The main thing that impressed me was how much the audience (at least down the front where I was) were absolutely enraptured and very energetic at expressing their enjoyment. There was literally a standing ovation on almost every song, and a huge one before Leonard had sung a note. Leonard didn't talk too much to the crowd ... but one of the main reasons was that he literally couldn't: every silence got filled with rapturous applause. At the end of the 3 hour show, the feeling was very much that everyone wanted ANOTHER 3 hours. I know I did
I'm not going to try to articulate the intense personal and emotional experience that this show brought -- others have said it all before, and better than I would be able. But I thought I'd mention some of the moments that made this show unique (at least compared to others that I've heard recordings from):
1. It was a very hot day in Adelaide -- temperatures were around 35C when the support acts were on, probably a little cooler when Leonard took to the stage. But the band steamed on, seemingly unaffected. Roscoe Beck started the performance with a jacket, which he abandoned 3 or 4 songs in ... but even by that point, the white shirt he was wearing underneath was literally transparent with perspiration.
2. At the beginning of Bird on the Wire, the Webb sisters and Sharon linked arms and did a little swaying thing, to separate just before they started singing to walk slowly to their mikes.
3. Leonard made a small lyrical change in Anthem: instead of "the birth betrayed" he sang "the birth delayed" ... or that's how it sounded to me.
4. Two small changes in Hallelujah: instead of "Baby, I've been here before" we got "People, I've been here before". Also he later personalized a line (as he often does) by singing "I didn't come all this way to this vineyard to fool you".
5. Leonard mentioned how much it meant to him to be playing on Australia Day (with a couple of Australian support acts). I thought that was a nice touch.
6. The Webb Sisters solo in I Tried To Leave You has morphed again -- by my count this is at least the 3rd version. This one was much more of a delicate harmonizing.
7. I hadn't heard mention that the show included a smoke machine in the second set (after the sun had mostly gone down) ... so when I saw smoke emerging from behind Neil's Hammond B3, I was initially worried (particularly given how hot it was earlier
8. The Australian audience reaction was a bit different in a few places to recordings I've heard from Canada and Europe. Overall the crowd were very vocal throughout. I'm Your Man had quite a few moments where the audience would shout out their willingness. The recitation of A Thousand Kisses Deep seemed a little less the 'you-can-hear-a-pin-drop' phenomenon that other's have reported -- in a few places it was like that, but in others the crowd laughed at and cheered some of the wry lines. Also in I Tried To Leave You, several of the traditional places where other audiences have given big cheers ("Here's a Man, Still Working ...") didn't get as much response .. but earlier when he sang "Goodnight my darlings" there was a big shout of "Nooooo!"
There are probably more, but it's late and this is all that comes to mind ...
Overall it was an awesome performance from LC and the band ... and I can only hope that the rest of the Australian shows are as fine as this one.
dce
Dean Engelhardt
), and hear about what it meant to be a fan for over 20 years.
