Swish
06-21-2007, 05:14 AM
Went to the Mann in Philly Tuesday evening to see this show, and despite the threatening weather, it worked out just fine. The Mann Center for the Performing Arts is an outdoor amphitheater...well, sort of outdoor. Let's say it's open-air with 4000 seats under cover, along with the large stage of course, and space 'under the stars' for another 10,000. Everyone there was under roof and I would guess somewhere around 3000 since there were a fair number of empty seats.
Kathryn Dawn Lang was the opening act, and she didn't disappoint. I'm not a fan of her music for the most part, but I always thought she had a voice that is among the best of all time. The late great Roy Orbison stated that 'she has the best pipes in the business', and I believed him.
She opened with an outstanding version of Neil Young's Helpless, backed by her 4 man band on piano, drums, bass and guitar. She did a couple other covers that blew away any of her own songs, especially Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and Patsy Cline's Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray, which was the final song of her encore. She also did one from Jane Siberry that was really nice, and another from Peggy Lee, but I can't recall the name of either song. Hellulujah, though, was my absolute favorite and put chills up and down my spine. k.d. has absolutely perfect control of her voice and can wow you without going over the top at every opportunity, unlike singers such as Celine Dione, Whitney Houston or nearly anyone trying to win American Idol.
Setting up for Lyle and his Large Band seemingly took forever, and all h<a>ell broke loose shortly after they started playing, with thunder, lightning, and torrential downpours. The band was cooking though, so the weather eventually took a back seat to the music coming from the stage. I counted 14 in the band, including LL, and four backing vocalists as well. While the band dished out some of the best from his 'Lyle Lovett and His Large Band' record from 1989, including The Blues Walk, Good Intentions, and Nobody Knows Me, he also did a few of numbers with only a few backing musicians, most notably his minor hit "If I Had a Boat". The encore included Church from Joshua Judges Ruth, and, of course, Look at Me from LL and His Large Band.
The rain had slowed to a light shower by the time we left, so it was easy getting out of the city, but we his some nasty storms on the way home, with rain coming down so hard that you could barely see to drive.
G Swish
Kathryn Dawn Lang was the opening act, and she didn't disappoint. I'm not a fan of her music for the most part, but I always thought she had a voice that is among the best of all time. The late great Roy Orbison stated that 'she has the best pipes in the business', and I believed him.
She opened with an outstanding version of Neil Young's Helpless, backed by her 4 man band on piano, drums, bass and guitar. She did a couple other covers that blew away any of her own songs, especially Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah and Patsy Cline's Three Cigarettes in an Ashtray, which was the final song of her encore. She also did one from Jane Siberry that was really nice, and another from Peggy Lee, but I can't recall the name of either song. Hellulujah, though, was my absolute favorite and put chills up and down my spine. k.d. has absolutely perfect control of her voice and can wow you without going over the top at every opportunity, unlike singers such as Celine Dione, Whitney Houston or nearly anyone trying to win American Idol.
Setting up for Lyle and his Large Band seemingly took forever, and all h<a>ell broke loose shortly after they started playing, with thunder, lightning, and torrential downpours. The band was cooking though, so the weather eventually took a back seat to the music coming from the stage. I counted 14 in the band, including LL, and four backing vocalists as well. While the band dished out some of the best from his 'Lyle Lovett and His Large Band' record from 1989, including The Blues Walk, Good Intentions, and Nobody Knows Me, he also did a few of numbers with only a few backing musicians, most notably his minor hit "If I Had a Boat". The encore included Church from Joshua Judges Ruth, and, of course, Look at Me from LL and His Large Band.
The rain had slowed to a light shower by the time we left, so it was easy getting out of the city, but we his some nasty storms on the way home, with rain coming down so hard that you could barely see to drive.
G Swish