This is the second part of my multi-part review of the Raleigh and Charlotte appearances for Kellie and Friends. I am going to start off with a description of the venues for those not familiar with them, then make some comments about how the shows were different (not much, really).
The Venue
Well, there’s a difference in the name and that’s about it. These are virtually identical outdoor amphitheaters with the open end facing the setting sun so the early evening performers work with the sun shinning directly into their eyes. A capacity crowd is about 20,000 (I think) and both concerts were nearly sold out. The Charlotte concert sold out the lawn seating and the Raleigh the non-lawn seating. The Charlotte Venue has more outdoor seats on the side that the Raleigh venue doesn’t have, and I think a few of these may have been empty. About 60% of the crowd is on the lawn (my guess). The stages are identical. There is a center ramp/walkout that is about 25-30 feet long. There are two side ramps angled outward, with only a few seats on the outside of this ramp. The side ramps are somewhat shorter than the center one. All performers used these ramps frequently. The speaker systems are also the same. Parking was much better in Charlotte because in Raleigh you had to walk about ½ mile. The acoustics are discussed later.
My Seats
I got my seats through the Brad Paisley Fan Club and they were very good. In Raleigh I was in the right section two rows back in the fixed seats with a few rows of folding chairs in front of me. Countrygal was sitting right beside me. Before the show started, I bribed two young women to let me use their seats during Kellie’s performance only. They were right beside the center walk-out, about 8 feet from the end. Fantastic!!!! Kellie touched my hand twice, and at one point I shouted up at her “we all love you Kellie” and she reached down and shook my hand, holding on a little longer than I anticipated.
In the Charlotte show my seats were on the left, seven rows back, about 10 feet to the side of the center ramp in the row of seats that runs directly in front of the ramp. The seats were folding and the rows were very close together. There were some tall guys in front of me (I’m short) and some of the concert I had to do the bob and weave to get a view. I had an excellent view of the end of the ramp where all the performers came out to perform and where Kellie did I Wonder.
The Program
In Raleigh the order was Jack-Kellie-Taylor-Brad
In Charlotte the order was Taylor-Jack-Kellie-Brad
I do not remember any significant differences in the set lists.
Kellie’s wardrobe
In Raleigh Kellie wore her tight denims and the teal top with the jeweled bodice. She had on silver shoes except when she sang RHH (obviously) and when she sang I Wonder she was barefoot.
In Charlotte Kellie’s jeans were even tighter. I think they were some type of stretch denim. As one reporter said this morning, they looked painted on. She had a top I have not seen her wear before. It was a “bubble-top” with a tan elastic waist band. The material was metallic and it sparkled and shined all night long. A very good taping job kept it in place although Kellie seemed very cautious when she did bend over. It was very classy and looked very expensive. A special top for a special night! She wore Red High Heels all night except for I Wonder (barefoot again) and Dixieland Delight (tennis shoes). More about DLD in another post.
The acoustics
This should have been the same but it wasn’t. The show in Raleigh was louder and the singers’ voices were often garbled and impossible to make out the words.
Kellie was the only one that was clear at both venues. I think whoever mixes Kellie’s sound keeps the guitars and the bass drum in perspective. It was perfect. You could hear every word. Only Gotta Keep Moving sounded a bit muffled.
Jack Ingram’s band in particular had the bass drum and guitar to the max and it was more of a cacophony of noise than music. Even Taylor’s performance was difficult to understand the words in Raleigh, with less of a problem in Charlotte.
Brad was very loud in both venues and some of his songs the words were imperceptible, but others were OK. I still think they need to think about the acoustics more, and emphasize the vocals. Maybe it would have been better further back, but I walked in the back during one of Jack’s songs and the overpowering guitars still drowned out Jack’s voice. And the distortion of the music was still evident.
However, that is apparently what the fans love: make it so loud it hurts your eardrums, make it so discordant you can’t make out the notes; and that beat has gotta rattle my insides!!
Next: Part III: Kellie's opening acts
Link to Part I
http://www.kelliefans.com/forum/conc...tml#post376087 (Raleigh-Charlotte Part I: A Question Of Style)
Link to Part III
http://www.kelliefans.com/forum/conc...tml#post376165 (Raleigh-Charlotte Part III - Kellie's Opening Acts)
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