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Notch In The Bible Belt
By Robert
Photo: BaltoBoy Steve Weiner
I've just returned to Dallas after attending KMB2
in Oklahoma City on Friday night.
I think most fans will agree with me that one of the many facets
that makes Bette the best live entertainer in the world is her ability
to personalize each concert.
Many of the comments I heard from my friends at a post concert party
were focused on how Bette really did her research. She spent several
minutes on Oklahoma material. The crowd was amazed and impressed.
"The Ford Center was easy to find. From the airport just turn
left at the spinning U-Haul truck!"
Honestly, after seeing KMB in Dallas during the first leg of the
tour I told my friends that the millennium tour was my favorite.
It may have had a lot to do with my seats. At "millennium,"
I was sitting on the third row! Last year, for KMB, our tickets
were on the side of the stage. We spent all evening looking at the
side of Bette's head! However, I'll never forget the top-of-the-world
entrance while singing, "From a Distance." Flying horses
are good too but seeing a globe and hearing her sing the first line
of "Distance" while rising up out of the top of the world
was an amazing piece of theatre.
Back to OKC... A friend of mine secured the tickets so I wasn't
on line and on the phone with Ticketmaster at 10am on sale date.
Our seats were just off the floor directly in front of the stage.
While we were sitting in the "mullet" section, at least
we weren't staring at the side of her head! As I said earlier, the
opening was amazing and the Oklahomans loved her local material.
The reports are true... the show has been tightened up quite a bit.
She giggled through the Soph jokes because Oklahoma is on the first
notch on the bible belt! She said three people on the first row
passed out after Soph fired the Chauffeur! She didn't hold back
though and the crowd loved it. Even my sister and her husband who
attended didn't let their connections with The First Baptist Church
keep them from laughing about the jokes the next day.
Of course, the crowd went wild when Dolores DeLago sang "Oklahoma"
during her Broadway medley. Even our distant section stood to their
feet to clap on the off beat. From that point on, there was a strong
feeling of connection that I never felt during the Dallas show the
previous year... (Again... "side of head") But I got the
feeling, as did most of the people at the post concert party, that
Bette really enjoyed being on stage in OKC. She let us sing the
first verse to, "The Rose" all by ourselves.... When the
sad mass choir failed miserably, she joined in on the 2nd verse
and then dropped out again once we pulled together.
Bette said she wanted to come back to Oklahoma more often. She kept
saying that she hadn't been there in 30 years. In actuality, it
was the "De Tour" concert in the summer of '83.... only
21 years ago. I basically sat in the same area but only paid $15
back then! There was no wind under our wings nor snow capped mountains...
Only an audience full of cigarette lighters during, "The Rose."
The lights were pretty but thank goodness people don't smoke anymore!
We were convinced that she loved my home state when, after the 2nd
curtain call, she came out and had the audience stand and sing,
"Oklahoma!" She told us that we better know the words
since it was our song! We sang it loud and proud and when a zealous
fan yelled out, I LOOOOOVVVEE YOUUUUUU, she replied, "I believe
you do... I really believe it Oklahoma!"
I can't wait until Tuesday night in Dallas. She's playing at the
Nokia which only holds 6,000. I'm hoping for a more intimate evening
with no side views! I hope the crowd doesn't let Bette and me down!
Robert
www.touchisgood.com
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