=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= B E T W E E N T H E L I N E S Issue # 9 - October 3, 1989 DDDDD D D D D GGGG D D G DDDDD G GGG G G GGGG A Debbie Gibson Discussion Forum =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= CONTENTS * Administrative Notes * Review of Mountain View, CA Concert on August 24, 1989 * Review of Sacramento, CA Concert on August 26, 1989 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Administrative Notes To new members of the forum: Welcome! I hope you enjoy our forum! I will send back issues (#1-#8) to those who want them. Just send me e-mail. If you requested back issues and did not get them, please e-mail again. I am sorry for the inconvenience. I would like to thank all those who sent in articles! Disclaimer: This forum does not necessarily reflect the views of Deborah Ann Gibson, GPI (Gibson Productions Inc.), Atlantic Recording Corporation, or any of the organizations that members of this forum belong to or represent. All songs by Debbie Gibson are copyrighted by Deborah Ann's Music (ASCAP). This forum is a non-profit organization. Information about products is fine, trying to advertise products for sale is not permitted, keep this to private e-mail. This forum is not intended to be a replacement for D.G.I.F., the only authorized fan club. Information on D.G.I.F. can be obtained by e-mailing me or by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to: D.G.I.F. P.O. BOX 489 MERRICK, NY 11566 Membership in D.G.I.F. is $15/year. Renewal is $10/year. If you are trying to reach another forum member via e-mail and cannot reach him or her, please let me know. I will try to provide additional suggestions for addresses and if necessary, I will forward mail to the intended person. I hope you are able to catch Debbie in concert in your area! I would like to apologize profusely to all of the members of this forum for my extreme procrastination in putting this issue together. I have no excuse. I realize the issues have been slow in coming out and I hope to improve my production rate for future issues. If you wish to comment on the reviews, do not hesitate to e-mail me or the appropriate author. Please be honest but civil. I wouldn't mind having other concert reviews, so send them in! I would also greatly appreciate more tour dates. I realize the tour is coming to a close in the US soon, but our international forum members can use this information. If you get this information, send it in! -- Michael A. Scheele "Between the Lines" moderator pershing@athena.mit.edu (ARPANET/Internet) ...!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!mit-athena!pershing (UUCP) site-dependent (BITNET) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Review of Mountain View, CA Concert on August 24, 1989 From: Matthew Jung "I survived the sophomore jinx Now I stand my ground Here to prove it's even better the second time around!" At the Shoreline Amphitheater, on August 24, Bros opened twenty minutes late. They played several songs, but the audience gave them the cold shoulder and many refused to pay attention at all. Before they even started, there were already several boos. This was unfortunate since it was their first performance in the United States. [Editor's Note: The opening band (Bros or Judson Spence) has been treated similarly at most of Debbie's concerts from what I have heard. -- Michael] While this was going on, I managed to find Diane Gibson in the back with Buddy Casimano listening to Bros. Apparently, she was enjoying herself and stayed there for quite some time. One level above her on a catwalk, there were a few chairs with a black cover in front so you could only see silhouettes. I immediately recognized Denise Gibson because of her hair-style and facial silhouette when she turned her head. After looking around with binoculars a little more, I found what appeared to be Debbie! Her hairstyle was trademark Debbie Gibson and I am almost sure that it was her. After Bros finished, the stagehands began to prepare the stage for Debbie. After reading Michael's review, I was expecting an edifice of a set, but it turned out that they just modified what Bros was using by installing some pyrotechnics and putting in some carpet. The best adjective to describe the set, at that moment, was "cheap." At last, they unrolled three large black pieces of cloth from where they hung. Finally, the lights went out and a voice introduced Debbie Gibson. It was not nearly as good as the intro from her "Out of the Blue" concerts and was rather terse and ho-hum. Images of Debbie appeared through the black cloths and Debbie began to sing the bridge of "Who Loves Ya Baby?" As she came out with a bright spotlight on her, I noticed that she was not wearing the costume as described by Michael. Instead, she wore bicycle shorts and no mini-skirt! The transition to "Over the Wall" was a blast! Explosive pyrotechnics lit the evening sky and she immediately proceeded to sing "Over the Wall." Unfortunately, Buddy Casimano and Keeth Stewart still sat in the sidelines not really doing anything while Debbie walked around, not really danced, to the song. "Foolish Beat" was next with the identical arrangement from her previous tour. The opening sax solo, played by the talented Adam Tese, evoked a sense of loneliness not present in the album version of the song; the gentle purple-white spotlight on Adam helped this feeling. After the excellent opening, Debbie began to play on her white baby Baldwin. Her facial expressions, during the opening bridge, effectively expressed her remorse and sadness. Immediately after the bridge, Adam fired up the sax again while Debbie looked toward the audience and smiled. Obviously, this was one of the highpoints of the concert. Debbie shifted back into higher gear and told the audience to sing what she sang. An energetic "Staying Together" was next, but unfortunately without Casimano and Stewart again. Her dancers were great during her last tour and it is a mystery why she decided not to use them this time. Instead of jumping immediately to another song, she finally asked the audience, "How are we feeling San Francisco?" Odd, the previous tour, she was at the Concord Pavilion, also near San Francisco, and said, "How are you doing Concord?" Anyway, she continued to say "Alright well, this is our first show back in the U.S.; we just came from playing London and we want to make it the best!" Debbie proceeded to play "the title track that started it all" which was of course, "Out of the Blue." Next, Debbie divided the audience up into three sections and asked them to sing parts of "Shake Your Love." This was a rehash of what she started to do during the last half of her previous tour. She then proceeded to sing it and Casimano and Stewart finally joined her! It was refreshing since Debbie wasn't as effective dancing alone in the previous songs. The choreography was slightly different from the previous tour, but was still done with excellence. About half way through, she handed the floor to Stewart who did his usual improvisation. Christine Clarke, one of Debbie's backup dancers, left the stage at this time too. When Debbie was ready to come out again, Clarke would walk back on stage and flirt with Casimano and Stewart. When Clarke returned to her microphone, Stewart would end his act. At this time, if you weren't watching Stewart like you should have, you would have notice Debbie crawling down next to her baby grand in the dark. As soon as Stewart finished, and the lights went out, she would rush back on stage. This was not as effective as in early concerts where she actually came back to finish singing "Shake Your Love." Debbie returned with her trademark jeans with holes and a leather jacket. "No More Rhyme" was next and the costume was a bit out of place, like Michael commented earlier. "Should've Been the One" followed and Debbie was at her baby grand again. It was time to ask the audience a few questions about flirting. After Debbie and the dancers worked up the crowd, she began to sing her unreleased song, "Don't Flirt With Me." Her backup singers and dancers got involved in the mock flirting and it was pretty entertaining. When Debbie hosted the American TOP 40, she explained how she liked Motown music. Unfortunately, she didn't explain this to the audience and proceeded to do her Motown medley. The sixties type music was not too appropriate since she was usually known for her fifties sound. Some of the audience was getting a little bored with the medley and it might have been a better idea if she only sang one or two songs from the medley and performed more of her album tracks instead. The concert would not have been complete without a preview of one of her songs from the upcoming "Skirts" movie. Debbie and Stewart sang the duet of "Love Under My Pillow" together. She didn't specify if she was actually going to sing it for the soundtrack, but after hearing it, I certainly hope so. After the duet, Debbie abruptly said that she was going to take five and left the stage. Keeth Stewart held the center stage again as he performed "Team Spirit" which was also written by him. It was much more interesting than his "Shake Your Love" improvisation. Since Debbie will help produce for artists after her tour, Keeth Stewart being one of them, I wouldn't be surprised if we hear this song on the radio some day. Debbie returned with a disappointing costume change. This time, it was bicycle shorts again, just in blue color. She performed "Lost in Your Eyes" at her baby grand the same way she always does by getting up on the piano towards the end. Last, but not least, Debbie performed "Only in My Dreams." In all her concerts, this was the climax with her singing parts of the song, "Only in my Dreams, as real as it may seem..." very slowly and building up to a climatic "It was only in MY dreams." This time she held the MY note for as long or longer than previous times! Truly amazing, especially after singing so many songs. Unfortunately, the performance, after that sensational climax, wasn't up to par. Casimano and Stewart didn't dance with Debbie like they did before and much of the energy was lost. Debbie bid the audience good night and left with her band. The crowd didn't chant as loud as they did at last year, at the Concord Pavilion, and that might have been an indication that they were a bit disappointed this time around. Debbie and her band returned only three minutes later to do an encore. Instead of a costume change, like last year, she came back with her buster brown hat and a jacket with a lighted EY on the back. After reading Michael's review, I was hoping for the ballad "Try" to be next. However, I realized then that something was wrong because she didn't sing "Electric Youth" yet. Instead, she sang "We Could Be Together" next. Casimano did his trademark flip right at the beginning of the song, of course. [Editor's Note: Debbie has been rearranging the order (and selection) of songs a bit while on tour. -- Michael] I was still hoping for "Try" but then "Electric Youth" was next. Finally, the cheap looking set unfolded itself into a neat castle set! Lasers and lights started zapping everywhere and she performed an energetic "Electric Youth" with Casimano and Stewart similar to the video. She should have sung this song earlier to expose her awesome set. Unfortunately, "Try" never came up and the concert ended. Was Debbie's quote correct about things being better the second time around? Not all the time. For fans who have seen her in concert during her first tour, they might have been disappointed. The concert was pretty much recycled material and a chop suey of recycled stuff from her videos and other performances. The only noticeable improvement was that she wore less blush than she did during her later "Out of the Blue" concerts. Her costumes were extremely disappointing (what happened to her excellent costume designer - her sister Michelle?) and it seemed like she just picked up what she could find in her tour bus closet. Her buster brown outfit, during the opening of her previous tour, was her best costume so far. Also from her previous tour, the sparkling letterman's sweater, the race car jacket, and the appropriate shirt which indicated where she was performing, were all great! Apparently, the high treble boost at the Boston concert was not unique since we suffered here too. At the Concord concert, her voice was beautiful and clear. At this concert, her voice was high pitched like Mickey Mouse! Most of the band was still intact. The drummer Lou Appel, unfortunately, was absent. His drum solos and talent helped the energetic tour last year. This year, we were stuck with Fred Levine who played like a novice. In summary, the Shoreline concert was an adequate performance and not much more. Reasons for this? Originally, Debbie planned to play in the fall to avoid the summer heat. However, for an unknown reason, she decided to kick off her tour early and perhaps this gave her less time to work on the production. Since she already developed the routines for her previous tour, and had material used in videos, she just slapped everything together for her current tour. Another reason may be due to her erratic tour schedule. A few days before her Shoreline concert, she was in England opening for Bros in front of 50,000 people at Wembley stadium. Debbie, you can do better! SONGS PERFORMED IN ORDER WERE: "Who Loves Ya Baby?" "Over the Wall" "Foolish Beat" "Staying Together" "Out of the Blue" "Shake Your Love" "No More Rhyme" "Should've Been the One" "Don't Flirt With Me" Motown Medley: "I Want You Back" "ABC" "The Love You Save Maybe Your Own" "Stop! In the Name of Love" "Where Did Our Love Go?" "Please Mr. Postman" "Dance to the Music" "Love Under My Pillow" "Team Spirit" by Keeth Stewart "Lost in Your Eyes" "Only in My Dreams" Encore: "We Could Be Together" "Electric Youth" [Editor's Note: The Motown Medley is different from the one used at Worcester, MA on July 28. -- Michael] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Review of Sacramento, CA Concert on August 26, 1989 From: Matthew Jung Gibson Redeems Herself At the Cal Expo Amphitheater, on August 26, Bros opened 45 minutes late. However, since the crowd was much more enthusiastic, Bros proved to be quite entertaining. The lead singer, responding to the better audience, opened up to the crowd by commenting that this was only their second show in the United States. Compared to Times Two, who opened for Debbie during the last tour, Bros displayed much more talent. The drummer, percussionist, and guitarist were all first rate and rivaled the musicians in Debbie's band! Finally, when Bros finished, the lead singer and drummer came back to take bows and issue thanks, which they didn't do at Shoreline with every justification. Perhaps the tardiness of Bros became a trend for Cal Expo. It took another 45 minutes to set the stage and tune the instruments, which took half the time at the Shoreline concert. Also, they didn't set up the three large black cloths with Debbie's silhouette so I couldn't tell when the concert was about to begin. Suddenly, after a stagehand tested the drums and tuned the guitar for what seemed the millionth time, the lights went out and the same dull voice announced Debbie Gibson in the same dull manner as the Shoreline concert. It didn't really matter since this crowd was extremely anxious for Debbie to appear and chanted her name occasionally while the stage was being set up. The absence of the cloths with her silhouette was the only difference between the Shoreline and Cal Expo openings. Her band arrived on stage and she began to sing the bridge, "I believe in you ... yes! You believe in me too. Don't ever get swept away by something not real 'cause the way I feel... oh I will always feel that way. Who loves ya baby?" She paused and then appeared on stage with an extremely bright light behind her. The crowd went wild and then the music began to play for the opening track, "Who Loves Ya Baby?" After her opening song, she immediately proceeded to sing "Over the Wall." Fortunately, Buddy Casimano and Keeth Stewart danced with her this time and it was very entertaining. Debbie's excellently arranged "Foolish Beat" followed and was exactly the same as the Shoreline concert, and all her previous concerts for that matter. After seeing it live for the third time, I still consider it to be one of the best parts of her concert. Her performances of "Staying Together" and "Out of the Blue" were identical to her Shoreline performance. What I missed most, from both the Shoreline and Cal Expo concerts, was the response of "Who me?" to "...I never thought, I would fall in love with you." Sometime in between songs, she paused to talk to the audience. Debbie asked how many of us had tickets to the Cal Expo concert last year. A lot of people screamed and raised their hands, including me, and then she apologized for canceling. To make up for it, she promised us a longer show. Now it was time for the "Shake Your Love" game. She asked us "Sacramento, are you ready to shake it?" Debbie then divided up the audience into four different sections and asked each section to sing what she told them to sing. I was in the third section and we were the loudest. Unlike the rushed atmosphere of Shoreline, she took her time this time. After the game, she sang "Shake Your Love" and danced with Casimano and Stewart. Like clockwork, she said "take it Freddy" to her drummer and left the stage. Of all the concerts I have been to, and seen on video, she took the longest at Cal Expo. Each musician got their spotlight, like usual, and performed their solos. Again, drummer Fred Levine played like a novice as if he were afraid to hit the drums too hard. Where was Lou Appel, the tireless drummer, from the first tour? Casimano wowed the crowd with his flips and Stewart did the same improvisation. They never ran out of things to do, despite the longer absence of Debbie, and they did a raps and dance moves I have never seen before. Finally, Christine Clarke, the backup singer, returned to do her usual flirt with Stewart and Casimano. After she returned to her microphone, Stewart ended his improvisation. The stage was setup different at Cal Expo, so she didn't have to crawl next to her baby grand piano to sneak back on stage. Instead, she appeared where she entered before and had the same costume change as in Shoreline. Unfortunately, during the sax solo in "No More Rhyme," Adam's microphone was not transmitting and the audience missed the first half of the solo. "Should've Been the One" was next. Again, as Michael Scheele pointed out before, you could actually hear her play the piano. This time, she returned to the piano twice and that was a treat! It was question time again and both Debbie and Casimano asked the audience about flirting. The crowd responded well again and she sang her unreleased song "Don't Flirt With Me." After hearing it the second time, the melody and hook actually hooked me. I certainly hope she plans to record this song. The Motown medley was next and she introduced it this time by saying it was time for oldies. Lighting was poor during the opening mimic of the Jackson 5, but the medley was essentially the same as Shoreline. Again the audience wasn't too enthusiastic about this part. It might have been better to return "Crocodile Rock" and "In the Still of the Night" from her previous tour since they worked better. Following the medley was the duet "Love Under My Pillow" from her upcoming "Skirts" movie. Even though this was the second time I heard it, it didn't hook me. The end of the song tended to drag with Stewart and Debbie singing "I have two words..." over and over again. Time for Debbie to take a break, so she takes five again just like the Shoreline performance. As before, Keeth Stewart asks "Can you party? Can you jam? Can you just get down?" Unlike the Shoreline concert, he explained what "woo woo woo" meant to New Yorker's (watch Arsenio Hall for this all the time). So, if you see Debbie in concert in the future, don't just yell, shout "woo woo woo!" He then performed "Team Spirit," which also had a great hook. Is some of Debbie's songwriting talent rubbing off on this gentleman? Debbie returned with a costume different from her Shoreline performance. Instead of the blue bicycle shorts, she returned with holed jeans rolled up to her knees. She performed her "Lost in Your Eyes" at the piano, as usual. Finally, Debbie performed "Only in My Dreams." This time, I used my stopwatch to time her when she held "It was only in MY dreams." The "MY" was 9.5 seconds long! When she did this on the Atlantic 40th Anniversary special, it was only 5.5 seconds long! Again, Casimano and Stewart didn't dance with her like they did in her previous tour and the routine was not as exciting. Debbie and her band left the stage. This time, there was more chanting and in a few minutes, they were back on stage. When she returned, she said that she did not lie and was going to give us a longer performance. To fulfill this promise, she sang her unreleased ballad "Try." It was nice, but I have to hear it again. "We Could Be Together" was next. However, the way Cal Expo was set up, she couldn't pull anyone on stage. It didn't turn out to be a problem since a few girls from backstage were available. Instead of just high fiving them after the song, she actually hugged one of them! For the last song, the cheap set transformed itself into the awesome castle set. Her performance of "Electric Youth" was identical to Shoreline and was extremely entertaining to watch. Again, she should have played this song earlier so that she could expose the audience to this neat set. The Shoreline Amphitheater is one of the best outdoor venues in northern California. However, Cal Expo is one the worst outdoor venues. Shoreline had video screens for people in the back, but Cal Expo didn't. Shoreline had reserved seating for over 7,000 people, plus a lawn area in the back for 12,000 more. Cal Expo had a field for general admission and bleachers were far from the stage. Despite all this, Debbie was much better at the Cal Expo concert. Perhaps it was due to the fact that Cal Expo was inferior to Shoreline that motivated her to perform better? I do not know. There were still a few problems. Her voice was still very high pitched and she sounded like Mickey Mouse. Since Michael Scheele reported this at Boston, and I heard it twice, it is no accident. Hopefully, she will have it straightened out since she has three months of touring left. The costumes, despite the minor change in one costume at Cal Expo, were still inferior to the clothes designed by her sister for her previous tour. Debbie either is getting a big payoff from a company manufacturing bicycle shorts, or her sister Michelle was too busy to work with her during this tour. In summary, this concert was superior to Shoreline, but still inferior to her performance at Concord last year. Nevertheless, just to see her live is an experience; the songs come alive! Debbie displays an almost inexhaustible amount of energy and proves she can produce a show that can rival Madonna. If you haven't seen her in concert yet, do yourself a big favor and buy a ticket now! [Editor's Note: Having seen both Madonna and Debbie in concert, I would say while Madonna has more non-stop movement, Debbie has more enthusiasm and energy. SONGS PERFORMED IN ORDER WERE: "Who Loves Ya Baby?" "Over the Wall" "Foolish Beat" "Staying Together" "Out of the Blue" "Shake Your Love" "No More Rhyme" "Should've Been the One" "Don't Flirt With Me" Motown Medley: "I Want You Back" "ABC" "The Love You Save Maybe Your Own" "Stop! In the Name of Love" "Where Did Our Love Go?" "Please Mr. Postman" "Dance to the Music" "Love Under My Pillow" "Team Spirit" by Keith Stewart "Lost in Your Eyes" "Only in My Dreams" Encore: "Try" "We Could Be Together" "Electric Youth" =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=