sold out - 2300
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans opened up, first as a quartet then growing to about seven members, but never a dozen.
They were slow to interest me, but when they had the music cookin', the joint was jumping along to tunes such as When The Saints Come Marching In. I'll give them kudos for getting just about everyone in the house on their feet and dancing.
Al Green's band consisted of 13 performers, including three backing singers, two of who are daughters of his, two guitar players, two keyboardists, a drummer, a percussionist, a bass player and a horn section.
Green was super cheesy. He played the role of some hot stud soul man by throwing out roses in bunches, and sometimes one at a time, to women in the audience. Some approached the front of the stage and Green would deliver not only a rose but also a peck on the cheek. This is the kind of schtick I imagined Elvis used to do. While it was his first time performing in Winnipeg, Green had the audience in the palms of his hands, even though he did some strange things like stop songs to tell stories and stray far enough away from the microphone to cause some audience members to yell out that the mike wasn't working.
Towards the latter part of the show, he performed a medley of soul hits to show the fans where he "came from." These included such staples as Sugar Pie Honey Bunch (the Four Tops), My Girl (Temptations), Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke) and (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay (Otis Redding.)
Classic Green tunes performed included Let's Stay Together, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, I'm Still In Love With You and others.
Al's an ordained minister and it came as no surprise when the "Praise Jesus" comments came out. I thought he was going to get the entire audience to testify to the glory of the Lord or something like that, in between him tossing roses.
It was a good show. People were signing along. Just when people began to sit down, Green would knock out another tunes that practically compelled to stand and shimmy along. The scantiliy clad woman sitting beside me was among several who walked to the front of the stage for a rose, but Green didn't give one out to everyone. At the end when he was making his way along the right side of the stage to the left, shaking hands with people in the front row, she made a bee line for the left side, but Green once again stopped short and instead waved farewell to the crowd.
Despite the obvious audience enthusiasm, I wasn't all that into the show. The opening band had its moments, but overall, I would honestly not go out of my way to see either artist again. I'm rather spoiled by straight-ahead jazz so anything jazzy ususally falls short for me. I'm willing to bet a large chunk of the audience would see him again in a heartbeat, though.
Overall, I would rate this show 4/5.
The Dirty Dozen Brass Band from New Orleans opened up, first as a quartet then growing to about seven members, but never a dozen.
They were slow to interest me, but when they had the music cookin', the joint was jumping along to tunes such as When The Saints Come Marching In. I'll give them kudos for getting just about everyone in the house on their feet and dancing.
Al Green's band consisted of 13 performers, including three backing singers, two of who are daughters of his, two guitar players, two keyboardists, a drummer, a percussionist, a bass player and a horn section.
Green was super cheesy. He played the role of some hot stud soul man by throwing out roses in bunches, and sometimes one at a time, to women in the audience. Some approached the front of the stage and Green would deliver not only a rose but also a peck on the cheek. This is the kind of schtick I imagined Elvis used to do. While it was his first time performing in Winnipeg, Green had the audience in the palms of his hands, even though he did some strange things like stop songs to tell stories and stray far enough away from the microphone to cause some audience members to yell out that the mike wasn't working.
Towards the latter part of the show, he performed a medley of soul hits to show the fans where he "came from." These included such staples as Sugar Pie Honey Bunch (the Four Tops), My Girl (Temptations), Bring It On Home To Me (Sam Cooke) and (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay (Otis Redding.)
Classic Green tunes performed included Let's Stay Together, How Can You Mend A Broken Heart, I'm Still In Love With You and others.
Al's an ordained minister and it came as no surprise when the "Praise Jesus" comments came out. I thought he was going to get the entire audience to testify to the glory of the Lord or something like that, in between him tossing roses.
It was a good show. People were signing along. Just when people began to sit down, Green would knock out another tunes that practically compelled to stand and shimmy along. The scantiliy clad woman sitting beside me was among several who walked to the front of the stage for a rose, but Green didn't give one out to everyone. At the end when he was making his way along the right side of the stage to the left, shaking hands with people in the front row, she made a bee line for the left side, but Green once again stopped short and instead waved farewell to the crowd.
Despite the obvious audience enthusiasm, I wasn't all that into the show. The opening band had its moments, but overall, I would honestly not go out of my way to see either artist again. I'm rather spoiled by straight-ahead jazz so anything jazzy ususally falls short for me. I'm willing to bet a large chunk of the audience would see him again in a heartbeat, though.
Overall, I would rate this show 4/5.
