Ugh. I am often envious of my friends back in London, but this is just ridiculous. Summertime in Hyde Park with Kylie, Grace and Nile (and a few others TBA). What a great night that is going to be.
As great as this lineup is, I would be most excited to see Grace. I saw Kylie, fifth row, standing, with the Aphrodite tour. I would never have that great a spot,ever again, and especially not in Hyde Park. I haven't seen Grace in concert in years. The most recent was in early 2000, when I was in San Francisco. I was walking in the Folsom area and a poster on a traffic light was promoting a club concert. I got all excited but quickly saw the concert was the previous week. I did see Rose Royce, though, that weekend.
ArtMan, I saw Grace at the Hollywood Bowl back in 2012 and she was amazing. With virtually no production design, very simple lighting and nothing but a cracker jack band and a half dozens elaborate costume changes she had that 17,000 strong crowd in the palm of her hand. It's a damn shame she's basically played 2 or 3 shows in the US in the past 5 or 6 years, but constantly seems to be playing Europe.
You would think if she could sell out 17,000 in one concert, she would do more in the US. When I saw Kylie, it was at the Hard Rock Orlando and that probably wasn't 3000 attendees. Diana Ross is in concert , here, in February, and can't sell out 1900. So 17,000 tickets is something a smart promoter should think about. I was lucky. The two times I did see Grace was in smaller venues. The first was a club in Gainsville, where I stood to the side of her, inches away, on the small stage, while she performed. The second, was the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. A friend, at the last minute, gave me front row tickets.
Well, the Hollywood Bowl show was a KCRW World Festival concert. KCRW programs several World Fest concerts at the Bowl each summer - usually featuring a mix of vets and newcomers from indie/underground/edgier artists. Grace headlined this particular concert. While it did seem like every gay in LA was there (as it did for each of Kylie's Hollywood Bowl concerts), Grace's gig was a subscription concert and I imagine at a bare minimum 60% of the house was filled with subscribers. I'm not sure that Grace could play stadiums in the US, but she certainly could do well in large theatres. I believe her Hammerstein Ballroom concerts (from that same year) in NY sold out almost instantly.
I saw Grace Jones, could it have been 30 years ago? in Melbourne and the only thing the press reported was the complaints from her hotel about how they couldn't get the fake tan she used out of their sheets.
I watch Kylie DVD concerts and am constantly amazed at how her every gesture, movement is so brilliantly staged,[and those MEN !]. The energy, joy, get up and dance--I just smile and remember whenever I watch--Thank you Kylie.
I have a phone interview for a London based job later this week. It's a looooooongshot, but man, I'd be lying if I didn't - just for a second - think how fabulous it would be to attend this show during my first summer as a Londoner.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali