An Evening With Tina Turner

Put your hands on your hips and let your backbone slip...

Wow! What an unbelievable evening this concert turned out to be.  I almost missed it since the original date was October 13 and SOLD OUT.  Then, they decided to add a second date, Thursday, October 16.  I guess, due to the late announcement, some tickets were available and I finally got to see the show with my friend, Amy.

First off, TINA looked GREAT! She's 68 and she can still do her moves.  She has not toured in 7 years.  She was supposed to have retired after her concert tour of 2000.  I am told a lot of the exciting elements of this show were first seen in that show.

And what a production!  Tina starts the show shakily suspended on an elevated platform in the middle of the stage and descends to start the show.  Suspending a 68-year old on a 3'x3' platform 40 feet above ground zero seems like a risky venture since she could fall and never get up!  

The stage is amazing, constantly morphing into staircases, jungle gyms and reveals.  She had ninjas, 4 backup dancers, two background singers and a first-rate band.  There were several pyrotechnics during the first half.

As for her performance, Tina can still bring it.  She did have difficulty with the ballads particularly Private Dancer, but she more than made up for it with the rest of the show (choreographed by Toni Basil).

Then there was a 30 minute intermission.  I assumed she was getting a blood transfusion after all that bouncing around. When she returned to the stage, she revealed that she had a very special guest backstage in the person of Denzel Washington.  Since we had nosebleed seats and conveniently forgot our binoculars, we weren't able to spot him.

The crowning glory of the evening was the performance of "Proud Mary".  By the end of the song, the crowd was on their feet dancing.  Amy and I tried to re-create the moves in our very narrow (and steep!) bleacher seats.  

A lot of people left after this number assuming it was the finale.  Mostly to get to their cars and avoid gridlock (this is L.A. after all).

But then she returned to perform two more songs!

And then the most amazing thing happened.

The stage transformed into a 60 foot lateral cherry picker which allowed her to hover above the audience as she sang Nutbush City Limits with the audience (see photo above). 

If she happens to be in your neck of the woods, it's worth the effort and money to go and see this wonderful, wonderful performer.  Check her tour dates here.

WOW.