chidrummer
08-08-2011, 02:09 PM
OK, so it took me 25 years to figure it out, but now I’m on to ‘um. Sade [[the singer and the band) have figured out exactly how to do five world tours in support of five different releases and every time come off as a fresh and exciting band.
They figured out early on how absence makes the heart grow fonder and ever since the first world tour in ‘85/6, they’ve been quietly doubling the time between visits; two years, five years, eight years and now ten. This band has rewritten the book on how to romance the fans and it’s working perfectly.
That rule about not performing new songs on tour? Forget it. Release the new material and give everybody almost a year to hear it. I bought my ticket for the August 6 show on NOVEMBER 21 2010!!! Not long after Soldier of Love arrived in stores. Back in January while I was in Anaheim California for the NAMM convention I saw billboards and heard ads for the two shows Sade has there that she yet to be played.
I actually felt good we were getting our shows first [[damn southern California gets everything anyway).
So, by the time last Saturday’s show rolled around it felt like a free concert. The band performed on the barest stage I’ve ever seen. In fact, the stage was completely empty. The only wires on it were connected to the pedal boards of the two guitarists. Everything else was completely wireless. The group kicks off the opening riff to Soldier of Love and they’re not even visible on stage yet. The group emerges from UNDER the stage on four hydraulic platforms already at full power by the time the audience can see them. Sade herself slinks in from her own trap door filled with white light and smoke and the party is on.
A two hour tour de force featuring seven new songs [[a third of the show!) and most of the best stuff you’ve waited so long to hear. There have been some interesting tweaks to the arrangements of the group’s classic songs and the new tunes sounds better than the recordings now that the band has lived with them for while. Sade is still the absolute master of sexy subtlety. While other divas have to hit you with giant explosions, an army of dancers and a wardrobe that would make a stripper blush, Sade gives a simple twist of the hip that makes the audience explode and blush. Meanwhile Matthewman [[who’s tenor sax has never sounded better), Hale, Denman, Osbourne, Vanden Bossche, Murrell and new addition Ryan Waters are alternately smoldering and boiling hot. Their playing is seamlessly married to an interactive multimedia show that acts as a living music video. The effect of which is absolutely dazzling.
Cherish The Day is the group’s good night kiss and like the best dates of your life you feel exhausted but still wanting more. This group better not even think of doubling the time between our next meeting. We, the audience, can’t take it.
The Set List:
Soldier of Love
Your Love is King
Skin
Kiss of Life
Love is Found
In Another Time
Smooth Operator
Jezebel
Bring Me Home
Is It a Crime
Love is Stronger Than Pride
All About Our Love
Paradise
Nothing Can Come Between Us
Morning Bird
King of Sorrow
Sweetest Taboo
The Moon & The Sky
Pearls
Ordinary Love
By Your Side
ENCORE: Cherish the Day
pics, concert video and more info here:
http://www.sade.com/us/news/
They figured out early on how absence makes the heart grow fonder and ever since the first world tour in ‘85/6, they’ve been quietly doubling the time between visits; two years, five years, eight years and now ten. This band has rewritten the book on how to romance the fans and it’s working perfectly.
That rule about not performing new songs on tour? Forget it. Release the new material and give everybody almost a year to hear it. I bought my ticket for the August 6 show on NOVEMBER 21 2010!!! Not long after Soldier of Love arrived in stores. Back in January while I was in Anaheim California for the NAMM convention I saw billboards and heard ads for the two shows Sade has there that she yet to be played.
I actually felt good we were getting our shows first [[damn southern California gets everything anyway).
So, by the time last Saturday’s show rolled around it felt like a free concert. The band performed on the barest stage I’ve ever seen. In fact, the stage was completely empty. The only wires on it were connected to the pedal boards of the two guitarists. Everything else was completely wireless. The group kicks off the opening riff to Soldier of Love and they’re not even visible on stage yet. The group emerges from UNDER the stage on four hydraulic platforms already at full power by the time the audience can see them. Sade herself slinks in from her own trap door filled with white light and smoke and the party is on.
A two hour tour de force featuring seven new songs [[a third of the show!) and most of the best stuff you’ve waited so long to hear. There have been some interesting tweaks to the arrangements of the group’s classic songs and the new tunes sounds better than the recordings now that the band has lived with them for while. Sade is still the absolute master of sexy subtlety. While other divas have to hit you with giant explosions, an army of dancers and a wardrobe that would make a stripper blush, Sade gives a simple twist of the hip that makes the audience explode and blush. Meanwhile Matthewman [[who’s tenor sax has never sounded better), Hale, Denman, Osbourne, Vanden Bossche, Murrell and new addition Ryan Waters are alternately smoldering and boiling hot. Their playing is seamlessly married to an interactive multimedia show that acts as a living music video. The effect of which is absolutely dazzling.
Cherish The Day is the group’s good night kiss and like the best dates of your life you feel exhausted but still wanting more. This group better not even think of doubling the time between our next meeting. We, the audience, can’t take it.
The Set List:
Soldier of Love
Your Love is King
Skin
Kiss of Life
Love is Found
In Another Time
Smooth Operator
Jezebel
Bring Me Home
Is It a Crime
Love is Stronger Than Pride
All About Our Love
Paradise
Nothing Can Come Between Us
Morning Bird
King of Sorrow
Sweetest Taboo
The Moon & The Sky
Pearls
Ordinary Love
By Your Side
ENCORE: Cherish the Day
pics, concert video and more info here:
http://www.sade.com/us/news/