Au Naturale Tour
I thought it was about time to see a concert in the NY area after all the complaining that I did in the midwest about how my favorite acts rarely came to my town. I guess the draw of Steamboat Days wasn't enough for the big names. On friday night I got to see Alanis Morissette and the Barenaked Ladies play at the Tommy Hilfiger at Jones Beach Theatre.
First of all, the ampitheatre is at the beach, the stage is over the water, and you can see water on both sides of the stage. I was expecting the sound to be less than perfect but was pleasantly surprised. Apparently they figured out how to keep it from bouncing around in odd ways due to the water.
Opening the night was a woman named Nellie McKay who was a bit bizzare. She sang three songs and got off stage, and I wasn't sad to see her go. Maybe I just didn't get it. Next, Alanis came on to mild applause (it was still daylight, so I wasn't stunned) with an unfilled ampitheatre. I like her music, but she really doesn't have much of a stage presence. Her voice was amazing, and I was really impressed that she sounded so good. No real surprises from her, and she was done in 90 minutes.
Finally, the Ladies came on. Wow! What a show they put on! I have heard people say that you really don't appreciate them as a band until you see them live, and it's true, it was an impressive, fun, rockin' show. I'll spare you a full review, I just don't have the nack to remember every song and blink and eyelash flutter (unlike some people). My favorite part of the show was the acoustic portion. All the guys came and stood around one old-fashioned microphone and sang 3 songs acoustically, and plalyed it off in a very "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" manner. The songs were "Life, In a Nutshell", "One Week", and "For You". It was worth the price of admission just to hear those songs.
They ended the main part of their show with a new song called "Shopping", which was choreographed with shopping carts at the beginning, and towards the end turned into a synchronized swimming style act. It was so hilarious that the crowd didn't know how to respond. They spilled a bunch of packing peanuts everywhere during that part, and the roadies appeared to clean it up, and people stood there waiting. Eventually the guys reappeared and made some crack about how we already had the encore bit figured out. Of course, the encore was "If I had $1,000,000" which was great. They left again, and people figured it was time to clap and demand an encore, which they gave us. Super-fun show. I'd love to see them again. If you like their music at all, I would highly recommend seeing them live, but not on this tour unless you like Alanis, too, since they both stick to 90 minute sets. I wanted more!
To come: Comments on peple in the crowd.