Thursday, October 23, 2008

Well, Miss Tina Turner was all that and more last night down at Arco Arena in Sacramento. (http://www.livedaily.com/blog/2810.html click link for some terrifics photos; unfortunately hyperlink not available. )It was an elegant show, born of 50 years in rock and roll, that blew the doors off the joint holding 15,000 roaring, dancing, talking sass with TINA fans, alive with the joy and the serenity that these days is Tina Turner.

There was a fabulous array of glittery, glitzy, sexy, sexy costumes that were, in the final analysis, nothing but elegant. Her hair was new and all Tina: edgy, raw and feminine. She's lost her dance moves but still prowls the stage with the elegance of a ballet dancer, wearing four inch Jimmy Choos at the end of legs not not even time dares to compromise. But it's her music and her songs, her pure expression that stands as Mozart in the face of everything else to come that stirs and churns my soul still. Tina Turner is that brave, joyous person that still exists in us all. After all this time. Fifty years!

She opened both set with Beatles songs--unusual moments for Tina Turner fans-- and in the second set gave great props to the Stones, her road buddies from the early days. She flashed photos of her career above the stage and was generous in her acknowledgment of Ike despite their abusive marriage. Her spirit is so round, so full, so complete now it becomes the perfect platter to serve her music up on, this driving, edgy, soulful music that has a big bad range, still. She can reach down into her deep, bluesy gut and deliver the gritty brutal honesty of many of life's lonelier moments with "And this ain't how I thought it'd be" and then stare off into the second balcony and deliver "I don't care who's right or wrong" in a manner with sweetness and softness that makes you turn to the person sitting next to you and apologize for everything and beg for forgiveness, even though you've never met them. This girl has the music of lifetimes and lifetimes and lifetimes.

I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the dancers. She went with the one year olds. The fillies, all legs and manes. They were awesome. The ninjas, the boys dancers, came along for the ride, too. Justice from American Gladiators was riding shotgun to keep an eye on the ninjas. Great Cirque du Soleil 'Love' - type moments with the wild, rowdy guys with crazy moves smacking into the brick wall of authority in the incredibly flexible, agile, hulking stone pillar that is Justice. Dance sequences were fabulous. Band was hard driving, superb guitar and nothing but rock and roll.

It was a night for the Best Ofs book that I will surely write someday. It was a night that I never could have imagined when I first danced to Tina and Ike after study table back at the Pi Phi house down in Moscow, Idaho. It was a night I will imagine again and think about again and again; with complete joy and serenity. Still.


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

6 comments:

MarmiteToasty said...

Wondering where the hell Sacramento is..... Ive heard that name in a film before....

Sounds like you had the most amazing time..... the only concerts of late that Ive been to are gigs of my Sams lol....

I did go with Sharkie last year to see the Indigo Girls and Brandy Carisle and someone else I cant remember the name of lol..... and I LOVED the Indigo Girls music and now have 3 or 4 of their CDs.... so that enriched me life in a tiny way.....

You sure do have great blessings in your life (((JBelle))) and you are a blessing in mine....

x

JBelle said...

Sacramento is the capital of the state of California and is 90 miles north and east of San Francisco, by car.

I do agree with you, Mel, that concerts are of the most exhilerating, freeing experiences. And this one was of the highest order in that genre. At breakfast in our hotel, there were people from coast to coast, border to border, who had come to Sacramento just for this concert. It was so much fun to talk to them and compare notes and then, one by one, watch each other head out to the airport.

I have an abundance of blessings, that's for sure. I don't know if anybody is as lucky as me, really. I got on the plane and flew to Portland, Oregon and my daughter was waiting for me at the gate and then we got on another plane and flew to Sacramento. We stepped out to the curb where my son was waiting and he took us into Old Sac, the earliest part of the town, for a lovely lunch on the patio of a restaurant that sits on the river. We watched a sea lion play and dive and swim in the sun for a couple of hours or so. Pure magic. all of it.

MarmiteToasty said...

yep... you are blessed....

x

The Fool said...

Rock on, Cheech! Very well written piece...it sparkles. Tina has certainly withstood the ravages of time. :)

JBelle said...

heeeey, Homer. Sitting, singing, chanting, cheering, clapping with people who have loved that Girl's music makes you almost believe that you yourself have a shot a withstanding the ravage of time. :)

Christy Woolum said...

It always seemed like Tina Turner would perform an amazing concert. I think you saw the show of a lifetime. Family included... can't beat that!