Shortly after landing in Seattle, my first view of the beautiful land in this Northwest looked something like this:
Vistas all around took my breath away as we from Southern California never really get to experience Fall in such brilliance!
After a short drive from the airport to the hotel, I headed off to Overlake Christian Church for sound check wishing that my usual Amy-concert companions (John, Jake, Nicole & the girls, Lionel, Josie, and Joe) were with me and wishing I had made plans to stay longer in Washington.
After arriving at Overlake, I made sure to take in the impressive surroundings before going in to the Church center.
Amy and the band proceeded to run through a couple of songs such as “1974.” Then, she started to comment about the sound and how crisp the music sounded from where she stood. She then stepped off the stage, down the stage steps, and walked up the aisle into the audience seating area as the band played to listen to what it sounded like from the seats. After returning to the stage, Amy noted that the acoustics sounded better as she got closer to the stage! She then stepped off the stage again and up into the audience area to double-check her observation. When Amy returned to her mic, she gave us FOAers a special treat! She invited us all up onto the stage to join her so that we could listen to the music from her vantage point “…just in case you have bad seats tonight!” We all stood semi-circle around her (about a foot away!) and joined in to sing “Wise Up.” Kim also threw out a few of her percussion “toys” for a few of us to play. What a complete blast!! It was like we were all just jamming with Amy and the band on any ol’ beautiful afternoon – pure fun, joy, and smiles all around!!
After the song and our clapping at our musical “brilliance,” Amy began the “meet and greet” portion of the sound check. After spending some time with Chris Eaton, I got to chat with Amy for a few minutes before she left to get ready for the show.
It’s now show time and I’m still missing John, Jake, Nicole & the girls, Lionel, Josie, and Joe:
Because I usually like to stand and sing and dance and generally act like a banshee at Amy’s concerts, I forewarned my seat mates to my left (I had an aisle seat), behind me, and in front of me so they could forever speak their peace about my pre-mediated concert antics. All were OK with it (or claimed to be at least!).
Amy and the band were in great form and, as usual, were energetic, enthusiastic, and playful. They played the same set list for this tour and the audience was willing more than once or twice to stand up with me and yell and scream, etc., etc., etc., especially the ladies sitting behind me! YAY!!
There were two poignant moments of the show – one was after Amy sang “Sing Your Praise…” – the audience continued to give her a standing ovation well after the song was over and the ovation continued and continued…There was such love and adoration for her, for the song, for her talents, for Spirit, and for the moment that seemed to flow from every single audience member and connect with Amy. She was so moved that when she next spoke, I knew she had tears in her eyes and emotion in her throat. I don’t even remember what she had to say.
The next poignant moment came at encore when Amy and Kim sang a song they recently wrote about Kim being adopted. Kim mentioned that she had found and been in contact with her birth mother and more recently, had found her birth father but that he didn’t know it yet. The song was just beautiful; not a dry eye anywhere.
Amy and the band finished with Turn, Turn, Turn (usual close for this tour run) and just like that…the show was over. As the gals behind me left saying “Thanks for standing and dancing with us!” and the couple that was to my left, left saying “You were fun to sit next to!” I knew that my usual Amy-concert companions (you know who by now) were indeed with me in my heart all along the way!
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