Portland, Maine, 360 miles South East from Montreal.
An interesting venue to say the least, a scaled down football field covered with a dome, a bar and food.
I had the impression of standing in the middle of a greenhouse. Crowd estimated to 1000-1200.
The usual full deployment, Skippy and Pig. Not surprisingly, the room was little echoey, but nothing drastic. From the opening notes of Shine On throughout the end of the show , the enthousiastic crowd applauded warmly and gave many stand up ovations. I liked this crowd.
The ladies again rendered a magnificient singing/choregraphy performance. I was watching some people?s reaction to Ola?s prestigious great gig, they were stunned. One middle aged woman in particular sitting in the front row had her two hands mid in up in her face, eyes popped up, she was blown away. I was just waiting and perhaps expecting a tear coming. They gave her a well deserved ovation.
It was a special moment to see and hear Damian and Ian together during Mother. Again, Ian?s vocals throughout the show are top notch, superb, he makes them sounding close to the masters.
Short in the 2nd set, someone decided to open up some the front doors (to evacuate the smoke inside) began and as the back doors were not tight shut (AC wires were runnning in/out. Backstage people constantly entering leaving) it soon caused cold air to circulate inside the dome, thus causing the temp to drop. Jamie put on his coat and was constantly blowing in his hands in order to keep in numb fingers warm.
I hope no one caught the flu for Xmas because of last night?s conditions.
The Band took off to Boston where they depart to UK. I wish them all a very well safe trip home and my sincere thanks to all of the Band and Crew. It was , unquestionably, one hell of a brilliant tour, nothing negative to say, and haven't read anything negative about it. There was a wide variety of songs offered for each venues. They are simply the Best. I will never forget the last 10 days in Quebec City, Montreal and then Portland, Maine.
Looking forward to 2007 as we now turn over to UK.
Merry Xmas and Happy New Year TAPFS. I will sort out some pics I have and post them soon.
Pierre
