Phoenix, Arizona - Chengdu Concert

Chengdu is Phoenix's Sister City and a delegation of artists traveled to Phoenix to celebrate Chinese New Year. The concert was held at Arcadia High School.  The entertainers had a wide variety of styles to demonstrate the different periods in China's history.  I arrived early to get a good seat near the front.  These are taken with my point and shoot camera so that I could be discrete during the show.

Qiang Ethnic Song and Dance: Wonderful Music of Qiang Mountains.  This was a singing and dancing performance.  The bags played a significant role.

 Suona Solo: Happy Happenings.  A four string guitar like instrument.

Sichuan Opera Puppetry: A Fish Fairy in the Garden. This was a marionette and she told a story about a fish fairy.  She also came into the audience and "shook hands" with people. The artist did an incredible job controlling the puppet's hands and she was able to swirl a scarf and grab the long trailing feathers.

Yi Ethnic Song and Dance: Ah Mo Girls.  Song and dance with umbrellas.

 A local chorus sang "Descendants of the Dragon" and "Seeking Blossoms in the Snow".

 Guzheng Duet: Fragrant Jasmine.  String instruments.

 Classic Solo Dance: The Beauty of the Tang Dynasty.  The dancers in the "sleeve dance" have long sleeves to swirl around.  I like this dance style and it makes me want to have long sleeves to dance with!

 Acrobatics: Rolling Cups.  This woman was a contortionist and could balance the stacks of cups as she moved around.

Sichuan Opera Stunt: Face Changing.  It is fascinating to watch this.  The photos are poor but I wanted to mention these performers.  They swirl the cloak over their face and their mask changes.  I also recognized the blue headdress from a visit to Dalian in May, 2013.  (Click here to see the Dalian post.)

Tibetan Song and Dance: Ballad of Prosperity.  Long sleeve dancing in a group.

 The group posed for a group photo.

It was a delightful concert and I am so glad that I attended.

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood

Clapton is as good as ever. He doesn't smile through the entire performance, but has the biggest grin at the end of the show. He's awesome. I know that you can't see him in the photo, but you can see that the seats were good (Section 101 at jobing.com Arena). The people on the floor stood for the entire concert (oh, please) but we had a good section and could sit and watch.

I think that they are recording the Clapton/Winwood tour, so treat yourself to a DVD and enjoy it at home.

Elton John & Billy Joel live!

This was an incredible concert and we had awesome seats. As usual, the person in my line of site decided to stand up on occasion, as the lone stander in the crowd, but after four years of concert devotion, I have come to expect this.

Each artist is worth a full concert, but the two of them together more than doubles the experience. They started and ended the show together, and then each one played a full set in between. Absolutely delightful!

Started the night with dinner at Staudeneirers. (I'll check on the spelling later, if ever.)

Sarah Brightman Concert

Kabuki for awesome sushi and Sarah Brightman concert.

The night started early, at 5PM, so that we could take our time with sushi and dinner. The show was at jobing.com, so we go to the nearby Kabuki restaurant. We tried three new things on the sushi menu (sorry, forgot to take pictures): King Crab Roll, Kabuki roll and a fancy California roll with salmon. For dinner I had to select (again) the Curry Shrimp because the taste is so incredible.

We walked across the plaza, between the double dancing fountains, for the concert. Sarah certainly has an incredible voice, and a duet for the 'Phantom of the Opera' song was worth it all.

Celine Dion from great seats!

She played in the center of the jobing.com Arena, so all of the seats were awesome. She is quite the performer. Enjoyed the show.

Gordie Brown

Warm up to Celine. He was a very funny comedian who imitated other stars.

Celtic Thunder

This was an interesting group with a huge cult following. Good music. I hadn't heard of the group before, so it was quite a surprise and delight when I found that I really liked them.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

It's not big. It's large. I guess that this is the name of his new CD. Anyway, the concert was good. I am not a historical fan, but enjoyed his performance. The "large band" featured local artists, so that is always a lot of fun. The show started on time, with an intro act. Shaun someone. Then Lyle started at 8:30 and played for 2.5 hours. He has a charming and entertaining stage delivery.

We had good seats at the Dodge Theatre. Section 2, Row 15, seats 1 and 2. Ate at Thai Elephant a few blocks from the theatre.

James Taylor

James Taylor, live, finally, after all those hours I spent with him as
a teenage girl.

Good concert. He was very personable and interacted with the audience. He sang new songs, and some of the old favorites. He sang some that were done by Carol King, although maybe they were his and she did them. Whatever...they are good songs and brought back a lot of memories.

Ate at Majerle's before the show. It is about a five block walk from the theatre.

Ringo Starr and the All Starr band

Kalen and I went to the Ringo Starr concert at Dodge Theatre. We were in Section 206, Row 15, Seats 3 and 4. I didn't realize that this would be a collection of artists that make up the band. They all seemed to enjoy touring and playing together.

Starr's All Starr band (the 10th to date) included an excellent group of musicians including: Billy Squire, Colin Hay of Men At Work, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Hamish Stuart of Average White Band and Greg Bissonette. Each of the band members performed hits from their respective catalogs. This meant Squire sang "The Stroke," Hay performed " Down Under," Wright belted out "Dream Weaver" (a song he said George Harrison partly inspired), Stuart led the band on the funky "Pick Up The Pieces" and Winter's monstrous "Frankenstein" made an appearance.

Fun night! I introduced Kalen to "Crazy Jim's" for dinner and the new super secret parking spot. Fast in...fast out. The concert started precisely at 7:30 PM and ended after about 2 hours and 15 minutes.

John Mayer

At Cricket, Section 203, second section from the stage and in the middle. He is an extremely talented guitarist. It was fun to hear the songs that I knew, but incredible to watch him play. He started with the backup band, but at some point at the end came on stage with only his acoustic guitar and his voice. I was thrilled.
Of course, the people in front of me had to stand and dance during the show.

Colbie Caillet in concert

As if I knew who she was. Warm up to John Mayer. Recognized a few songs.

George Michael Concert

Wonderful!!! I was so excited with my fourth row tickets, center stage. I've never had seats so wonderful. I sat next to Katie and Linda. All three of us came to the concert by ourselves because we love George Michael and no one that we know feels the same way. It was a blast! We were from different 'decades' so had different perspectives of him. Linda was sharing some teen crush stories...my notes listed a new born child in my home...and Katie was in college. Three entirely different generations enjoying the same music. He started about 45 minutes late (even though the tickets said that the show would start PROMPTLY AT 8PM with no bands to warm up the crowd). I fall for that every time. So I sat in my seat promptly at 8PM, and waited. But when it started, wowowowowowo, it was worth it.

New best concert friend Katie and I sitting wayyyyy up front. That is the crowd behind us!

Chicago Live!!

Kalen and I attended the Chicago/Doobie Brothers concert at the Dodge Theatre. I thought that the Doobie Brothers were incredible. They often had the audience on their feet, dancing. Seated two rows in front of us was a man who looked like he could be quiet "Ernie from Accounting". He was rocking out and singing along with every song. Chicago was a little too laid back, and Kalen fell asleep. He said that it was the music that used to play as a child when it was bedtime, so it was a conditioned reflex. The grand finale presented both bands playing together, and the audience, again, was on their feet. Strong ending and a good choice for the show. I have now become a big Doobie Brothers fan...after all these years!

Don McLean - American Pie

Front row!! Yep, one of the first ones in the gate to get seats at an outdoor concert. It was fun listening and it was fun singing along. Bye, Bye Miss American Pie. Drove the chevy to the levy but the levy was dry. You get it!

Stevie Wonder Concert

Stevie Wonder was so, well, Stevie. Great show and such an entertainer. I don't know if I could play in his band. He goes from song to song so quickly, then off on tangents to other music. Musical ADD? The concert was at the jobing.com Arena in Glendale, AZ. Our seats were on the floor in row 37. The crowd was on its feet for most of the concert. Played a lot of my favorites and some new peices. He also voiced his political/social/economic opinion...all to song.