. The even was well attended but I was alone which made it easier to get a good seat. How can I describe this magical evening? People talk of goosebumps...I had them all night long! Burt played for close to 2 hours, covered so many of his amazing hits in a series of medleys. Solos were given to one of the female vocalists and the male vocalist (I don't know their names) ...they were absolutely amazing...as was third female vocalist who did not get a solo. Burt sang Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head...and I thought he added a beautiful new voice to the lead vocalists, but he performed it again as the third encore and got the audiance to sing along, saying he "butchered" it the first time! Not true. He broke up the night with very interesting anecdotes about his entre into the songwriting trade and his early days at the Brill building. I live in Philadelphia and after seeing that he has no plans to play this part of the world, I am so happy that I made it to his Denver show!