Last weekend I spent three of four nights (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday) at my now most-attended EVER concert venue, the historic Hollywood Bowl.
Before and after the shows, I battled traffic, herds (yes, herds.. as in "mooo, mooove out of my way people!"), food and beverage lines so long I nearly starved one night (thanks for the organic strawberries Matt ;), and the elements of both rain and pot smoking 50 and 60-year-olds determined to relive their '80s youth via the return of "Diamond Dave."
But between all that, I saw three awesome, completely different musical extravaganzas that pretty much sum of the range of my musical library :)
Here's the scoop on Show #2:
October 3, 2015 -- Idina Menzel - Final Night of Her World Tour
Night #2 of Bowl "concert-palooza" was the Tony Award-Winning Idina Menzel, with my dear friend Jenny Z, who came down from Portland for the show, and her cousin Erin. This was the first time at the Bowl for both Idina and JZ (aww ;)
I was curious to see what songs she'd perform, as the only albums I own with Idina on them are the Broadway soundtracks to Rent (which I was lucky enough to actually see Idina and the rest of the original cast in on Broadway) and Wicked (which I've seen three times, but never with Idina.) She won her Tony Award for playing Elphaba in Wicked, in large part because she hit these notes eight times a week for months and months and months....
(Note: These videos aren't mine. Like at Duran Duran, I only had my camera phone. So instead of torturing you with bad video, I've found videos on YouTube from people with much better cameras and/or seats. Thanks to these people for uploading :)
Her set list covered the Broadway hits she made famous in Rent, Wicked and the just-closed-but-soon-to-be-on-National-tour If/Then. The show was very interactive and she was extremely humble for someone who has earned the right to be a Broadway diva if she wants.
She went into the audience looking for duet partners for Rent's "Take Me Or Leave Me" and found some really talented people who rose to her challenge. She also told a lot of stories.. some funny, some sad, such as the tragic story of how Rent's creator Jonathan Larson passed away just before seeing his brilliant musical open, then sang its beautifully poignant "No Day But Today" ....
The show also featured her interpretation of some rock hits such as The Police's "Roxanne," (which was part of her "prostitution medley" as she jokingly called it, along with "Love for Sale") and Radiohead's "Creep." And, of course, it had to include the song everyone under the age of 12 came to hear, "Let It Go," aka: the song that got Idina on the Oscars twice.. once to sing it and then a year later so John Travolta could apologize to her for royally screwing up her name. This was her final song before encore and she invited all the kids rush the stage and sing the end with her, which was super-cute.
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