Holly Cole at the Jazz Alley

First of all: Best. Birthday present. Ever.

And it isn't even done yet.  My wife is, at this point, just hanging in there, hoping to survive until after the kd lang concert.

I was at work this morning early so I could leave early, wanted to get to the Jazz Alley early enough to ensure an excellent seat.  We've seen Holly live many times, but we've always had to drive to Canada to do it.  We half expected them to throw a border crossing in the middle of downtown Seattle just to make it feel like a real Holly Cole concert.

We were there very early, an hour to be exact.  This stunned several of the employees, but never mind that, we were first in line.  They work on a reservation system: you decide whether you're there for dinner or cocktails (the dinner patrons get better tables), and what time your reservation is for (not everyone gets in first thing, in the hopes of not overwhelming the wait staff I assume).  We got a 6pm dinner reservation, and were the first people waiting at the door, so we walked in with the hostess and picked the best table, sitting against the stage right in front of where Holly would be singing.

My wife deserves a medal for putting up with me at that point, and the look on her face made it clear she knew this.  She took a bunch of photos, one of which is in this post.

Everyone in the band was wearing a suit type of a deal, including Holly.  She was also wearing glasses, which I don't remember from the last time.  They got off to a rocky start, not in terms of everyone else on the planet, but them (they're normally a very, very tight band).  I think that it was the first stop on their new tour, which explains it fully.  As the set went on they got better and better.

There were a number of times where it looked like she was going to break down.  I honestly don't if anyone else could see it (maybe the guy right next to me), because she was extremely professional and it was hard to notice the catch in her throat or the tears in her eyes, but they were there.

About halfway through she dedicated Me & My Shadow to her dog of fourteen years (who must have died fairly recently), and at that point I fully understood.  It is a testament to her professionalism that she made it through all those songs and it was that hard to detect.  Right after Me & My Shadow she changed to Moonglow, which I think was also in memory, she just said she really felt like singing that song.

They ended the main set with I Can See Clearly Now, and it was pure awesome.  That was the song that the guy at the Cherry Creek (Colorado) audio store played for us to test the speakers I had that I thought were blown, he put on her CD and said this would tell us for sure.  We loved it so much we bought a copy immediately and were hooked from that point on.

Encore was a new one she said she hadn't recorded yet (You Have A Secret?  I think that was the name) and Ain't It A Kick In The Head, with some great solo work from all the musicians.

It was a wonderful concert, and even better for me because being so close and seeing her like that, I feel like I got a fuller appreciation for her as a person who is performing rather than just a performer.

Comments

[jezbian]

i was at the show - my first time seeing her live (after listening to her for a dozen or so years) and i LOVED it. curious to know if you'll be posting any more pics anywhere for someone whose camera battery was unfortunately dead that night????

thanks for the one pic and your writeup!

h. (just another canuck-loving concert-going audiophile who will also be @ k.d. on her 2nd night @ the moore soon!)

[John A. Vink]

I just saw her last night in San Francisco. It was a great show! I dragged my cousin along and she loved it. Particularly, she loved the song she performed after the introduction, "This is a song that reminds me of a dirty dance I did at a party..." I didn't recognize the song. Does anyone know what song I'm talking about?

JAV

[Andrew Boardman]

jezbian: My wife posted a few more pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/skye I think she got some great shots (including one with me on the left and Holly on the right).

John: If I remember right, that's "Tango Till They're Sore", from _Temptation_.

[Bual]

Holly's dog Rhoda died in/around 2004...

she has often dedicated "Me and My Shadow" to the memory of Rhoda.

Glad to hear you enjoyed the show.