LA last night

[Wwnph]

Hi List,
This is my first post to this list, it's very early, and I'm sort of
discombobulated, but I'll try to touch upon some of the questions that were
asked in the last digest. Since I'm on the digest version, I'm not sure how
many of these were already answered in posts last night.
Many people asked about the merchandise being sold.  There were three tshirts
(one army green tour tshirt, a white album-inspired shirt, and a white tank
top.  I think all were $20.  If anyone has contact with Patti, her management
or her merch company, please pass along my heartfelt thanks for actually
recognizing and selling shirts that will fit an average sized woman.  I am
sick to death of bands that sell tshirts in only sizes L and XL.  Those are
only really meant to fit the boys, and average (or in my case, smaller than
average) sized women end up wearing them as nightshirts only. Few artists
seem to recognize the purchasing power of women. The few bands that try to
remedy this situation end up supplying those babydoll tees, which may be fine
if you're 16, but not if you're an adult who doesn't feel like putting her
nipples and rib cage on display. Patti has recognized that her fans come in
all shapes and sizes. THANK YOU.  I got the green tour shirt in size Medium,
and would've purchased the others if I had known this would be an option and
brought along sufficient cash.
Autographed copies of The Coral Sea were also being sold for $8.  They had
sold out by the time I got to the merch counter. A woman who was in front of
me had previously arranged to buy the display copy that was tacked to the
wall, at which several of us waiting to the display booth muttered "Damn, I
was going to try to buy that." Heh.  However, two very loud, rude, obnoxious
women on the stairs saw this transaction and had such ludicrous temper
tantrums, accusing the merch guy of being all sorts of nasty, that I wanted
to put them both in time out.  ("Ladies," if you're on the list and reading
this, you have no idea how badly you embarrassed yourselves. You acted like
whiny little brats and imbeciles. I for one am glad you didn't get that final
copy.  I'll bet the others standing at the merch counter who witnessed your
silliness would agree with me.) Speaking of, I know that Patti only signs a
limited number of her books. Is The Coral Sea an exception, or were only a
few copies of it sold at last night's show?
Someone from the Wed. night show said they were giving out three different
autographed postcards free with each purchase. I got two postcards with my
one tshirt, but both were of the same design. That may be because I was so
late and the other postcard designs were gone.  I'm not sure.
One other note about the merch booth---Make your purchases before the show
starts!  There were only two guys working it last night, and one of them sold
only CDs while the other sold the tshirts.  After the show, it seemed like
hundreds of people lined up to buy merch. The poor guy selling the t's was
fast as lightning and worked his ass off (despite abuse from the two
obnoxious women mentioned earlier), but there was no way he could keep the
crowd moving at a reasonable pace.  If you wait until after the show to buy
things, plan on standing in line for at least 20-30 minutes.
As for the show, as expected, it was powerful, energetic, moving, and
inspiring. Patti sang with incredible enthusiasm during each song that she
left us breathless.  Her voice was stunning perfection, and she kept up that
ear-to-ear exuberant grin throughout the night.  Her clothes were what now
seems to be standard issue camo pants, orange shirt, black jacket, and big
black boots. (Which crew member gets assigned the job of picking up her shoes
and socks Dancing Barefoot? Hehe.)  There was little poetry reading last
night, but it was mind-blowing powerful.  She also didn't talk to the crowd
as much as I'd expected, but explained that she was feeling like the strong
and silent type that day, possibly due to a John Wayne movie airing during
her sleep the night before.  She gave us a quick lesson on food, which was
basically if you want good pizza, you have to go to Philly for it. The crowd
started chanting "Taco!" but she said that "Any shithole in Philly could make
a better one." ;-)
The venue was seated, but those near the front seemed to not notice. After
every few songs, security would escort standing fans bopping near the stage
back to their seats. They'd be up and dancing again within seconds.  After
more than an hour of this up and down ritual, an audience member shouted out
asking her to call off security.  She said she wouldn't do that, but she'd
never let a security guard stop her from doing anything.  During the next
song she went into the audience, stood on a chair, and sang from there.
After that song, she went back to the stage and proudly proclaimed that she
was safe and well without security to protect her.  She then spoke to someone
in the crowd, but I couldn't hear well enough to know if she was addressing a
fan or one of the big security guards near the stage.  She went into a
DeNiro-like "You talkin to me?" and then warned whomever spoke to her from
the floor that they might want to think twice before addressing her with foul
language as any one of her fans would kick his/her ass if that continued. I
had a hard time seeing and hearing this whole exchange, so if anyone up front
could describe it better, please do.
Again, Patti's voice and the band's playing was sheer perfection. There were
a few technical problems that didn't take away from the magnificence of the
show. But...someone please get this woman a cordless mic.  She kept getting
tangled in the wires.  The guitars had to be replaced frequently, I assume
from broken stings.  Yet there was only song (I forgot which one) during
which the guitars sounded slightly "off."  The sound in the venue was great,
and they all played extraordinarily  well. If you're into bootlegs, this show
is one to look for.  They had to stop one song only seconds after they
started it.  It was unclear whether this was done because she forgot the
words or because of difficulty with a guitar.  She explained she was having
flashbacks to the "big extravaganza taped for NBC" in which her song had to
be played three times before the technical problems were fixed. She seemed
disappointed that, "The first time I played it, I played really well, but
THEY fucked up.  The second time, I played pretty well, but THEY fucked up
again.  The third time, I didn't play that well, and they didn't fuck up."
(Note that everything I quote is actually just a paraphrase. I wasn't exactly
taking notes last night.)  So I guess we'll see the not-perfect version on
the TV broadcast of the Arista party.
The set list was very similar to the last one posted. Most notable was that
during the encore we got Revenge instead of R&RN.  Patti said they hadn't
rehearsed Revenge, but the band wanted to play it.  You could tell.  It was
perfect.
The bottom line is: the show was superb.  I couldn't ask for or dream of
anything better.  Patti et al really outdid themselves.  I just can't wait
for them to come back to SoCal.
Winnie