Sunday, June 12, 2011

Not bad for a lumpy 63 year old "seeya"!



In fact not bad at all.
I really wasn't expecting much when I went for the Leo Sayer concert. I was expecting a half baked performance by someone who was well past his sell by date. The tickets were free and the Mrs needed an outing and guess I had nothing better to do on that Saturday night. Boy was I wrong.
Right from the word go it was a performance packed with punch and power. Yes he was short and lumpy and does not inspire much confidence when you see him but his voice was still as wonderful as it was in his earlier songs. In fact I would venture to say it has improved with age. Wow! The way Leo Sayer moved about the stage and rocked everyone - yes I say ROCKED! with absolute conviction- was more like a 36 year old than the 63 years he really is. The magic was very much alive and to cap it all off he was a very nice and sincere man. Even his band consisted of some talented musicians who were really good. Specially the guy who played sax and harmonica.
Leo Sayer sang, he danced, he pranced and kept everyone entertained with stories and tidbits for two solid hours. Making a mockery out of what some one said about him being Leo "Seeya" (grand father) than Sayer.
At one point he got all the lights off and got everyone to take their mobile phones out and wave it. It was a most breathtaking and magical sights to see thousands of phones twinkling as if they were stars in the night sky.
There were two things which I found absolutely funny at the show. The first was the way the audience was singing and having a good time and even head banging one would have expected a bunch of teenagers. Except they were all in their forties and fifties.
And the second was when the band made a mock exit everyone got up and started to go without screaming for more as might have happened in another country. Finally the band had to come back on stage on their own steam and ask if everyone wanted more.
What I found spectacular about the show was the Sound. I have never heard such good sound balancing and quality in any other concert before. And what made me really proud was that all the sophisticated sound equipment belonged to the Maryans a band from Negombo. The speaker system which hung on its own scaffolding has to be seen to be believed how lovely it is. Also the sound engineer is a boy from Negombo by the name of Milinda Lowe. Who even got a word of praise on stage from Leo Sayer.
And last but not least there was a hit song of his which I had not heard before called "Raining in my heart" it is a beautiful song and had a special meaning to me as it kind of reflected the mood I am have been in the past few days. Sadly I could not find a good copy of Leo Sayer singing it so am posting the original done by buddy holly.
Overall I am thanking my lucky stars for utilizing the invites I got.
I must say it was a great example of under promising and delivering beyond expectation.

3 comments:

Jack Point said...

Very surprising, sounds like the old geezer still has a trick or two left.

I was a bit surprised when I saw the advertisements for the concert, thought he was already dead.

Lady divine said...

I went out for lunch and just got to office. On my way back I was one of those hoarding advertising the concert and I was wondering how it was...

and the answer is here!!:)

good to know it was good. Not a lot of people wanted to go see it as they thought it might be a flop.

Anonymous said...

We all had a great time... thanks for the brill hospitality! Leo is still a fantastic artist - he works so hard on stage. Glad you enjoyed it & hope to be back someday soon.