Please use this topic to discuss the event!

Just got back from Leamington. Another great night. The venue was a dance hall, normally the audience stand, but thankfully they put seats in for this one. It was unreserved seating but we arrived 10 minutes before the doors were due to open and got good front row seats. (Problem were they were those folding seats and were pretty uncomfortable at the end of a long night.) It was a well refurbished venue though, with good sound and sophisticated lighting. Unusually for a concert, lots of people were going to the bar and many were drinking pints in the theatre. As Rob wasn't there tonight, I'll do my best....

Beau came on and did a set for about 35 minutes. He was same as ever, chatting away, but his five pieces were exquisite, ending with Malaguena.

After a break, Melanie & Beau came on stage and did an hour of songs and chat. I didn't write anything down, but these were some of the first half, probably not in order and I may have missed some: (Feel free to remind me!)
Beautiful People
Alexander Beetle
Rock & Roll Heart
Jammin' Alone
Love Doesn't Have to Hurt
Brand New Key
Smile

There was a break of about 20 minutes for people to stretch legs and go to the bar. Then Melanie and Beau returned for about another hour. This included:
Ruby Tuesday
Look What They've Done To My Song Ma
Animal Crackers
I Tried To Die Young
Lay Down
Peace Will Come
Extraordinary

A splendid mix of old and new, the highlights for me were Beautiful People (as always) and Love Doesn't Have to Hurt in the first half, then Ruby Tuesday (duet with Beau) and the finale of Extraordinary, which just gets better every time.

There was the customary signing afterwards, even though the show didn't end until after 11.15. Melanie, Beau and Peter were all on form and seem to love chatting to everyone. We got some photos from Manchester signed, including some excellent ones of Beau which I shall post when I get time.

Thanks for the review...i'm getting more and more excited about friday night, i think i'm gonna pop...ohhh and can't wait to see them piccys of Beau xxx

Thanks, Ian, I am sorry we didn't meet... if you see me, please say hi. I will be wearing my Melanie T shirt.....

Thanks, Ian! -I look forward to seeing your pics!


-Bill

Last night for my first Melanie concert in a generation, having
annoyingly missed recent UK visits. This was with a friend who is an
even bigger Melanie fan, playing Melanie CDs a lot more frequently
than I.

Like IanG we arrived fifteen minutes before the doors opened and still
found seats in the front row despite being misdirected gaining
entrance. The decor was lovely in mostly in silver and Prussian blue
with classical reliefs even carried through to the wallpaper in the
bars and staircases. I agree the lighting was excellent too. During
the concert a shaft of setting sunlight turned one of the classical
reliefs to gold as if by some alchemy.

Some things never change in that the performance started 50 minutes
late, and Melanie didn't appear on stage until 2.5 hours after we had
arrived. Add a 70-minute journey home it was gone midnight thirty.
Is this lack of punctuality always a feature? There was no
explanation given (missed flight, looking after Leilah). So it was
too late to wait to meet Melanie after the concert.

The late start meant a short set in our opinions. I longed for some
of the more poetic, insightful or `melaniecholic' songs than the likes
of "Alexander Beetle" and "Animal Crackers" requested from the
audience. Although a new piece, my favourite was the "Love Doesn't
Have to Hurt"; and my friend commented on how much he appreciated the
rendition of "Center of the Circle". Having such a long hiatus, I was
hoping to hear more than 15 songs. There was nothing from the
"Stoneground Words" to "Photograph" period. )-: It would be
interesting to know what was on the original set list. We do realise
Melanie could be taking her pension, so were we unreasonable to expect
say half a dozen more songs? Perhaps we could have had 45 minutes of
Melanie then had a Beau interlude, followed by another 45 minutes-hour
of Melanie. [BTW did Beau play linebacker/safety at American
football? He had some impressive biceps and his athletic leaping back
on to the stage after awarding a prize was "awesome". (-:]

The sound was off at first (the dreaded frequency 300) and I did
wonder why there hadn't been a sound check before the audience
arrived. Melanie sounded a little flat initially, but after the
laughing and smiling sang beautifully and with gusto thereafter. Yes
this was definitely Melanie.

We left a little disappointed. Pleased to see Melanie again, but not
as thrilled as we had hoped. We're getting old and grumpy too.
Unperturbed we're back for more in Milton Keynes, where I hope to hear
a few more and different songs.

Welcome MalcolmCurrie!

Thank you for your review. I'm sorry you were slightly disappointed. Hopefully Milton Keynes will more than make-up for it!


-Bill

Ah! I knew I'd missed one - Centre of the Circle, which was the opener. Well, it was late when I posted last night!

I have read the other review and must say that I wasn't disappointed at all. It wasn't the greatest Melanie concert I've been to. (That was Leeds last year.) But it was vintage Melanie nevertheless, and she never gives less than 100% in her performances.

The concert did start late, but it was a late-night venue so 7.30 seemed far too early anyway. And Beau generally seems to do his set first, which is hardly a hardship! He does seem to be a perfectionist as far as the tuning is concerned, but as I have van Gogh's ear for music I doubt I'd notice. What we have noticed is that Melanie's voice seems to take a couple of songs (and a slug of syrup) to warm up.

I don't think we were short changed at all at Leamington. In addition to Beau's set, Melanie was on stage for a total of around 2 hours. I know there are many artistes who never get near this. At 62 she is a marvel. She does seem to have a mobility problem too, possibly an arthritic hip. So to do a set of this length with such intensity and passion is fine by me.

I would also add that Melanie was in fine form after the show, and was signing, chatting and posing for photos until well after midnight. We were right at the back for the meet & greet and had plenty of time to chat to her and Beau. Incidentally, it was nice to meet a first-timer called Melanie. She was clearly delighted at meeting the inspiration for her name. (You are not alone!)

Were you using the same time system as the PA announcer? (-: You
could almost double the times. "The concert will start in 15 minutes."
proved to be around 25, then the T-5 minutes was about 10 minutes. As
things dragged along we were keeping an eye on the time. The acutal
concert was more like an hour and half than two hours.

We looked at each other in amazement how soon the break had come,
especially given the hesitant beginning and that two hours after the
advertised start we'd only heard one Melanie song. There was finally
some momentum and then it was gone. I wonder if I should bring a good
book to read tomorrow to pass the idle time.

My friend also found the chat-to-sing ratio too high. I didn't mind
so much, although I think the laughter bit could have waited until
we'd heard more than one song.

Regarding the start time, it's being discourteous to the audience who
have arrived before the advertised start time, only to be left
twiddling their thumbs for an hour, with no apology and only a belated
announcement. All I ask is that the advertised time bear some
approximation to the actual performance time. If you want to start at
c. 20:25, then be candid and advertise the start at say 20:15. Then
we fans knows where we stand. People can decide whether or not it's
too late for them with a workday to follow. It could be more
convenient for others; I for one had to make special arrangements to
arrive at the nominal time, and would have liked a later start than
advertised.

Had I been on my own I would have stayed for the post-concert chat.
Such are opportunities are rare. I wondered if Melanie had calls to
revisit Korea to calm the recent increased tension, and whether she'd
been to North Korea. I'm envious of those who were able to meet Melanie
last night.

It will be interesting to hear what others thought of the evening as a
whole.

I hope Milton Keynes is a much better experience for you MalcolmCurrie!


-Bill