The concert opens with the single-note pounding of the piano, heralding the middle instrumental section of Paprika Plains. The crowd starts to cheer. Then the strings rise up and the stage lights illuminate the orchestra, backed by a wall of Joni's paintings. The crowd cheers louder. Herbie is on piano, Wayne is on Sax, Joni is nowhere to be seen - yet.
The orchestra plays the entire middle section of Paprika Plains (an exciting treat!) and brings it to a close as the lights dim again. There is a pause and a hush falls over the crowd in the darkness. Someone coughs. A lady giggles. Suddenly we hear, "Marlena...under Foster Grants..." and the cheers rise up again. The spotlight illuminates Joni, center stage, dressed in black. She looks radiant. Her outfits are not by Issey Miyake this time around but are more fitted and conservative. I doubt her voice could handle much more than 17 songs in one night so the list of songs is as follows: Act I: (Overture: Paprika Plains instrumental) Otis & Marlena Amelia You Dream Flat Tires Love For The Roses Slouching Towards Bethlehem Sex Kills The Dawntreader Sire of Sorrow (Intermission) Act II: Sometimes I'm Happy Be Cool Hejira Woodstock Refuge of the Roads Trouble Child The Circle Game Both Sides Now The tour program would match the beauty of the CD box itself with her self-portrait on the cover. Inside is thick, textured paper (Catherine's with me on this!) with the song list, a note from Joni and three additional pages with 2 paintings per page. A really gorgeous tour program! The cities Joni performs in include (being realistic and practical in my choice): US: New York City Chicago Atlanta Miami Seattle Canada: Vancouver Toronto Ottawa The venues would be smaller places, more akin to Opera houses, like The Hummingbird Centre in Toronto or the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The acoustics of these places are suited to orchestral music and are large enough to accomodate interested audiences but not so large that there are whole sections of empty seats. Joni would sell out in Toronto and Ottawa, I'm sure. Probably elsewhere. So, that's my dream Travelogue tour experience! What's yours? -Andrew (I dream of golden beauty!) Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com
