April 24th, 2000
Submitted by: siteowner
Well, if it wasn't for this concert, chances are this website wouldn't be here! Amanda's stage prescence, her voice, and her material is what left me reeling after the concert. Her concert's are now what I measure other's to, and so far, none have even come close.
I was sitting next to a young girl, I guess she was about 10, and she was with her mom. She ate ju jubes all night so that's what I think of when I remember it:)
OK, the lights dimmed and one of those movie-voiceover guys came on the announcer and said "Please welcome, Sony Recording Artist, Roberta Michele" and people clapped and I forgot that concerts have openers. Oy
So Roberta walked across the stage to the mic in the middle(no it was on the side)(just joking) And uhh lets see she was wearing a long black jacket overcoat kinda thing, a yellow top, black pants, and thats it I guess
Now it was just Roberta and this guy on a keyboard, which was set up on the left side of the stage (when you're looking at the stage). The pianist was crazy and was excellent. He had great hair and was wearing all black too I think.
I don't remember what Roberta sang...uhh but I do remember at the end of her set, which ended at about 8:00, she picked up an instant camera she had with her on the stage and asked us all if she could take a picture, and she said for everyone to wave and all that good stuff. You can check out the pictures she took right here
The stage itself when Roberta was on looked pretty small, I was a little dissapointed because it wasn't very impressive. There were huge curtains, and they were coloured red, white, yellow, and blue I think. Pretty colourful
I do remember Roberta commenting that she was from Edmonton, she was still very much an Edmonton girl, but loved being so close to home. When Roberta's set was over, the lights went up again, and some oldie's music started playing from the speakers, which checks with what I've learned from some of the articles I've read. I think I remember the song "Please Mr. Postman" playing. I guess the artist themselves pick out what music is played during "intermission"
Then the exciting part happened. The lights dimmed once again, I think darker this time, and I guess "Believe in you" started. The curtains were still up. Then, all of the sudden, they were pulled down, and she walked through and started singing. There were three guys you could see in the background pulling the curtains together and taking them off the stage.
As for what she sang, haha, don't ask. I haven't a clue. I remember "Shades of grey" when it came on, however, and I was enjoying that, as at that moment it was my favorite song.
The stage set up for Amanda, when you were looking at it, was simple, but still effective. Let's see, she had a guy with blond hair on rhythm guitar on the left. He was my favorite to watch I guess. Then in the back left, kind of on a platform, was a guy on the keyboards. Next to him, also on a platform, but higher I think, was the drummer. The back right was the bassist, on a small level, and then the lead guitarist was on the right.
Amanda was interesting to watch, she used the stage quite extensively. She didn't just stay in the middle where the mic stand was, she was constantly walking back and forth to each side. She also has a lot of interesting mannerisms. I guess the one most noticeable, is when she usually goes back to the drums and does this riverdance-gone-wrong type move. It's pretty funny. I would also describe it as a hop-scotch thing too. And then her hand.
About halfway through the concert I also remember her taking her shoes off and chucking them into the corner (good arm)
OK the things she said. Hmm, I guess the first thing she said to us was about after the 3rd song or so she sang, and she said something like "Hi Calgary!" and then "We're so happy to be here at the Jub-ilee Auditorium" And then I guess the only thing else I remember her saying was when she went into a long song, mixed with a lot of different tunes. It must of been atleast ten minutes long. One of the songs she threw in there was "My guy" or something. Actually I don't know if she sang that. But that was when she introduced her band. She said "And Calgary, these are my guys".."Over here on rhythm guitar is (somebody) and his wife is about to have a baby. You just have to tell her to hang on and wait until the tour is over" I don't remember exactly what she said! And then he and Amanda were laughing and doing this..uhh how do I describe it..this hip bounce... they looked like they got along the best. And then she went over to the keyboardist and I think his last name was Webster? I just remember that I made a mental note that the keyboardist and the drummer were brothers. And then I guess Rob Misener was on bass, and someone on lead guitar. Hmm yeah that was it
If I Didn't Have You was my favorite song of the night. I was really impressed that she could sing that song exactly like on the CD, and her ability to recover after that last long note to go right back to the whistling, impressive!
The stage, like I said, was simple. There was a somewhat large tv screen that had 9 squares on it, and it basically just flashed different colours etc. I thought they might maybe show video clips in the background, but it was just colours.
Amanda also wore a long black jacket, black pants, and I can't remember what else. I think all of her band was dressed in black too.
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