September 23,1996

Rita and I went to see Michael Bolton at the Jones Beach Marine Theatre. I bought the tickets for her birthday, and they were actually the best seats we've ever had.

I had a lot of strange reactions and thought I'd share them with you. First of all, I thought I'd hate the whole thing... he's so mainstream and my tastes run toward paths less taken. He did all of his hits and it was like listening to the record, er... the CD. His voice maintained throughout and each arrangement was right on.

He had three background singers, all girls. I don't know if all of them are on his recordings, but I know some of them are. They were phenominal. Each one has a voice and talent to be a star on their own. Of course, they wore the requisite short, tight "perect little black dress". But, they were more than window dressing and background harmonies. They danced to choreographed movements for the WHOLE show, even when they weren't singing. They moved and danced and did aerobics movements for 90 minutes, almost non-stop. Very impressive. Very Talented.

Michael (yes, we're on a first name basis) not only sang his stuff with full harmony and band, but also sang an Aria with only piano accompaniament. He was GREAT. And I give him a lot of credit. It takes a lot of guts to sing, truly sing, in front of people who expect you to be crooning and screaming and playing Rock'n'Roll guitar. And to sing solo, in the naked spotlight. And to sing a piece of music in a COMPETELY different genre than is probably the audience's taste. And I give him credit because they bought it, lock, stok and barrel. In fact he suggested that he would like to do an Aria album, and the audience went wild with approval. I was very impressed.

Then there is his band... THESE CATS CAN PLAY! He said, "The band has some feelings they want to share" and they proceded to do a jazz number (ala CD-101.9) that was right up my alley. It's amazing that these guys are willing to step back and let him take the limelight all the time.

Now, the down side... First of all, why do people have to JUMP UP at the beginning of a song and dance and sway in front of the people behind them (me!) and have those people (me!) stare at their asses insead of being able to watch the show? I didn't pay $ 35.50 a seat to watch some lady's ass the whole night. I've been to other concerts where I listened to the audience singing all of the songs instead of the artist I went to see. But, to their credit, this audience didn't do that.

He's a very smart performer, too. He surrounds himself with a bunch of talented people to support him (his Musical Director is a FABULOUS pianist) and adds the BEST lighting I have ever seen at a concert. All the players (as well as the girls) are choreographed, so that when they play solos back-to-back on stage, they know EXACTLY where they are at all times and end up in the right place at the end of the number. You don't just see him, you pay for the entire package. And he wouldn't be that good without the entire package!

Lastly, what makes a middle aged woman stand up in her seat (3 rows behind us) and start screaming "I LOVE YOU MICHAEL" at the top of her voice? And when Michael sang LEAN ON ME, she yelled, "MICHAEL, YOU CAN LEAN ON ME!!!". So, I'm thinking, "What would motivate such behavior?" Then I analyzed the situation. She was about 45 or 46 years old. My age. She would have been in her teens during the 60's and the Summer of Love and Woodstock. That means she could, conceivably, have been one of the 15 or 16 year olds screaming "PAUL I LOVE YOU" at Shea Stadum in 1965 when the Beatles invaded America. There's a certain comfort in knowing that that kind of feeling still exists. That some of us haven't lost the joy of our teens and can let go every now and then and can rekindle the freedom of our youth. While I tend to make fun of such people, I can understand the feeling and can envy that kind of sheer freedom of spirit.