San Jose

November 13

 

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Song List

ACT 1

Funny Girl Broadway (overture)
Starting Here, Starting Now
Down With Love
The Way We Were
Ma Premiere Chanson
Evergreen (with Il Divo)

IL DIVO SET
(a) Unchained Melody
(b) Unbreak My Heart
(c) My Way

Barbra Returns

Come Rain Or Come Shine
Funny Girl
The Music That Makes Me Dance
My Man
People
People BOWS

ACT 2

Music Of The Night
Carefully Taught/Children Will Listen
Unusual Way
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?
Q+A Ask Barbra +Happy Birthday to audience member

George Bush Sketch

Side By Side (We ain't got a barrel of money)

Woman In The Moon
Have I Stayed Too Long At The Fair?
A Cockeyed Optimist
Somewhere (with Il Divo)
My Shining Hour
My Shining Hour Bows

Encores:
Don't Rain On My Parade (Broadway version reprise)
People Bows

Happy Days Are Here Again

 

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One word: INCREDIBLE! More words: Woman in the Moon. She put WITM back in tonite. I hope she leaves it in for the rest of the tour. It was just an amazing experience that I will never forget. I am exhausted and my mind is reeling, so I will try to add more tomorrow.


hey all - jim from boston here. just got in from the san jose show. in a word this show was AMAZING. barbra was incredibly happy, relaxed and it showed in her singing. the second act was especially rewarding. rich easy singing - creating and sustaining lovely lines and a million moods. i was critical of the boston show i admit - but MAN did she deliver the goods tonight. everything had something great to reccomend it - but in ALL 10 shows ive never seen her so COMMANDING of a stage. - anyway - late night - discuss...


Barbra sang Happy Birthday to one of the "Ask Barbra" questions, which she prefaced by saying she sounds kind of funny singing that song -- not as good as normal, but she sang it to "Dan/Danny". She was asked about working with Judy Davis, who helped Barbra back when she was singing at the Hungry I. Barbra said she lost her voice back then. She said it was all a psychological thing. That she never took singing lessons and when someone asked her how she could hold her notes so long, she said, "because I wanted to..." LOL.. But apparently after that she started to think too much and was having trouble holding the notes. So she went to work with Judy Davis, who didn't give her a lesson, but who told her she was doing everything right. Barbra said Judy explained how everything worked vocally, and that she (Barbra) got it and once she understood it, she never thought about it again.

As far as the "Taste of San Jose" Barbra was on her way to see the Mission of Santa Clara, and being Jewish, she didn't know much about Missions. But of course, she had to stop and have a bite to eat at Original Joe's, I think she said she had a delicious burger there. She mentioned a few other places (which I forgot) and then of course she had to get back to have dinner before the show so she never got to the Mission....but she did get a "Taste of San Jose" :rollin

They did the new, post election version of the Bush skit, which is funnier than the prior version. A "first" is that Barbra did a duet of "Side By Side" with the Bush impersonator. The words were a parody of the Barbra/George pairing. It was cute. Then she talked about the elections and sang "Woman In The Moon" which was awesome and totally fitting.

She got lots of laughs with the skit. No hecklers. Tons of support. She saved Happy Days Are Here Again for one of the encores (I think...I am so tired....) and included the intro, which she said she didn't start singing until it was true because of the elections. The Don't Rain On My Parade reprise was also one of the encores.

I'll write more later, as I too am exhausted.

In closing for now: In the John Steinbeck novel, "My Travels With Charley" a woman he met on the road described the indescribable autumns in New Hampshire: "It is so beautiful that it cannot be remembered so that every time you see it again, it is a surprise."

And that it is The Way It Is with Barbra in concert. It is so wonderful, so beautiful, it cannot be remembered, and each time she sings, it is a blissful surprise.


After seeing Barbra once in Boston, I didn't think it was possible to be more in awe of her talents as a singer, a vocalist, and an actress. But I was wrong! The San Jose show was ten times better than Boston for so many reasons. She sang the heck out of so many songs. Her voice was ethereal...absolutely stunning in every note. She never sings a song the same way twice--always equally brilliantly, but never identically--and it was such a pleasure to hear "new takes" on older material.

I think her voice became even more amazing during the second act. There were so many of those atmospheric high notes that she and she alone can do. "Somewhere" sent shivers down my spine. But "Happy Days"! Talk about a show-stopper! It was the final song/encore of the evening, and boy did she make it count.

Personally, my favorite song was "An Unusual Way". It was my favorite in Boson, too. Why? Because it is such a showcase for everything phenomenal about Barbra. It has all those gorgeous high notes, but also the more gentle, really expressive ones. It shows off Barbra's gifts as an actress, and the meaning of the song is so layered. It's an absolute gem showing that Barbra is not just a voice but a singer! A brilliant singer.

I also thought her sense of humor was roll on the floor funny tonight. Her jokes about food are hilarious and leave no doubt that she's still a comic genius. Her timing was just perfect and adorable, too. During the Il Divo intermission, she said she had a pizza waiting backstage for her and she proceeded to describe all its various ingredients. I can't express how warm and generous she was. She's the greatest star, not just because she's the greatest voice, but because she has that amazing rapport with her audience.

I just wanted to get down a few thoughts for everyone. And "Woman In The Moon" is back. When the opening keys started playing, I about went through the roof. Her voice was inspiring as it has ever been. LA, you're in for a treat! Enjoy!

Marlon :)


Well, we got home from San Jose late last nite. I grew up in San Mateo (near San Jose) so Tuesday we spent time finding (and not!) "memories" then headed for home in Oregon. We took our time driving home, and its a long drive anyway! I just wanted to savor all the time that I could. Everytime Vicki saw me with a big grin on my face, she knew I was thinking of the concert again :rollin

Thanks foxy56 for your excellent review of the concert. For some reason my laptop would not let me post to the forum. It kept throwing my reply out, so I just gave up. You were very thorough, and I was soooo glad, because I can't remember alot of what went on! I was just so overwhelmed with emotions.

I only had one person that was "rowdy" around me. He was calling out to Barbra fairly often, and once in awhile she would respond to him. Otherwise I thought people were very respectful. I was on Floor 2, row 11, dead center to the stage. It was worth the cost of all 3 tickets it cost me to get there ;) The only "problem" with my seat was that when she sang from farther up on the stairs, the microphone stand was in the way of seeing her completely, but that was not really a "problem" at all. And the times I used my binoculars, she was sitting in my lap! :lol All in all the concert was worth EVERY penny it cost me to get there.

I enjoyed listening to Il Divo, but they were WAYYYYYY too loud, especially when all four were singing together. Then I couldn't understand anything they were singing. And they did tend to overpower Barbra, but I was so focused on her, that it was ok. In fact I was so focused on her I forgot to check out what celebrities might be attending! :\

I am now anxiously awaiting the DVD to come out, so that I can relive this experience over and over whenever I want!

Everyone attending the remaining concerts, enjoy them and the experience, and let's hope for another concert tour in the future!!!


Press Reviews:

By Karen D'Souza
Mercury News

The Funny Girl had the last laugh Monday night at HP Pavilion.

Barbra Streisand has been bashing Bush big time throughout her 20 city concert tour, which stopped in San Jose Monday night. In the wake of the Republican drubbing in the recent mid-term election, the lefty diva was in Seventh Heaven, saying, "We're in control now.''

But she also struck a more conciliatory note than before, though she still ribbed Dubya (played as a smirking oaf by Bush impersonator Steve Bridges).

She even offered to sing a duet of "Guilty'' with him. Then she suggested he had better change his stance on the environment and the economy now that the Dems are in charge. In the end, she joined him in a rendition of "Side by Side,'' singing "the country has come to its senses, time to mend some fences.''

The singer also dedicated the song "The Woman in the Moon,'' to Nancy Pelosi, who is set to become the first female speaker of the house.

Although the lampoon was tame by Jon Stewart standards, Streisand has taken some heat from concertgoers because of the spoof, but the 64-year-old icon, an outspoken liberal form way back, has stood her ground throughout her first tour in 12 years.

Nobody rains on her parade.


Streisand shows S.J. the way she is
By Jim Harrington - Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:11/14/2006 08:13:55 AM PST


With all the well-documented distractions that have arisen during her latest tour, it's easy to overlook why Barbra Streisand is such a big deal in the first place.
On Monday night at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, she made us remember.

She made us remember with her voice -- what fans would call "The Voice" -- as she sang rich, elegant versions of such all-time classics as "Evergreen" and "The Way We Were." She made us remember with the way she worked the crowd, delivering a combination of class and sass that harkened back to legends like Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. She made us remember by putting on a show that was so utterly professional, superbly paced and wonderfully executed that it came across like a meticulously edited prime-time TV special.

Babs also made us forget.

She made us forget the sky-high ticket prices, the guys outside the venue who were using bullhorns to try to save our souls and all the controversy that has followed this tour. She made us forget about the man who heckled her in New York and the barbarian who tossed a drink at her in Florida, both of which occurred following Streisand's mid-concert skit poking fun at President George W. Bush. She even made us forget that it was raining outside.

All that mattered to these fans was that Babs was in the house, making her first public concert appearance in Northern California in more than 10 years.

The multi-award winner, who boasts an impressive mix of Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy trophies on her shelves, didn't make the fans wait for the good stuff. Following an overture of "Funny Girl" material from the enormous 50-plus-piece orchestra, Streisand made her dramatic entrance on a riser through the stage floor and then proceeded to knock out a grand version of "Starting Here, Starting Now." She switched paths with the next song, "Down With Love," as the orchestra worked a distinctly jazzy beatnik vibe that gave Streisand plenty of room to showcase her nightclub chops. The zig to that zag came with a pristine take on the highly nostalgic "The Way We Were," which accomplished the seemingly impossible in making a hockey arena feel like a symphony hall.
One of the most impressive things about Streisand is her ability to come across as both the greatest superstar in the world and the girl next door. She does that better than anybody. The first half of that equation is the easy part -- all she needs to do is open her mouth and sing. The latter is more difficult, given that most people don't live next door to a multi-millionaire who has scored 50 gold records.

She accomplishes that feat by doing what comes naturally for a diva -- talking about oneself. For instance, she spoke of her first performance in the Bay Area, which occurred back in 1963 at the hungry i in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood. The effect of that fond remembrance was that we were made to feel special, like the Bay Area holds an important place in Babs' heart -- whether or not that's true doesn't really matter.

Streisand was later joined on the hit "Evergreen" by the pop-opera boy-band Il Divo, which then performed a few of its own numbers while the diva went off to change and do whatever else divas do backstage. The quartet, a creation of Simon Cowell, did a fine job in what was really a monumental task _ stalling for time for Barbra Streisand.

The crowd rejoiced when its heroine returned with an uplifting version of "Come Rain or Come Shine" that led directly into "Funny Girl" material, including "My Man" and the fan-favorite "People."

Il Divo was back to help kick off the second set with Babs on "The Phantom of the Opera" track "Music of the Night," an inspired choice of material that worked resoundingly well for the five vocalists.

After a moody, romantic take on "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life," Streisand put a halt to the tunes and began answering questions that had been submitted from the crowd. This led directly into the controversial skit as a Bush impersonator (Steve Bridges) joined the vocal Democrat on the stage. It was a funny segment, as Streisand tossed some moderately sharp barbs in Bush's direction -- certainly not anything worth slinging a drink at the star.

In all, however, the skit was a bad idea because it took up time that could've been used to perform more songs. Streisand was on stage roughly two hours, but with the Il Divo segments, the Bush skit and all the between-song chatting fans probably only got 90 minutes of Babs' voice.

What does that break down per minute for a $750 ticket? A little over $8 per minute?

Well, in that case, I'd say fans still got their money's worth on this night.

Write music critic Jim Harrington at jharrington@angnewspapers.com. Read Harrington's blog at www.insidebayarea.com/music.


 

 

 

 

Craig Hall -- www.barbranews.com -- 2006