From: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org (jewel-digest) To: jewel-digest@smoe.org Subject: jewel-digest V4 #596 Reply-To: jewel@smoe.org Sender: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-jewel-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk jewel-digest Wednesday, October 6 1999 Volume 04 : Number 596 * If you ever wish to unsubscribe from this digest, send an email to * jewel-digest-request@smoe.org with ONLY the word * unsubscribe in the BODY of the email * . * For the latest information on Jewel tour dates, go to * the OFFICIAL Jewel web site at http://www.jeweljk.com * and click on "Presence" * OR * go to the Atlantic Records site at http://www.atlantic-records.com * and go to the "On Tour" section * . * PLEASE :) when you reply to this digest to send a post TO the list, * change the subject to reflect what your post is about. A subject * of Re: jewel-digest V4 #xxx or the like gives fellow list readers * no clue as to what your message is about. Today's Subjects: ----------------- * "Sessions at West 54th" Review - LONG - Part one of two [deirdre Subject: * "Sessions at West 54th" Review - LONG - Part one of two Hey EDAs, I originally wasn't going to post this, but somebody talked me into it. This is the best account I can give of what "Sessions" was all about. If you weren't at the show, you will know what happened there now. If you were at the show, you'll remember it clearly after reading this. :) It took me a week to write. It originally was just a handwritten journal entry of mine, but then I typed it up for people to read. I hope you all enjoy. - -Deirdre Mandryk September 15, 1999 (and until a week after the show) I still can’t believe what happened to me last night, September 14, 1999. It all started with the email from Mr. BB saying that "Sessions at West 54th" was going to be having Jewel on their show and that Jewel wanted the EDA’s to be part of the audience. They were going to take the first 100 names who responded and then send those names to PBS, who would then chose 50 of those names. I called Mom upstairs and asked if I could please, please go. She said to just put my name in and see what happens. About a week later I received an email from "Sessions" saying that my name was on the list to attend the concert. I couldn’t believe it. I was almost in tears. I told Dad about it a few days later and he said that it was an excellent opportunity and that he would pay for me to go. New York City had something very big going on that week, or something, because we couldn’t find a hotel anywhere. It wasn’t until Monday (13th) that Mom found me a room somewhere and arranged for our transportation by bus. Before this, Dad looked into a limousine taking me to see if it would be the same cost as bus and hotel. It turned out to be $660 . . . way too expensive supposedly. It got to the point on Sunday that I said I would pay for $300 of the limousine. I have that money but I’ve been saving it up for my new snowboard gear. It was a hard decision. Jewel and snowboarding are my favorite two things in the world right now. I had to decide what I loved more. But it turned out this trip didn’t cost me a penny, and it gave me back so much more. So on Tuesday Austin and I took a bus to Wilkes-Barre and then to NYC. The hotel was only a 15 minute walk from the bus station. After waiting in a long check-in line, we got into the room at about 4:50pm. There were no bathrooms in the rooms, just shared ones in the hall. The room was so small. Just two beds, a night stand, a dresser, a sink, and a closet. As soon as Austin walked in he said, "Ok, want to go now?" We called Mom at work because she told us to, and then I got dressed up, fixed my hair, and we were off. We left by 5:15pm and got to the Sony Music Studios at about 5:25pm. We walked down 54th street to the Sony Music Studios entrance. There were three limousines outside. There was a sign on the door saying that all audience members should report to the NE corner of 53rd and 10th (just around the corner). There were only eight other people in line ahead of us. I was pretty sure we were going to get good seats. I was nervous to talk to people at first, but a girl smiled at me which was nice. Then two guys got out of a taxi and got in line behind us. About three minutes later I asked them where they came from and they said Philly. After that we talked nearly the whole time. When I told them my name was Deirdre, one of the guys said, "Mandryk?" I was pretty stunned but he said he just remembered from the emails. The line started to get longer and longer. At about 6:30pm Mr. BB came out and talked to people in the beginning of the line. I didn’t know who he was but the guy from Philly told me. It wasn’t until after the show that I introduced myself to him as the one who constantly bothers him online with IMs. So 7:00pm came around and it was time for them to let us in. They took us around a corner and stopped us in front of a ramp. They only took about 18 of us. Then they brought us into the studio. They took the first 6 people and led them to the best seats in the house. Then they took the next six which included us and the two guys from Philly . We sat right behind the first six girls picked. I got tears in my eyes and started to shake when I saw how close Jewel’s microphone was to us. It was so fun because everybody was so happy. Then people started being let in after us and seating started to get unfair. People were seated very far to the side and out of site of Jewel. At one point the two people who were behind the guys from Philly were asked to leave their seats and sit far on the end because two other people with VIP passes were supposed to sit there. We had really lucked out. Who knows how long the people in front of us had been waiting. We probably couldn’t have beaten them if we left five minutes earlier even though we couldn’t have in the first place because we left as fast as we could. The two people in front of us in line didn’t have as good of seats as we did because they were more to the right. We were at a great angle. We had to sit for about an hour before the show started. The guy next to me brought all sorts of Jewel stuff to get signed. I was kind of looking over his shoulder and he was like, "Oh, you can look at it if you want to." There were a few nice pictures in the book he had. On stage, the "Sessions" crew had this girl with blond hair stand where Jewel would be standing and they were working with camera angles and lighting and stuff. It was pretty cool. Two of the guys on the crew had Santa hats on too. The time finally came, around 8:00pm or so, when they were ready to bring Jewel out. First the host of the show, John Hiatt, came out. I think he is pretty well known, but I didn’t really know him at all. He explained that first they were going to bring Jewel out and we were to welcome her (how couldn’t we?), and then he was going to introduce her to the TV and we were to welcome her again. I was so nervous at this point. I was shaking inside and out. Then he said, "Please welcome Jewel!" Everybody clapped and cheered. It took her a little while to come out. There were some crew members kind of walking around so I was looking through them to find her. Then I saw her. She walked out in her usual rhythm with her head down, eyes on the floor ahead of her. She had a small, embarrassed smile. She also had a great outfit on. Dark brown leather pants, brown shoes with a huge heel, and a black sleeveless shirt with a v-neck and some gold trim. She had on yellow, purple, and blue beaded bracelets on her left hand. Her hair was so beautiful too. It was down but curled in a great way and swept over the side of her face ­ parted on the right. She had a lot of make-up on, but she was still so beautiful. When she got up to the microphone she said ,"thank you" in her small, shy voice. I was completely shaking. I couldn’t keep my body still because I was so nervous and excited. She kind of stepped to the side ­ right in front of us! The host took over. He put his hands behind his back and began to read from the TelePrompTer the introduction of Jewel. He got pretty far into the intro. when they stopped him to redo it. I actually didn’t catch the mistake that he made. Then Jewel said, "That was starting to sound like a eulogy! I was like, ‘Oh no!’" She did her laugh. It was so nice to hear that in real life . . . nobody can imitate it. The host said, "And I was doing so well." Jewel said, "You were!" Then he said, "I’m not laying it on too heavy am I?" Jewel said, "Hell no! Lay it on!" I was laughing but I was so jittery that I was afraid I was going to cry instead. Jewel said to the crowd, "Jewel is my real name . . . just in case any of you were wondering." I thought that was so strange. I actually said out loud, "What?!" because I didn’t know why she said that. Jewel does that a lot. She says things to audiences like they have never heard of her before. She knew that the audience was full of her fans . . . at least I think she did. So John Hiatt did the intro. again. He didn’t make any mistakes the second time so they introduced Jewel again. The set-up of the room: The orchestra consisted of a piano, drums, bass, two guitars, harp, French horn, woodwind (oboe, recorder), and cello. Then the choir was five women and three men. The conductor, Arif Marden, was, of course, there as well and he was the one who arranged all the music with "impeccable taste" on the album. The set list of the show: Intro.: John Hiatt Joy to the World (take 1) Holy Night Silent Night Winter Wonderland Ave Maria (false start) Ave Maria (take 1) Ave Maria (take 2) Hark the Herald Angels Sing (take 1) Hark the Herald Angels Sing (take 2) Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Face of Love (false start) Face of Love Gospel Medley Go Tell it on the Mountain From a Distance Life Uncommon I Wonder As I Wander Gloria (take 1) Little Town of Bethlehem (take 1) Little Town of Bethlehem (take 2) Hands Life Uncommon (take 1) Life Uncommon (take 2) Gloria (take 2) Joy to the World (take 2) You Were Meant For Me Who Will Save Your Soul Sometimes It Be That Way Grey Matter The first song she sang was "Joy to the World." All the songs were well done. I didn’t know exactly what to expect with the whole Christmas thing. Of course I would have enjoyed hearing her play her original songs, but I got to hear her sing songs she’s never played before. I believe the second song was "O Holy Night" which was as beautiful as I had hoped for. I noticed Nedra standing in the back watching Jewel. I wanted to say something to Austin but I didn’t want to mess up any of the filming or sound. Wow, the whole scene was so beautiful. I could hardly stop smiling. I was leaning forward the entire time. By the middle of it my back hurt so much. It was funny because I felt so much closer when I leaned forward than when I sat back. Nedra came out on the third song. She sang four songs with Jewel but not all in a row. They were "Silent Night," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "I Wonder As I Wander," and "Face of Love." So when Nedra was on stage Jewel said, "I just want everybody to notice that she’s wearing coral-orange toenail polish. She’s not fooling anybody." It was pretty funny. Her mom just gave her a funny look. The fourth song was "Winter Wonderland." When they started this song, me and another girl (the girl with braids in front of me) burst out laughing. It began with this cheesy-as-can-be synthesizer. I had my hands over my mouth because I didn’t want to ruin the recording. All I was thinking was, "Jewel, who put you up to this?!" Then these sleigh bells came in. I thought that I was going to lose it. I was trying so hard not to burst out laughing out loud. Jewel actually looked at me and I felt so bad that I was laughing! I leaned forward and put my head down so she wouldn’t see me laughing. When I looked back up she wasn’t looking at me anymore. How great . . . the only time that Jewel looks right at me I’m laughing at her! Once she came in singing, I started to calm down. I have to admit that it reminded me a lot of Dolly Parton and her Christmas stuff. I wasn’t sure if Jewel would have been insulted by that comment. The girls in front of me started swaying from side to side in a goofy way because the music was so funny. After that came "Ave Maria." I actually don’t recall this being the "Ave Maria" I know. It took her a couple of tries. I don’t really remember what went wrong. This could have been the song when they had to fix the oboe player’s microphone. Jewel may have messed up too but she said something like, "Ok, who’s fault was it this time?" in a sarcastic way. Another time she wasn’t the only one who made a mistake, so she said something like, "Oh yeah, it was all you. Every time I mess up one of you has to take the blame!" It was funny. In "Ave Maria" I was so amazed by her voice. I thought I was attending an opera or something. Her voice was so strong and her use of vibrato was really amazing. The sixth song was "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." Midway through she had an improv section and she messed up. She said, "Ohhh, I fucked it up!" Everybody started laughing and she said "Oh, I shouldn’t swear. This is Christmas! I’m sorry. That was bad." Then she talked to the director, Arif Marden, about where she messed up. She said, "Yeah, by that improv section where I screwed up. I didn’t F it up." Nedra came up on the stage again to do "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Jewel kind of grabbed her shirt. I don’t know if this was to be close to her or to just feel the material of her shirt. But then her mom looked down at her hand on the shirt and then looked at Jewel’s face. Jewel went to say something to her mother. They talked to each other with their faces pretty much on each other. I don’t know if she kissed her when she was done talking to her but when she came away from her she said "Ooh!" because she got lipstick on her mom’s face. So she rubbed it off for her. That was really cute. "Rudolph" was just as good and entertaining as always. I had never heard it with any instruments so that was cool. Nedra remained on stage after that and I knew what was coming. I even whispered to Austin before they started, "Face of Love!" This was my favorite song of the whole night. I’ve only heard one version of this song ever before, so I couldn’t believe I was hearing it live. It was so powerful. She has never moved me as much as she did with that song that night. Everything came together right there. I saw all of my prayers answered. I had an angel in front of me singing about love and the meaning of kindness. I got tears in my eyes. Once she said, "the skin the just veils the soul" I noticed even more how caring Jewel is. That may just have been the most soul-fulfilling moment of my life. I have always dreamed of being in such an intimate setting with her performing. My prayers were really answered. continued in Part 2 of 2 ------------------------------ End of jewel-digest V4 #596 ***************************