Top five concerts, in no order, of all time: Phish (several shows), Grateful Dead(again, several shows), Prince(would see him again and again, ps. COME TO DC) and U2. And I am sure you can guess who number five might be…
On May 10, 1994, I was watching the eleven o’clock news. The top story was the first Barbra Streisand Concert Tour in twenty-eight years. Opening night of the US tour was in the Washington, DC area; The US Air Arena in Landover, MD. At the time I lived about five miles away. In watching all of the hoopla on TV I thought to myself, I really ought to try and get a ticket to the next show on May 12th. Of course I knew this was going to be a daunting task. Tickets were hundreds of dollars and in some cases thousands of dollars. Oh and the show was “sold out.” This was pre-internet and before the greedy third party ticket scalpers were in full swing. So the next day while I was at work I checked the newspaper. Do you remember what a newspaper is? In The Post I found a few adds where people were selling tickets. I phoned one of the ads and spoke to a woman who wanted a little too much for her ticket. But to her credit, she tipped me off that there were actually a handful of tickets that they were selling at Ticketmaster. I called and this was indeed the case. I sweet talked my boss, hailed ass outta there and headed to Hechts Department Store. Those from DC will remember Hechts. And ironically, they had a Ticketmaster outlet inside their store. I got there and purchased one ticket for fifty bucks! SCORE! I was shocked. I cannot stress how tough a ticket this was. This was the buzz all around the beltway. A list of the DC whose who were going to this show. You get the point. For me to have gotten a ticket for face value was really astounding. When I returned to work I was so worked up that I had to call my mom and tell her. She was the one who turned me on to Barbra Streisand as a kid plus, she loved her. Because this was before cell phones, I used a landline. She couldn’t believe that I got a ticket. The show had been sold out for weeks. We hung up and she told me to have a good time. Shortly thereafter, she called me back at work and told me to go and try and get her a ticket. Now I have to go back to my boss again and explain that I have to go back and try and buy my mom a ticket. My boss was not thrilled, but she let me leave early; Hechts, round two. Would you believe that I was able to get another ticket in the same section pretty close to the first one? True story. My mom had been suffering from some health issues and lived in Western Pennsylvania, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh. I was worried about her traveling down for the show, but she was a real trooper. She drove down the day of the show in time for us to grab dinner and head to the arena. We were going to see Barbra Streisand in concert. Barbra Streisand!
The Cap Centre, which became US Air Arena and is now no longer in existence, was known for its horrible acoustics. I would guess that this was because of the way the east/west sides were much taller than the north/south sides. Whatever the reason, concerts there were not always the best sounding. For the price we paid for our tickets, we had some of the best seats in the house! We were the second to last row in the back; the south side. And we were center! That is the key, I could be miles away, but as long as I am center in a crappy building then I’m good. Luckily we actually got to sit together. Oh let me mention that when we arrived we had to enter through a metal detector. That’s right, President and Mrs. Clinton were in attendance. Pretty cool. The late, great Marvin Hamlisch, long time friend and collaborator with Ms. Streisand, was the Musical Director, Arranger and Conductor. Hamlisch led a full orchestra in the Overture. When I say full orchestra, I mean full orchestra; 50-60 members. Play big or go home as I like to say. Well this is Streisand and I would expect nothing less. As the Overture began to end, Barbra Streisand emerged from behind a curtain at the top of some stairs on the well designed set. I have had the pleasure of experiencing many amazing moments while seeing live music. The standing ovation and the pure adoration for this woman as soon as she was seen on stage was truly one of the most phenomenal concert memories I have ever had. It was AWESOME. After a good solid two minutes of arousing applause, she started to sing.
“Barry Gibb once said: ‘There are the 10 greatest female artists, and then there’s Barbra Streisand. That’s the truth, and everyone knows it.'”^ I can’t argue with that. To me the top singers of all time are Franklin, Sinatra and Streisand. No offense to Whitney or Mariah or the newer crew, they are clearly incredible. But there is no one like Barbra Streisand. Her talent is unmeasured. And that’s just her music. She produces, writes, directs and acts. Her awards’ resume goes something like this: two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, five Emmy Awards including one Daytime Emmy, a Special Tony Award, Five Golden Globes including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, the National Medal of Art, an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award, a Kennedy Center Honors Award, a Peabody Award, and she is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award. Wow.
With a career that awe inspiring, it should come to no surprise that she brought her A game to her show. Each song was divine. Her voice was sublime. Today’s album of the day, is a performance from that stellar tour. In looking back twenty years, seeing her was an experience that I still treasure today. My mom would succumb to her health issues just two years later. This was a huge highlight for her in the last years of her life. She had the best time ever. It was one of the great things that we shared together.
As far as my feelings for Ms. Streisand go, I have the utmost respect for her art and her legacy. I am blessed to be alive at the same time as Barbra Streisand and the world is a better place with her in it. 72 years old today, cheers to you my fellow Taurus. Thank you to the stranger who told me that they had re-released tickets for sale. Thank you to my boss who let me leave work to buy those tickets, twice. Thank you Barbra for all that you have done in the arts and humanities and THANK YOU mom for exposing me to Ms. Streisand and all of the other music that you did. It has been the greatest gift in my life and every single day I am grateful.
^”Barbra Streisand is Worth Every Penny”
1994 Concert Tour US Air Arena Landover, Maryland May 12, 1994
Act I
• Overture
• As If We Never Said Goodbye
• I’m Still Here/Everybody Says Don’t/Don’t Rain On My Parade (Medley)
• Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man
• I’ll Know (with Marlon Brando)
• People
• Lover Man (Oh, Where Can You Be?)
• Will He Like Me?
• He Touched Me
• What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?
• What Is This Thing Called Love?
• The Man That Got Away
• On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)
Act II
• Entr’acte
• The Way We Were
• You Don’t Bring Me Flowers
• Lazy Afternoon
• Not While I’m Around
• Ordinary Miracles
• Evergreen
• Yentl Medley
• Happy Days Are Here Again
• My Man
• For All We Know
• Somewhere
http://barbra-archives.com/live/90s/concert_94_dc.html
365, Album of the Day 2014 