Kiss My Brass Reviews

Bette Is Breathtaking!
By John

Well I have never written before but wanted to write a review for the show.

Bette looked amazing last night and was sooooo full of energy. I had 2nd row seats on the center isle.

When I first arrived, a local radio station was handing out single yellow roses to anyone who wanted them. My mother and I found our seats and waited for the show to start. At about 815, the show finally started and Bette came out on her horse. I noticed that the sailor hat she wore at the January Dallas concert was missing, but she still looked amazing.

During the first act, the show as wonderful. I loved Skylark and she did different Rosemary Clooney songs than the previous concert I had seen, which was nice. I Think Its Gonna Rain Today and When a Man Loves a Woman were both powerful and moving. The ending with Shiver Me Timbers was breathtaking too. I love that song live....it's better to me than the cd version is.

Her humor in the first act was surprising and funny. She did the joke about George W coming to her 70's concert because his cocaine dealer got him tickets....I cringed fearing boos, but stunned clapping began. Then Bette said something to the effect of bet yall didn't think I'd have the balls to do a Bush joke here in Texas, which got loud applause.

The second act was top nouch as well, but I confess I did miss September and the Friends encore from the first show. Although, the added Phantom of the Opera segment in the Delores segment was a pleasant surprise.

Several amazing moments during this act. The first was during From a Distance. When Bette sang, I just can not understand, what all this fighting is for....a bunch of people began to cheer and clap loudly. Bette's face lit up immediately and at the end of the song she recieved a standing ovation from the audience. She actually sang a few of the verses over and then commented about how much she appreciated the audience's gesture.

Then during Wind Beneath My Wings, I was singing along with Bette because this is my favorite song....in fact the first CD I ever bought was the Beaches soundtrack. Anyway, Bette made eye contact with me for what seemed like forever as I sang along. My eyes started watering and just at the end of the song, I reached up and wipes my eyes and she pointed right at my mom and I when she sang Thank God For You, the Wind Beneath My Wings...which of course made me cry more.

As the song ended, Bette did her bows and then left the stage before coming back to sing the second chorus over. She got a huge standing ovation from the crowd. After her bows, the crowd finally sat back down and Bette got right in the middle of the stage very close to the end and sat down with the microphone.

When she did this, the piano began in the background as she talked about how much she enjoyed the area and Texas. I got up from my seat, walked up to the stage, and laid my single yellow rose beside Bette. She picked the rose up smelled it and said thank you as I returned to my seat.

Bette then sang the entire song "The Yellow Rose of Texas." The audience went wild. It was so wonderful (and amazed me as I do not know all the words and I live in Texas). As she finished the song, she raised the yellow rose in my direction in a toasting manner and said Thank You.

Bette then sang the Rose and brought down the house.

As if that weren't enough, Bette came back out and did "Keep On Rockin" and "In the Cool Cool of the Evening" after "The Rose." Bette said that the "Cool Cool" song was not rehearsed and told everyone to go with the flow. And so we did!

It was such a special experience that I just had to share. What a wonderful memory that I will cherish always.

John,
Texas

RAZZLE DAZZLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Leon in the Big D

Bette’s concert at Nokia Theatre last night was SLAMMIN”.

As was said before the Nokia is a VERY intimate venue, you could literally walk five steps and be in Coney Island. It was a real treat to be so close to the divine and the horse she rides in on. The local jokes were right on target and not one miss-step was to be found. The band and the Harlettes were fan-freakin-tastic, but, for me; it’s all about Bette.

The Bush jokes went over great as contrary to what some people believe, not every one in Texas voted for OR likes W. or his family. I, for one, was glad to be at a show for adults and not have the local news there saying “Bette Midler tells racy adult jokes, two small children were several blocks away, how the jokes affect them. The exclusive story only on channel 11 tonight!

The set was beautiful, only Bette could be so elegant, the songs were perfect. I am not really a Rosemary Clooney fan, there are so many other talented singers that are forgotten, but, as usual, Bette cast her spell over me and made me fall in love with “Hey there, you with the stars in your eyes”. I had my fingers crossed for “Slow boat to China” but, the Sophie Tucker jokes more than made up for it.

The second act was fantastic. All hail Delores! “Fish tales over Broadway” was a runaway hit in Grand Prairie, TX. I loved when the agent called and said, “I’m giving you one more chance, so, don’t f**k up.” As a single gay man who dates a lot, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard those very words out of a telephone receiver.

Bette has been saying that Delores is not long for this world. That would absolutely break my heart as not a lot of people do characters anymore.

It just amazes me what great shape this tiny little woman is in. I am a 30 year old, body building muscle man and there is no way I could do all she does, remember dance moves, local reference jokes and smile the whole time. I served 12 years in the Marine Corps and I know guys who would run home crying for their moms if you put them in fish tails, made them sing show tunes AND do the back bends, sit-ups and flips that Bette and the Harlettes do. At 58. she is AMAZING. I guess that’s why she makes the big bucks.

I read once that it is a dream of Bette’s to have a piano bar in New York where she could just go down, sit by the piano and sing standards all night if she felt like it. Bette, I would be there every night with a glass of wine, a pack of smokes and a wallet full of tips to put in the glass to make requests for all the old war songs that I love to hear you sing. I am so jealous of my gay brothers in the 70’s at the Continental Bath’s. Man, what fun that must have been. I, also, am holding you to your promise of not retiring.

As the piano keys began for the BOOOOOOOOORING, sappy, time to cry, let’s all hold hands like idiot’s and sing in unison, big radio hits started to play, you know, (the ones for the fair weather fans) Wind, Distance, and the Rose, I took my leave.

Parting is such sweet sorrow, it’s not very often you get to spend such quality time with such a classy lady.

Your fellow Bette head and future Canadian citizen in Big D,

Leon

The Yellow Rose of Texas
by Robert J.

I have come to the conclusion that complete enjoyment is all about perspective. By twist of nature or by purdee silliness the KMB2 concert was not sold out in Grand Prairie, Texas last night. At least several seats on the 2nd and third row were open. As soon as intermission began you could see several people begin to focus in on those empty seats just like a skylark looking for food. I grabbed my friend Karen and we fled our row N seats and swooped down. The race was on between us and three ladies who seemed to be one toe ahead. Eventually, we settled for two end seats on the third row. Our placement turned out to be perfect as the stage was cluttered with speakers, lights, and monitors, forcing Miss M to walk around and edge to the end of the stage not 10 feet away from our seats.
Needless to say, the show improved during the second act.

If I'm going to give an honest review I have to say that Bette looked exhausted. From our seats, we could see her in the wings right before climbing onto the gliding swan. She took a few swallows of bottled water (with a straw) then painted on her smiling face and took to the stage. If she was exhausted, the amount of energy she put forth never suffered. She gave the DFW metroplex 3 extra songs! When she sat down to sing The Rose, she broke out into The Yellow Rose of Texas. Several people started placing yellow roses in her lap and hands but Barney Fife came and pulled anyone who came with 4 feet of the diva away from the stage. She also came out after The Rose and produced a rousing rendition of Keep on Rockin'. Once the Texas crowd stomped and cheered, we were fortunate enough to hear, In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the evening. Two girls attempted to swing dance near the stage but again, Barney put a stop to that.

There were no major glitches.... in Oklahoma City, the Rosemary screen didn't quite make it down... but the two small mishaps I noticed in Dallas were minor.... When the Judge Judy video was suppose to begin, something else popped on to the screen just for a second. The other minor mistake put a look of scare in Bette's eyes. As Delores DeLago hopped back to her motorized chair to plop herself down, she almost missed! Not so bad that a few wiggles put her in the right and proper place, but you could see the shock in her face as her slippery scales almost sailed south.

Grand Prairie, which is smack-dab in the middle of Dallas and Fort Worth, made it through the entire first verse of The Rose. You could tell it made her happy. You could also tell it made her happy once that the last encore was over. But most of all, you could tell every second that performing live on stage is what Bette Midler was meant to do!