The concert in Milwaukee,Wisconsin, last night,
was the best show I've seen on this tour. I was extremely fortunate to have sat
in the fifth row of the center section. The fifth row is now my VERY FAVORITE
place to sit in the entire arena. It's perfect for seeing the entire show, but I
gotta tell ya.....it's hard to watch anything else going on (the antics of
Hadley and Doug, and the ultra showmanship of King or the Horndogs, or even
watching those gorgeous girl singers) when Neil is SUCH A PRESENCE on that
stage. And last night, he dug as deep as he possibly could.....and by doing so,
gave more to the audience than I think I've ever seen him do in all the years I
have been going to his shows.
He came out strutting to that HEARTBEAT of Holly Holy, and I immediately
thought, "OH MY!!! THIS IS NOT THE NEIL I'VE SEEN SO FAR ON THIS TOUR!" Instead,
there was something going on that was much, much more intense than we've seen so
far!
"Don't Go There" was followed by Neil reminding the audience at least four
subsequent times to not go there! "Don't Do It....Listen to Me Now....Don't you
Go there......Don't you do it now!" It's almost like he didn't want the song to
end, and he wanted to make sure everybody was listening and that they got the
messaage!
Even the dance with Linda during "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" seems more
intense. "Saccharin," the Milwaukee Journal reviewed said. Not sure what that
means, but I didn't find it sappy in the least!
I hate to admit this but I've been on the "outside" of "Hell Yeah," kind of
searching for its hidden meaning. But I finally "GOT" it last night. There's
nothing hidden. It's clear as a bell. He has been singing this song throughout
the tour, begging the audience to look once more into a life's work in its
entirety and measure it not by what happens in one day or one minute but by what
the whole package puts into your soul. Neil knew this when he wrote this song,
and now I know it too. And I know what the whole life's work has put into my
soul. And I was humbled beyond words when I finally got it......last night.
When he was finished with "America," I didn't think the applause was gonna stop!
Neil was literally taking in every single hand-clap and sucking up all the
energy in order to take "Brother Love" to the pinnacle!
The shirt? OMG................to DIE FOR! This one was a new one, I think. At
least, I've never seen it. It was a dusty charcoal-ly color whose threads caught
the lighting so that the shirt appeared to be different colors at different
times. I don't know what in the world kind of threads they use, but it is VERY
OBVIOUS to me that whoever's designing these shirts is doing it in conjunction
or coordination with the lighting people. In this show, the left hand DEFINITELY
knows what the right hand is doing.
I try to get into Neil's head sometimes (get myself in trouble doing that too,
but here goes...) Last night was like Neil was making some sort of last ditch
effort to tell his fans, "Look, you haven't seen nothin' yet.....just watch
THIS!!!!!"
I don't think anybody at last night's show can say anything like "it's not
animated.....he's just walking through it.....it's too choreographed.....he's
not feeling it.....there's something missing....." I noticed the awe on faces
other than mine. Nothing, NADA, naught, ZIP, ZILCH, was omitted from last
night's performance. He gave this audience literally everything he had.
P. S. I'm not even going to complain that I didn't get to see him sing "Kentucky
Woman" even one time on this tour. That's a timing thing, and.....oh well.....I
just wasn't in the right place at the right time. But I'm happy to have been in
Milwaukee last night!