I had such a great time at the Madison, WI show this past Friday!
I’ll start by saying that the VIP experience felt a little rushed, but for the price it was certainly worth it. I’ve had VIP for many artists and paid way more (Carrie Underwood….9 second M&G) and this one was probably the most professional that I have ever been to. Everything ran on time and smoothly.
The “swag bag” for VIP was a fabric shopping bag that had a VIP logo and Jewel’s name. Inside the bag was a travel cup with the same logo, and a signed poster (which was rolled up in a tube so that it wouldn’t get damaged – nice touch!).
There was time for 10 or so questions during the Q&A. Alaska had the earthquake earlier that day, and we were told that everyone was fine, and that Aunt Mossy got a real kick out of it. Someone asked what inspired “Deep Water” and she said it was written around the time that she had a friend letting her use his shower who was running a prostitution ring in the apartment. She was inspired by talking to the girls and realizing that we are all trying to get by. Jewel then asked if we wanted to hear her sing a song, or if someone else wanted to. After contemplating for a moment, her dad finally said they want to hear you, and she sang a cover of Help Me Make it Through the Night. We then lined up for a photo. You could either take the picture with the group you came with, or solo. Jewel and I chatted for a moment about what dress she was going to wear, and then remember me from IG saying that I would die and go to gay heaven if she wore the red one with the long sleeves. She said she wasn’t sure because it ended up being super short, but that she was going to wear it anyways and was glad that I made it to the show. (She did wear the dress and it was perfection!)
Madison is very much a music loving city, with a full concert calendar and multiple venues, and this was Jewel’s first time playing there since POY broke. The floor appeared to be sold out, and the balcony was about 2/3 full, with around 1100 in attendance. From the second the show started with the boys taking the stage, the crowd went wild and hung on their every word. Nikos sang the first song and the audience was screaming like he was the biggest name in music afterwards. We got a real kick out of watching them eat up the love from the audience.
Going into it, I thought Jewel might phone in her performance, since she was essentially doing the same show as last year. Boy was I wrong! I think this was my 22nd time seeing her, and this was probably one of her best performances. Her voice was pristine, she looked beautiful, and you could genuinely tell that she wanted to be there and that she was happy to perform.
Joy to the World was cut from the set, and she instead opened with Santa Claus is Coming to Town. A few songs in, she brought Kase out. She got on her knees and held the microphone between them, and they sang Somewhere Over the Rainbow. You could tell that he was nervous, so she would sing with him until his confidence was up, then let him sing on his own. If he started to stumble with the words or his voice began to get quiet, she’d join back in until his confidence was back up. It was the cutest thing and you can really tell what kind of mother she is in moments like these. The song ended with one of several standing ovations over the course of the evening.
The solo set started with I’m Sensitive. She said that when she was recording POY, some of the studio musicians gave her a hard time day after day, and that one day someone said something that really hurt her. She wanted to say something to hurt him as well, but wrote the song instead.
She then sang Mercy, and it was my first time hearing it live (other than on Youtube). I can’t explain it…she took me to another place when she was singing it. I also felt like I was in a dream and that a higher power was telling me that everything would be alright. It took all that I had not to start crying. It was a truly magical moment.
Morning Song, Intuition and Foolish Games. After FG, she asked if Atz Lee was around and if he wanted to sing YWMFM with her. It took a few minutes for him to make his way to the stage, and they pulled the lyrics up because he didn’t know them. They sang the song as a duet, during which time Atz came into the audience and was taking pictures and video. She then went into No More Tears to Cry and explained that it was written for a girl who had made multiple attempts to take her life before she turned 13. The solo set ended with WWSYS.
After the show Atz and Nikos were out by the merchandise table, chatting and taking pictures. They had 5 or 6 shirts available, CDs, a Jewel ornament, a wood candle holder with Atz’s logo, handmade bracelets, and some other items. Pretty reasonably priced.
All it all, it really was an unforgettable evening and I’m so thankful to Jewel for it!
