December 16, 2007

I would have to say that during the December visit to beautiful Colorado, we got the pleasure of experiencing "The Best of Both Worlds."  Sadly, yes, that IS a Hannah Montana reference, but it happens to be an effective description!

If you've read the review of the Broadmoor, you know that the show was very elegant and organized, down to the printed set list at each table. The décor was spectacular, the concert attendees well ornamented, and the facility very classy.  It was a fairly formal atmosphere where Suzy out-shined them all.

The Soiled Dove was a very different, albeit just as wonderful, experience. After parking outside the building, Mark (also from KC) and I headed down a flight of stairs.  Inside the door was a desk where we checked in and had our hands stamped before entering the concert area. As soon as we entered, we could hear the "Sweet Danger" CD playing over the system.  It played until the concert began – what a great idea!  The seating was very casual, with chairs and tables scattered around the floor in front of the stage, higher tables and barstools behind these, and more seating on a slightly higher level back from the stage. It was rather dark, and the stage was set very simply with a stool and two of Suzy's guitars on their stands.

The "backstage" area was easy to locate, just to the back, stage right.  In fact, as we waited for the show to start, I spotted Suzy coming out of the room to ask a question of one of the venue associates.  She also paused to chat with a friend in the audience before scurrying back to finish getting ready for the show.

From the moment Suzy walked out onto the stage, it was clear that this was going to be a completely different event from the previous evening. It was blissfully casual, with a lot of interaction between Suzy and her fans.  As she herself called it at one point, it was an "open request line." She did her very best to fulfill everyone's wish, and did so with such grace and sweetness of spirit that this could have ONLY been a Suzy Bogguss concert.

Suzy appeared in her Sweet Danger shawl, complete with the long fringe, and opened the show with a beautiful Aces .  Her voice carried pristinely over the gently strummed chords. Cheers and laughter celebrated the classic as a gentleman in the audience quietly stepped up to the stage to deliver a dozen roses. Suzy was very appreciative, declaring them stunning and gorgeous, and placed them carefully under the stool so they wouldn't be harmed and could easily be seen. The giver smiled and asked her a bit shyly if she would play Under the Gun for him.  She assured him she would do her best, but said it had been awhile. She chatted with him from the stage for a bit longer, discussing clothing she had been wearing at a show where he had seen her previously.  That and the fact that there is just a LOT of chocolate at Christmas…..

Suzy began to strum her guitar, saying she was going to do another song, because she wasn't sure exactly what key she needed for his request. "I kinda need to get the show rolling before I start screwin' up!" she joked.  "We'll do some stuff I know first, and then later on it will be CHARMING that I'm messing up." Her hand began flying across the strings as she launched into Outbound Plane.  As she finished the song, which sounds wonderful with just the guitar for support, she told everyone how much fun it is to do solo gigs. She mentioned how she began touring in Boulder, playing on the mall, and relayed a hilarious story from those days. When she first started out, she took a break from singing and looked around the mall.  She quickly discovered that others were performing from doorways of stores, getting the reverb off the building glass.  So, the next day, she got there early and found herself a place in the doorway of the shoe store, which turned out to be someone else's regular location. When that person arrived, she angrily kicked Suzy's money everywhere.  "But I won, " she told us.  "'Cause I was in that little shoe store for a long time!"

Suzy played with her guitar a bit, working on Under the Gun again.  Almost having it figured out, she told us, "Don't you think I won't get this by the end of the night!"  She told us a little about her new album, mentioning that it had been playing before the show, and telling the story of who collaborated with her in producing it.  She was going to play us one of her favorites off the album, she said, adding that they were "playing the heck out of it at Starbucks." Of course, this was to be Bus Ride.

Suzy chatted a bit about her albums, saying that after doing a Christmas record and a swing record, she thought maybe it was time to write some songs and be herself again.  She told us the next song came out of a movie – "Sideways." She liked the part where the couple was being set up on a blind date that wasn't going well; they kind of liked each other, but it was awkward. Suzy wrote Sweet Danger to try and capture that feeling of deciding whether to take the chance or not.  The piece was quite elegant with just Suzy strumming the tune. The crispness of her voice showcased the meaning behind the song perfectly.

Afterwards, Suzy told us she was going to play something she knew. She hinted toward a sing-along and someone in the audience called out for Eat at Joe's .  Another voice asked for Hey, Cinderella , and Suzy said she would do "Joe's" first because they had asked first.  "Joe's" is always a classic, and this was no exception. The ending, however, was quite unique. Suzy joked about the highness of the final "here…." She called it "Rocky Mountain High." She then laughed about trying to play the solo and had fun trying to hit all those chords!  The audience cheered her on in full support until she finally sang, "Truck drivers…musicians…." She then paused to joke that some nights it was unbelievably good, and then went to repeat the same line, but she changed it a bit.  This time, it was "Drunk drivers….."  A new café visitor is born!!!

Keeping her promise, she did Hey, Cinderella next, inviting everyone to sing along.  She told the story of writing it with Matraca Berg, and Gary Harrison saying that they were being a bit too smart aleck. Gary helped them to achieve the finished product, one of the all-time favorites for Suzy's fans everywhere.

Beginning an introduction to another song, Suzy talked about Tony Arata's name, commenting on the nicknames he must have had.  She also pointed out a friend of hers in the audience and discussed her name, which is Boltemeyer, saying they called her Bolt. She mentioned an email from someone with whom they had gone to college and then told her friend, "We should play I'm a Hog for You, maybe later!" The room cheered their agreement, and Suzy asked if her friend would sing it with her. It was hilarious to hear Suzy do that one live, and what a rare treat! She interjected after the first few lines, "We're from Illinois!" One of the verses they derived was one I had never heard about the piggies going to Germany and Hong Kong….I'll just let you imagine how that one played out!  Eventually, she stopped, saying the verses were going to get a little too "Good Night, Irene."

Someone in the audience yelled out they were from Aledo, and Suzy told us that she finds someone from her hometown at every show.  A brief discussion revealed that she had baby-sat this particular visitor!  Suzy said that just about everyone in Aledo had been baby-sat, taught swimming, or dated by her! After a good laugh, Suzy jumped right into part of Me .  That one is truly amazing when it's just Suzy and her guitar – it couldn't possibly get any better.

The next selection was In Heaven, and she told about the many stories she had received while performing it. The audience seemed to enjoy the touching song.  Next, she talked of her camper truck days, and learning this next song while in the area. She mentioned the infamous Centennial, Wyoming, much to the delight of most of the women in the crowd. The piece was, of course, Night Rider's Lament.  At the end, Suzy surprised me. She remarked that at the end of that song, back when she was "all sour grapes," she used to say, "Eat your heart out, Leann Rimes," but that now Leann had really won her heart.  She came out of a bad situation and had turned into such a nice gal and had grown up and she loves her voice. Suzy is incredible, isn't she???

A male voice called out asking for more yodeling with Cowboy's Sweetheart.  She was happy to oblige, and asked everyone to clap along to give her an extra boost. The audience had a VERY difficult time getting in rhythm, so Suzy had to stop the song to help them.  Sadly, it still didn't help this group! The song itself, however, was nothing short of wonderful!

Another request rang out – this time for Somewhere Between .  Shortly thereafter came a request for Someday Soon .  Suzy did both for the fans. It was great to see her enjoying herself, singing what she wanted to sing and making people smile.  Her personality really got to shine brightly during this performance.

Suzy warmly addressed the audience again, providing another peek into her past.  She told us how she had done many "Westfest parties" with Michael Martin Murphy back in the past.  When she was singing in the ski resorts, she had two tapes that she played in between her sets.  One was Murphy, and the other was the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.  She laughed that she couldn't believe she was now friends with and got to hang out and pick songs with Jeff Hanna. The story of the Westfests segued into Suzy's tale of how the next song came to be – driving way up north in Canada in April.  The laughter was almost deafening when Suzy told us that on that drive, she said to Doug, "Here we are out on this open road with nothing really to do"….and he got really excited!  Then she proposed writing a song…"and Doug just kept on driving!" This could only be Two Step 'Round the Christmas Tree.  The audience again tried to clap in rhythm, and they still needed help!  I think Mark and I were the only ones to yell out "Cotton Eyed Joe" at the appropriate moment, and Suzy struggled to keep from laughing at our outburst (it was loud, y'all!!!).

Continuing with the Christmas theme, Mr. Santa was next. Suzy recalled singing this one with Ricky Skaggs on the Opry recently. A request was heard for Through Your Eyes and Suzy tried so very hard to recall all the guitar chords. When she had trouble, she blamed Doug, saying he liked to change keys in the middle of the song, which made it too complicated. She finally said that she didn't want to butcher it. At that point, someone in the crowd asked her if she was married to that actor in "An Officer and a Gentleman."  Suzy said she was, and he apparently believed her, continuing to quiz her, asking if he still acted. Suzy smiled and admitted she really wasn't – she was actually married to a songwriter guy, who also had gray hair.  Then she showed her wild side again, commenting that it would be great to me married to an actor – then you could have a different guy every night!!!!  Giggles resounded throughout the venue.

Suzy remarked again that she really wanted to do Under the Gun and this time, Mark kindly offered her his assistance.  (Okay…little secret here: During the show, he had been quietly writing down a few of the lyrics on a napkin to be sure he knew them!!)  "I'll give you the lyrics," he told her, adding that he wanted her to do The Dutchman later, in return. Happy to play along, she began strumming the chords and he sang along with her, helping her to get the lines straight in her mind.  After they got through the first verse together, she asked him to feed her the lines as needed and started playing with almost a fervency.  He gave her the first line of the second verse, and then he made an error in the next line, which really threw Suzy off!  Yes, even our "Sang" can make a mistake!  He got the first line of the third verse to her, and then they both forgot the start of the final verse. Suzy quickly recovered and sang it, laughing quietly at herself through the final chorus.  The audience loved the cute rendition and applauded loudly.

After the song, Suzy said that she felt like such a veteran, having so many great songs behind her that she was now losing her memory! Recalling that someone had requested Letting Go , Suzy was considering that one when Mark reminded her that he got a request for helping her. "Yeah," she told him.  "And if you request something that's hard, you get to help again!" He asked if The Dutchman was easy enough.  "Ewww – No!" Suzy told him teasingly.  "That's even, not even a record!"

Deftly avoiding the almost-forgotten tune, Suzy chose to play the requested Letting Go instead.  The audience loved it as always. Another soft tune followed, accompanied by the story of Ben quietly singing in the back seat the beloved, If You Leave Me Now.  She told us that Peter Cetera had called her to say how much he liked it – and too bad she wasn't home at the time. 

We returned to Sweet Danger for a bit and Suzy gave us a beautifully simple solo version of Everything.  That one is really fun live, especially when it's just Suzy. Her facial expressions contribute to the overall appeal of the piece.

Another request came from the group, and I seconded it with an "Oh, pleeeeease?" I am absolutely in love with Baby July and had not had the pleasure of hearing her do it live for some time. I had never gotten to hear it solo, and it was just as fabulous as I anticipated.  My excitement was toward the middle of the song, when Suzy faltered just a tiny bit on my favorite line and I got to help her out, filling in "the taste of homemade candied apples."  It's amazing to me that she can keep the chords, licks, and lyrics to all of these songs straight, and it was a lot of fun giving her a line to what is probably my favorite of her songs.

Another personal fave was next as she rocked out with Drive South before attempting to leave the stage. She didn't even take 2 steps!  Everyone was having entirely too much fun to let her leave! A request was made for Yellow River Road and Suzy performed most of it.  That was new to me on the live set, and I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did everyone in the room, it seemed. Mark and I laughed as another voice was heard asking for No Good Way to Go and Suzy agreed that it was a good choice, but then went into No Way Out, apparently misunderstanding the request. She had a lot of fun with it, and I don't think anyone minded at all.

The show came to a conclusion with a funny argument of sorts.  Someone asked her to play "Don't Wanna be Standing Here." She told him she had done that one earlier, knowing that he was wanting to hear Outbound Plane.  He told her she hadn't, and she told him that she knew she had, but she'd sure do it again if everyone would sing along with her. The audience cheered and rooted their agreement and she launched into another, slightly more zealous, Outbound Plane. 

After the reverb settled down, Suzy told everyone she would be at the back to sign autographs. We had a wonderful chat with her at the meet and greet and I got the pleasure of introducing her to a new fan that was just as nervous as I was the first time I met Suzy!!  It was an absolutely fantastic night!

I'm sorry for the long review, folks.  This was just another amazing concert on one of the best weekends on record.  I still don't think I've done it justice, as I have barely scratched the surface on how cute, casual, and just plain FUN this show really was!!  I do hope, however, that you've enjoyed the read just the same.

Thanks, Suzy!  I'll be seeing you again soon!!!

"Much Love,"
Janelle (in KC)

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