09/29/05: Seal at Villa Montalvo


What could be better than seeing my favorite live performer at my favorite venue? A longer show.

Back in the day my sister and I saw Seal numerous times where we would join the throngs of adoring (mostly) women down at the front of the stage, wanting to be that much closer to the extremely hot and talented Seal. We never had much luck. Now we're a bit older, and a bit less anxious to stand smushed up against strangers for a few hours, so we buy seats and rock out with a little more personal space.

Wouldn't you know it that as Seal ages he is apparently more inclined to let people down in front grope him...literally! Seriously those people were patting his head, rubbing his arms...and I'm sure showing him a little love elsewhere too, if you know what I mean. Now that he's married and settled down perhaps he needs to get the vicarious thrills where he can get them.

Anyway, seeing Seal perform again after another season of AI and Rock Star: INXS I am reminded once again how the true stars make it look easy.The guy's voice is a finely controlled instrument. He simply does not go off key. Ever. Sometimes the natural raspy quality of his voice is more pronounced than at other times, but it's actually probably for effect because he doesn't do the tricks that Sting often does for example, taking a lower harmony rather than the originally recorded melodies at the top of his register.

He also is always, 100% in command of the stage and the audience. Seal doesn't do well on TV. Every time I've seen him on TV he seems ill-at-ease. By contrast when he's on stage with an audience he is master of his domain. And he has mastered the trick of making the audience feel like he's singing directly to them. No matter how many times I see him there are always moments when I could swear he's singing to me, whether I'm in the 3rd row or the 15th. That kind of connection is probably the major thing that most AI contestants lack that will keep them from becoming stars. Seal shared himself with all parts of the audience, going from end to end regularly.

The band was pretty good, the best part being that this time around he did have a keyboard player...sometimes he tours a little more stripped down, but many of his songs are very keyboard heavy, so it's nice to have them there. Maybe some time he'll even tour with backup singers again, so we can get more of his gorgeous harmonies. The sound quality was very good...crisp, clear, well-balanced. It's amazing how many concerts I see where they just don't get the mix right. The only thing I would engineer a little differently would be to dial back the echo on his vocals a bit. I know it's for effect, but it got old.

The only downside is that the show ended too soon. Now I probably think that every time I see him, but really, he played maybe 75 minutes and under 15 songs. Definitely seemed shorter than the usual Seal gig.

He drew from each of his albums, shortchanging only Human Being, his least commercial successful album.

The song list was:

From Seal 1991:
The Beginning
Deep Water
Crazy
Killer
Future Love Paradise

From Seal 1994
Bring It On
Prayer for the Dying
Kiss From a Rose

From Human Being
Colour

From Seal IV
Get It Together
Love's Divine
Waiting For You
Heavenly (?-Actually I'm not positive he played this one.)

Covers:
1 cover by David Bowie..wasn't familiar with it.

So, 13 or 14 songs. Not enough for my taste. he focused on his big hits from each album (except Colour, which is just one of his favorite of his own songs and is played nearly every time.) I would have liked to also hear a few more rarities or a few more covers.

Doesn't matter though. I'll be first n line to buy tix the next time he's in town.

Posted: Mon - October 3, 2005 at 01:19 PM       EmailFeedback

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