| Jun. 20th, 2009 @ 01:40 am Review: Don McLean |
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Current Mood:  content
Current Music: The Irondune Castle, Zork Nemesis Soundtrack
BPAL Of the Day: Sea of Glass/Kingsport
I saw Don McLean once before in Lebanon in 2006. This show was at the Capitol Center. It was quite well attended. As before the show was for the 'Concerts for the Cause' to benefit NH Children and Family Services. I think some of the tickets in the center may have been held for charity sales, as I had to sit a lot farther over in the 2nd row than I usually have lately.
There was an opening act. A pretty blonde NH country singer named Kimberley Dahme. Unfortunately for her the sound for her part of the show was awful. Too much bass, too loud, too sharp and nearly unintelligible vocals. My mother left because she said the booming bass was giving her a headache. One always feels bad for performers when that stuff happens. The whole purpose of opening for someone is to hopefully attract new fans; something very hard to do when the audience can barely hear what you're singing.
I saw them furiously fiddling with speakers and sound boards at intermission. It was better when Don McLean took the stage, but nowhere near perfect. Being a professional with 40 years of experience, he kept the sound people busy replacing equipment and fiddling with cables until they had it right. Then he told them not to touch anything. That took about 5 songs to fix, but once they had it right it was exceptional. As good as I have ever heard the sound be at the Capitol Center. There is frequently a tendency toward muddiness, especially for the vocals, at the Capitol Center. It was a real treat to hear them crystal clear like that.
The show was great, of course. He did a different show than last time. The concert started at 8 with the opening act and it had to be at least 9 when he took the stage. As such it was a shorter show than last time with no intermission and no encores. (I think he did two or three encore songs last time.) However it was 11pm when he finished and he had agreed to do a signing after, too! I thought he seemed a little tired, but very polished and professional, even with the sound issues. 'Vincent' was the highlight. It sounded GORGEOUS! He is one of the few singers who I have seen that sound exactly the same as he did on the record. His voice was in exceptional form tonight.
An excellent show!
**** 1/2 Stars (I had to dock the half star for the sound... But Don's performance was certainly 5 stars.)
Althamal is home! He poses gorgeously, but he still doesn't like to stand very well. He was a bit moody yesterday anyway... I don't think he appreciated the cross country trips. He wouldn't look at me at all. He seems a bit mellower tonight. (Yes, I am nuts. :P) It is nice to have his beautiful face back on my shelf. He is sitting with his mother now.
Here are a few more pictures from March:
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