Natalie Cole (comp tickets series)

The show had started when we entered the Araneta Coliseum. There she stood, the stately Ms. Natalie Cole (seemingly weakened by her life-threatening bout with Hepatitis C just last year), sternly asking members of her paying audience to not record any part of the evening's concert. She repeated herself several times throughout the first half of her performance. Several times in between songs. The lady's voice was beautiful, I can still hear her so clearly, saying "stop recording the show, you know that's not allowed..." followed by "I don't know how to make you stop. You up there! you can't do that, you know who you are...stop recording...Stop. It."

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I so wish this third world country's concert-watching populace/video pirates (--this seemed to be the notion) had STOPPED RECORDING sooner (if they were recording at all) so the rest of us had the chance to enjoy Ms. Cole's timeless classics and not just her ill-timed comments. Fade out.

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Fade in to post-mortem fingers quietly typing:
Answering crass with class might have allowed us an awesome night with the globally acclaimed star. Instead, we got to listen to beautifully written songs in between short sermons on how not to act like under-educated and overly abusive fans during big-name concerts. Simply (& not sadly) put, "class" went m.i.a. that lovely evening.

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It was a lovely evening, just the same. We had complimentary tickets.

We have all her Cd's. They're packed with unforgettables that could effectively dim any forgettable live experience.