Before you read this, please sign a MENTAL disclaimer that you won’t jump down my throat for making any negative comments even if it was meant to be in the best positive way.

OK…here it goes:

We (GRMNCHCK and STPBL ) knew from the beginning, this event will – of course – not be comparable to any Seal Concert we have ever attended. Knowing Seal will utilize his amazing talent to bring out the best in the ice-skaters, my Partner In Crime (You are the BESTEST and I am so glad you were able to come for a visit for this event) and myself knew we would not be able to dance and clap and act like FANATICS as we usual do at the past Seal Concerts. And, unfortunately, there were no real FRONT ROW tickets.

Before I bought our tickets, I made sure I received verification from the Verizon Center in how this event would be set-up. I was confirmed – TWICE – Seal will be performing on a small stage in the middle of the ice rink and the ice skaters will be performing around him. And after reading the article on Seal where he mentioned he has done this sort of performance before and he enjoyed being in the middle of the ice rink while the ice skaters performed around him, I was convinced the Verizon Center Customer Service Rep told the truth. I purchased two great seats (We only had one row in front of us) with an excellent view to the “imaginary” small stage. If we would have been on a football field, we would be sitting right there by the 40 yard line.

Well, as we marched into the seating area, my tummy fell into my underbelly out of disappointment, because Seal’s stage was set-up at the end of the ice rink. Way too far away from Seal…now being in our so-called incredible seats...Haha!!! In addition, one of the camera man’s equipment blocked our view to the complete stage. I was close to tears and quite frustrated with the venue for misleading us fans. I was not the only one they told this to after speaking with other fans around me. Well…we have to make the best out of this situation.

OK…now to the show!!!

The announcer (I cannot remember his name) came on stage and made his speech and introduced Seal right after. And there he was…moving across the stage – reminding me of a black panther…but, dressed white from neck to toe, putting emphasis on his shiny bald head and gorgeous face.

There was no sign of the band. It was SEAL all by himself!!! I kind of expected such, but it was really strange to see Seal without Eric, Bruce (ok, he was missing at the last show also), and the whole new gang. Seal opened up with “AMAZING”. Let’s keep in mind. Seal was performing at a venue which was not established for concerts, but for sport events and such. Regardless, Seal’s voice came over just as strong, husky, and full of energy as ever.

Halfway through the song, the skaters came out and started their performance. Quite an interesting combination. I was having a hard time taking my eyes of my most favorite artist, but I do enjoy ice skating; therefore, I had to try to divide my attention between them both. Gosh, that sucked. LOL!!!

Next up was “LOADED” and “THE RIGHT LIFE”. Two of my favorites back to back . I have to say…you are in for an amazing treat when you get to hear him perform these songs live …you have to make it to one of his upcoming concerts, even if it means a long road trip. Start saving up your money now !!!

Sadly, after these three songs, Seal walked off the stage and the next five songs (Get It Together - Bring It On – FLP - Just Like Before - If It’s On My Mind, It’s On My Face) were broadcasted over the speakers. What a disappointment…what a tease!!! We missed SEAL!!!

After enjoying the ice skaters and waiting patiently, he finally came back on stage, Seal performed “WEDDING DAY”. Without Heidi. AWESOME PERFORMANCE !!! Can’t wait to hear this song sung by him acoustically!!! “LOVE’S DIVINE” was next, right after the song ended, Seal wandered off the stage again. That quick - So sad!!!

The announcer came on and declared a 20 minute I N T E R M I S S I O N.

He also requested of us to please stay in our seats after the show was over because all ice skaters who made errors within their performance (and there were quite a few so far) would come back out for a “RE-DO”.

We started chatting with the girl who sat next to us. Sorry – I forgot her name! She flew in from New York for this show. She is a Seal fan and an Ice Skater fan. We chatted about how ironic it is when other individual’s state: “Oh, I know Seal; he is the one who sings KFAR.”!!! LOL!!!

And right then, Seal walked back on stage and the music began to play and he performed…”KFAR”!!! We looked at each other and just smiled!!!

As Seal was singing along to his own songs, I think he had a hard time to stay within the melody of his own songs. I am sure it must have been torture to Seal not having his band there and being able to sing a different variety of his songs. But with having to sing to his own songs, he was quite restricted. Therefore, at times, Seal had to play catch-up with his own song or slow down. It was quite funny because you could hear his CD voice in the background echoing or singing ahead of Seal. LOL!!!

And then, only after one song, he walked right back off stage…what the heck!!! People behind us were getting frustrated. I turned around and said: Well, this is not a regular Seal Concert…it is about Autism and about Performing on the Ice to Seal’s music. I am pretty sure; this whole set-up was weird for Seal also.

Again, over the speakers, Seal’s music (Touch – Dumb – System – Immaculate – Killer - Color) started to play without our man. It was really strange to us to hear his music without him; especially knowing, he was right there behind the stage. If we only had the courage, we should have just jumped the railing and made our way back stage across the ice. LOL...we probably would have broken our legs doing so.

Back he was. Yeah!!! Brian Boitano, a famous skater, made his way onto the middle of the ice rink. The first few musical notes of “DON’T CRY” started to blast over the speakers. Seal moved his arms outwards and Brian was about to skate. A woman with a very loud voice yelled on the top of her lungs: BRIAN, I LOVE YOU!!! Being caught of guard, Brian lost his concentration, pointed to Seal and indicated to start all over again. They did. And just as before, the same woman yelled out loud again: BRIAN, I LOVE YOU!!! This time around, Brian started to laugh, he could not start with his performance and they had to start all over again. And would you believe that at this point somebody else took it upon themselves to yell out the same line again? Goodness…LOL!!! The whole audience was laughing. It was quite funny. This time, Brian skated to Seal’s stage and they gave each other – while laughing – a big manly hug . Thereafter, all was good and the show went on from there.

After the beautiful performance of “DON’T CRY”, Seal sang “CRAZY”. All skaters – one after another – put on a beautiful – in sync – performance while Seal gave a wonderful final performance.

Brian Boitano with a microphone in his hand, started to thank Seal by saying something down the line that they had performed to other artist before, but none was as down-to-earth as he was. Brain said as Seal’s songs were being played over the speakers, Seal was in the back singing along for the ice skaters and other bystanders. They were choking around and having a good time back there without us. Gosh!!! How dare them…LOL!!!

Anyway, after Brian ended his sweet THANK YOU speech, he said: And now, please put together your hands as a thank you to STEAL!!! Yes, I did not make an error in my typing. Brian did call our man STEAL!!! Everybody started laughing and Brian stuttered around trying to apologize. It was quite an amusing moment. Seal – of course – took it with a smile and at the first chance he had, he said “Thank you RYAN!” He was like “I called you RYAN!!!" LOL!!!

Afterwards, the announcer came onto the stage and said: Thanks to the miracle of editing, folks at home on New Years Day will not be able to witness this moment. Too bad...it was quite a moment.

Then, to keep the audience on their seats, Seal performed “CRAZY” again.

Right after, Seal waved Good-Bye, went off stage and GONE he was.

Then, the RE-Dos started. It was quite interesting to watch how the skaters – one at a time – came back on stage and danced the part they messed-up earlier until they got it right. Interesting to know, that shows like these will be edited also. I had no idea. I always thought to myself “WOW, what a talent. They perform flawless!” Well, now I know better.

Of course, not everybody stayed in their seats; therefore, if you pay real attention to the audience on New Years Day, you might notice quite a few empty seats between their performances.

This is it…overall, it was an amazing experience. I never have been part of a show, concert, etc. which have been filmed. Therefore, I learned quite a bit.

I cannot wait for Seal to announce his tour, because after this torture, I have to be back FRONT ROW (hopefully CENTER) to enjoy every little second close-up together with my "Partner of Crime" STPBL.

Merry Christmas Sylvia,

Thanks for the review. I am definately going to watch the show on tv.

Big Hug, Janet

Thanks for the review.

Did you notice the young girl who skated whoh has autism?

I was able to scan the program tonight if anyone would like to see it:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/STPBL/Seal%20on%...ealonIceprogram1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/STPBL/Seal%20on%...ealonIceprogram2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/STPBL/Seal%20on%...ealonIceprogram3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v337/STPBL/Seal%20on%...ealonIceprogram4.jpg

quote:

Originally posted by LAURA S:
Thanks for the review.

Did you notice the young girl who skated whoh has autism?

We only caught the ending of her performance due to the lines at Will Call and the ladies' room...but what I saw she looked great. I hope they will show that part as part of the special when it airs on TV.

quote:

Originally posted by GRMNCHCK:

OK…here it goes:

<snip>

Nothing else I can add here as GrmnChck has pretty much covered everything (how did you remember ALL of that?)

I will only add that it was nice to see/hear other Seal fans there and despite the misinformation on the seating I still enjoyed it very much. I am eagerly awating tour dates!

I think Seal should have been selling CD's that night as I'm sure there were some people hearing his new music for the first time. Hopefully they went out the next day and made a purchase. (I have not been a big fan of Seal's promotion department ever since they let Human Being bomb so bad but that's my personal opinion.)

In all it was a great night and I can't wait for the tour!

grmnchck---

i just got your PM. I replied.

Danka.