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Post by bexface on Nov 29, 2003 0:13:18 GMT -5
His music is deceiving. I know when I first bought some CDs of his, I would find myself humming the strains right away. What was really cool was the lasting power of the music. It seemed just as fresh two years after I bought it. With more serious study, the lyrics spoke of many stories, ultimately of growth and love.
I am so GLAD that I chose to go to this General Admission show (not many of those for well known musicians these days). That despite standing in the cold windy rain at least an hour for the appointed door-opening time (6:30). They took longer than expected as the sound check was still underway. Even by the time we got into the lobby, the ushers were holding us back from entering onto the main floor (you could still hear the sound check going). My luck was so great that I strode up to the apron of the stage while there were still spaces there and was pretty close to center. I could not believe it!! I never left that spot for the next four hours.
The band consisted of a guitarist, a bassist/guitarist, a drummer/bassist, and two keyboard players. Upon reflection, I think they were great musicians. They did their job so well that you tended to forget they were there. Their job was to put out the background of Seal’s vocals and that they did well. Hard to believe such a thin lithe body can put out such soulful sounds but he did it over and over again. Swooping when swooping was called for; holding and sustaining when that was the ticket. And just enough variation to make you remember it was live.
But that kind of live is nothing like having a performer like Seal singing and passing over you every few minutes or song, practically every song!! I kid you not. When he walked by to stop and sing over me to the audience, I would bend back, not wanting to violate his personal space. For the most part, he stuck with vocals alone and used a long microphone stand with a steering wheel as its base. This base brushed against me during “Killer.” Many in the audience reached out for his hands and he obliged in return to share the love. My hand did touch his once as he passed. Totally awesome!
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Post by bexface on Nov 29, 2003 0:13:50 GMT -5
Five songs into the set, the entire band leaves except one of the keyboardists, who provided the ballad strokes for “Don’t Make Me Wait” while Seal sat on the edge of the drum stand, having removed the (remote) microphone from the stand. The keyboardist departed while the bassist-but-for-now-guitarist came on. Seal used an acoustic guitar for this, “Deep Water,” and the next two. The duets were very well done. The band came back on for “Whirlpool” when he kept the acoustic guitar then converted over to vocals alone until later in the set.
My favorite moments: His verbal intro to “Loneliest Star.” He asked the audience if there were people like this. People that went a long time being alone but finally found someone. Much cheering to acknowledge this. “That’s a good thing.” Where there also people out there who were currently alone and had been for a long time. Less cheering. He wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
His verbal intro to “Future Love Paradise.” He spoke of a time in his life, say about 14 years ago, that changed him totally since then. From London (I think), he was a young and aspiring musician and he was immersed in becoming a “superstar.” To follow his dreams of becoming a “superstar,” he took off on a tour that took him away from home for over a year. It included Asia. On May the 6th, he witnessed a sunrise that changed him forever. He remembered watching that sunset and being so filled with joy that tears came to his eyes. That joy was realized not in pursuing “superstar” but in being able to share in the love that comes with music. Which is why we were all there at the moment. Amen.
This last little gem occurred about twelve feet to my left. In the middle of the first encore song, the haunting ballad “Tinsel Town,” a young lady stretched out her arms from behind the front row people to hold his hand. He reached back out and, when he held hers, she came up to kiss his hand. He then stretched out even further to return the favor and kiss her hand.
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Post by bexface on Nov 29, 2003 0:14:48 GMT -5
The power of his music came across beautifully on stage tonight. Just like the music, what you hear is what you get. What you see is a simple human being thriving in the love of what he does: make music, perform it on stage, and soak in the love returned many fold by his audiences. He took some time to reflect on this in the middle of the encore. Certainly one of the best acts I have seen in the last year (non-Tori, of course…) and also given the bexface Seal of Approval.
(P.S. I wrote down the set list before the show started, since it was staring me in the face, albeit upside down. The one beneath the lexan plate also had asterisks against some of the tunes with the word “Acoustic” written next to them. These were the ones where he used the acoustic guitar along with his stunning voice.)
Crazy
Get It Together
Killer
Colour
Don’t Make Me Wait
Deep Water *
Don’t Cry *
Whirlpool *
Love’s Divine
Prayer for the Dying
Where There’s Gold
My Vision
Waiting for You
Kiss from a Rose
Loneliest Star *
Heavenly
Future Love Paradise *
------
Tinsel Town
Bring It On
Bexface rating: 8.666 out of 10.000
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Post by Aims on Nov 29, 2003 6:39:39 GMT -5
Oh wow that sounds awesome.. You lucky thing getting right up the front, too! Seal is great.. man, I'm jealous  |
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Post by bexface on Nov 29, 2003 12:37:05 GMT -5
Oh wow that sounds awesome.. You lucky thing getting right up the front, too! Seal is great.. man, I'm jealous Not as jealous as I'm going to be when you post your Bowie review!! ;D ;D |
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Post by Aims on Nov 29, 2003 18:25:07 GMT -5
Lol!
Yeah well don't worry about that too much - I have zero skills as a reviewer.. So unless you'd get jealous over a gushy "OMG it was so fantastic" sorta review, you should be safe.
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Post by ♥Mary♥ on Dec 8, 2003 18:50:32 GMT -5
Oh gosh, how did I miss this this thread for a week?! Karl, yet another great review! Sounds like an excellent show, especially for a gen ad seating show. I'm not at all surprised that sound check went so long b/c Seal has a reputation for being quite the perfectionist. (Right, Trevor?) So, are you telling me that you got to hear "Loneliest Star" done acoustically?! OMG! Oh man, "Don't make me Wait" sounds like it was so lovely.....and LOVE'S DIVINE!....was that amazing? It's my favorite song of the album, well along with Heavenly, which I love, too. Prayer for the Dying is such a good song.....probably still my most favorite Seal song. Tinsel Town as an encore.....perfection! Even without the hand kissing, lol. Whatever you neeeeeed....I've heard that he puts on some of the best live shows. Heck, even seeing him live on TV is impressive. He's so passionate about what he does and I agree with you, that really comes through in his music....and it sounds like in his stage presence, too. Thanks!  I'm going to put some Seal on now...LOL PS- stories, growth and love..... Well said. ♪ |
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Post by bexface on Dec 9, 2003 18:42:07 GMT -5
Naw, there weren't any seats in front of the stage. I stood in the same place for 4 hours and it was so worth it!!  If you are talking about Trevor Horn (you must), you are talking about the mostest bestest producer that I know of. Speaking of, did you see he produced MLS? It totally rocks. What a great soundtrack! Sorry I didn't get this part straight. The asterisks were a cue for the stagehands: To know when to bring the acoustic guitar out for Seal to play and when to bring it back when he went back to just singing. For the first two ("Deep Water" and "Don’t Cry"), it was just him and the electric guitarist. Those duets were great! The rest of the asterisked songs, he played acoustic with the entire band backing him. This is my clear cut fave on the album but that could change in a week. A good case can be made for "Love's Divine" too. Yeah! What's up with that (lol) ;D ;D Really, I have been so fortunate to see so many great artists close up this year. Seal was like the icing on the cake. And what great cake!! Isn't today the day the enriched Amiee Mann CD comes out? Gotta get my hands on that... Toodles. Give my regards to Sean! Karl |
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Post by ♥Mary♥ on Dec 9, 2003 19:08:32 GMT -5
Naw, there weren't any seats in front of the stage. I stood in the same place for 4 hours and it was so worth it!! If you are talking about Trevor Horn (you must), you are talking about the mostest bestest producer that I know of. Speaking of, did you see he produced MLS? It totally rocks. What a great soundtrack! Sorry I didn't get this part straight. The asterisks were a cue for the stagehands: To know when to bring the acoustic guitar out for Seal to play and when to bring it back when he went back to just singing. For the first two ("Deep Water" and "Don’t Cry"), it was just him and the electric guitarist. Those duets were great! The rest of the asterisked songs, he played acoustic with the entire band backing him. This is my clear cut fave on the album but that could change in a week. A good case can be made for "Love's Divine" too. Yeah! What's up with that (lol) ;D ;D Really, I have been so fortunate to see so many great artists close up this year. Seal was like the icing on the cake. And what great cake!! Isn't today the day the enriched Amiee Mann CD comes out? Gotta get my hands on that... Toodles. Give my regards to Sean! Karl LOL about the Trevor Horn comment! I actually wondered if you'd think I meant that when I typed it! I should have put "right, orfeo?". That Trevor and I exchanged some Seal-music talk here a while back and he was telling me about how Seal is Mr. Picky when it comes to releasing his albums. And yes, Trevor Horn is quite the producer. Besides Mona Lisa Smile, he's also done some other songs for other soundtracks. "Ali"is one where I remember seeing his name at the end. Thanks for the regards, I'll pass them on! ♥ |
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I'm going to put some Seal on now...LOL
