I saw her last night in Brisbane, at The Zoo in Fortitude Valley, and she was as amazing as ever! I was going to write when i got back from the show, but thanks to our ever so reliable public transport system [*coughcough*], that wasn’t until like 3am… I was impressed [not]. This aside however, the night was without a doubt in my mind worth it! Hell, like it ever isn’t with deb!
I was able to get a good position up near the front, so i had a clear view of both deb and willy, which was great as i am only five feet two! :o) they didn’t come on until around 11pm, but they’re always worth enduring two hours of limited oxygen and everybody else’s cigarette smoke for [though i do hate that smoke… !]. she was great, as ever. and oddly enough, queensland was again the last stop on her tour. last time i saw her, last year, it was her last show too, though that time she played the zoo, and then the doghouse on the gold coast. anyhow, get to the point heidi! as i say, she was wonderful! she came out, and they launched into “alive and brilliant” [which was, ‘scuse the pun, brilliant! *eek*]. after that, she was fiddling with the halter neck on her dress, and she was so amusing in her self consciousness — she was speaking about how last time she’d played here she was about to give birth [“i had a girl. alma, for the suffragette, and then del ray — in case she wants to be a stripper!”], and this time “you’ll have to pardon me. i’m lactating, and tonight i’m being strangled by my unreasonably large breasts!”. just the way she said it was hilarious. her on-stage banter all night was really amusing… just what i needed to cheer me up.
She was wearing the now infamous funky patterned dress, sort of a paisley psychadelic patterned fabric, and willy had his matching pants on. very nice indeed, those. they looked so cute, little matching outfits. the set-list was grand — if she’d done “will you miss me when your sober?” and “she prefers fire” it would have been just my *dream* deborah set-list, i tell you! they did [not in order… i’m too dense to remember that!]: “alive and brilliant”, “today i am a daisy”, “madame butterfly is in trouble” [i *love* this song! and in all the times i’ve seen her, she’s never done it live!], “dcn #348” [someone yelled out for this during the encore, and she hadn’t played it in so long, she kept muddling herself up. it was sweet], “release me” [this was a powerhouse…], “under my skin”, “it’s only the beginning” [this was really cute — the crowd sang practically the entire song, with deb coming in on choruses. she was so touched and amused by the fact that everyone started singing. it was a nice moment], “all of the above” [her prelude to this cracked me up. i’ll never forget it! :o) “i wrote this when i was in london, and i’d just heard john howard had gotten into government, and i was really depressed. i’m not depressed anymore though because somehow i’ve got the feeling that his days are numbered”], “2001 ultrasound” [willy’s electric guitar effects on this were awesome!], “only the bones [will show]” [i love this song, and it is really good live!], “here in my arms” [“this is my version of the 60s song, for the 90s – if you can’t be with the one you love, fuck the one you’re with!”] and ended their initial set with a fabulous “man overboard”.
At this point, she went off, and came back for the encore wearing the my third husband tee, she was explaining it: “can you see what i’m wearing now? apart from my abnormally huge breasts, of course! see, three husbands, but only one bride. you gotta wonder what happened to the first two, hey?”. then for the encore, someone yelled out for “dcn #348” and she got all flustered, saying she hadn’t played it in ages, but would give it a go. it was great — not surprisingly! – but she lost her place a few times because these people kept yelling out: “happy birthday deborah!”. sweet, but it wasn’t even her birthday! so, pretty annoying after the first, ooohhh, five times! :o) she kept getting annoyed at them for talking, and she was like: “people up the back chatting. are you talking for a reason? trying out new chat-up lines? not having any success? trying to get somebody home tonight?! it won’t work… just listen instead”. she was being good natured about it, but the way they kept yelling out happy birthday *was* stupid — especially after she thanked them, but told them it wasn’t her birthday. then everyone was shouting out for “white roses” or “string of pearls”, so she gave us a choice. but everyone yelled equally loudly for both — so she asked willy which he’d prefer and they launched into “string of pearls”. *amazing*. her voice was so strong and it just soared… great.
The only thing that kinda ruined it was this IDIOT standing next to me. the entire night, the guy just had NO idea of personal space. it was like, i’d move over a tiny bit so he wouldn’t be shoving into me. but everytime i moved, he moved! it was like: “hello?!”. and then he felt compelled to sing. it was okay during “it’s only the beginning”. everyone was singing. but during SOP and WR, two incredibly slow, poignant songs, there’s this twit in a business suit yelling out as deb’s singing slowly and soulfully. it was like: “SHUT UP!!!”. unfortunately i’m not one of those people who can actually *say* what she is thinking. ick. anyhow… this aside, SOP was beautiful, as ever. and *then* just as we thought they’d go off, they started in on WR! i was so happy! :o) it was a much different version to the record version — very slow, and smouldering — bluesy jazzy feel to it. it was great!
so… overall? the show was amazing. i had a wonderful time. and afterward, i got to meet her! she came out to sell t-shirts [i wanted a blue one, but just like last time, they didn’t have any small sizes left! *sigh*] and cd’s, and i chatted to her a little, and asked for an autograph. i got it on a bit of paper out of my “wallace and gromit” diary! talk about embarrassing, but it was all i had with me!. i was *so* almost going to bring my booklet from “string of pearls” [my fave deb CD], but then i thought no way, because the zoo’s a big venue, and i figured my chances of meeting her were non existent. d’oh! but she did sign the page for me, she thought the W&G diary was really cute. i made a total geek of myself originally, i was like: “i do have your cds, but not here, i’m really sorry but could you please sign this?”. talk about wanting to sink into the floorboards! :o) but she was really nice, she signed the autograph: “heidi – it’s a girl thing! always, deborah conway” so that was lovely. she looked gorgeous, and the show was amazing… i had a ball! :o)
*faerieblessings*
heidi