brianmei
New member
Man the show was off the hook!
The place I would have guessed had somewhere between 6,000 to 10,000 people. Arco Arena sits 17,317 for Kings games but this night there were seats gained (where the basketball court usually is), but also lost (where they had to push back for the stage), so I don't know how many people really showed. But it was totally packed, looked like it may have sold out, if not, come real close to doing so. The atmostphere was amazing and people were screaming... the people here were MUCH MUCH more into it and lively and dancing than the the Freestyle Explosion concerts I've seen in Monterey and Great America which surprised me. Maybe Sacramento has more potential than I thought.
So Cynthia started off to an ovation, singing her old school songs as people were still settling in, I don't recall hearing her sing "Endless Nights", and she was singing some of her more "obscure" (for Sacramento) songs, but the crowd's energy was sure to pick up. The crowd was still settling in and then by the time she got to "Change On Me"... the crowd was screaming and on their feet most of the rest of the night.
Johnny O came on... the first time I have ever seen him, and I was surprised by his energy. I thought he had a great show, and the crowd was feeling it more than I anticipated. He really got them into it. I think everyone was feeling his funky/energetic dancing, some of his moves had the crowd laughing.
Gioia came on singing some classics that got loud ovations. Then she introduced a new hi nrg trance-ish song off of her new album. She and the dancers were full of energy but this one just went right by the entire crowd. The crowd quickly sat down and was probably the only time the whole night that the entire crowd was sitting down. Crowd definitely not feeling it. (Another reason I question artists who move from freestyle to house and trance. Maybe doing better in the gay clubs but there were 10,000 people in that arena that didn't know what was going on). Much like I think deciding to put hip hop next freestyle and hip hop next hi nrg trance if you're a radio programmer SHOULD be a no-brainer, but that's a whole other post. Anyway, she continued on strong with her energy, returned to the classics and then left to an ovation.
The Cover Girls came on, and did the classic jams. Great show, crowd definitely responding to the jams, and they left to an ovation.
Then the old school groups came on and did their thing. They were pretty good too and left to ovations from the crowd.
Then there was an intermission for about 15 minutes.
Debbie Deb came on singing "When I Hear Music" to a loud ovation. One guy came up on the stage just trying to get a little dance with Debbie Deb, and started dancing with her and then security came up and took off the stage. He didn't seem to put up too much of a fight, but security took that foo out in a headlock! Debbie Deb continued with "Lookout Weekend" and the crowd went wild. Left to an ovation.
Then Lisa Lisa came up to a big ovation. She started singing "I Wonder If I Take You Home" and about halfway through, the music started skipping. The crowd started booing (whoever was running the music, not booing Lisa Lisa). So they tried the music again from the beginning, and she went on singing. Then it happened again, what seemed like in the same place. The crowd started booing again. As they were waiting to see if they could get the music corrected, the crowd started chanting "Lisa Lisa Lisa!" That was a pretty incredible sight and atmosphere. It was what we call in Sacramento "ARCO thunder" which usually happens at Kings' games when something great happens. People were chanting her name, clapping and stomping on the wooden bleachers which created a rumbling sound like thunder. She was getting love that you would see given to Britney Spears or some other current superstar. She started singing acapella and the crowd went crazy. They tried music again, and again it skipped! So she said "cut it! Turn that sh!t off!" She seemed kind of angry. The crowd started chanting her name again. She sang some more without the music, and eventually they got it to where the music didn't skip. During one of her songs she got a few people on stage to dance with her, and I guess one guy grabbed her booty as he was exiting the stage after the song was over, and as the guy left Lisa seemed mad and you could hear her telling security "that guy grabbed my ass!" I think she wanted to grab his throat! She left to a huge ovation.
more to come below in the next post (I guess the post was to long and had to be broken up)...
The place I would have guessed had somewhere between 6,000 to 10,000 people. Arco Arena sits 17,317 for Kings games but this night there were seats gained (where the basketball court usually is), but also lost (where they had to push back for the stage), so I don't know how many people really showed. But it was totally packed, looked like it may have sold out, if not, come real close to doing so. The atmostphere was amazing and people were screaming... the people here were MUCH MUCH more into it and lively and dancing than the the Freestyle Explosion concerts I've seen in Monterey and Great America which surprised me. Maybe Sacramento has more potential than I thought.
So Cynthia started off to an ovation, singing her old school songs as people were still settling in, I don't recall hearing her sing "Endless Nights", and she was singing some of her more "obscure" (for Sacramento) songs, but the crowd's energy was sure to pick up. The crowd was still settling in and then by the time she got to "Change On Me"... the crowd was screaming and on their feet most of the rest of the night.
Johnny O came on... the first time I have ever seen him, and I was surprised by his energy. I thought he had a great show, and the crowd was feeling it more than I anticipated. He really got them into it. I think everyone was feeling his funky/energetic dancing, some of his moves had the crowd laughing.
Gioia came on singing some classics that got loud ovations. Then she introduced a new hi nrg trance-ish song off of her new album. She and the dancers were full of energy but this one just went right by the entire crowd. The crowd quickly sat down and was probably the only time the whole night that the entire crowd was sitting down. Crowd definitely not feeling it. (Another reason I question artists who move from freestyle to house and trance. Maybe doing better in the gay clubs but there were 10,000 people in that arena that didn't know what was going on). Much like I think deciding to put hip hop next freestyle and hip hop next hi nrg trance if you're a radio programmer SHOULD be a no-brainer, but that's a whole other post. Anyway, she continued on strong with her energy, returned to the classics and then left to an ovation.
The Cover Girls came on, and did the classic jams. Great show, crowd definitely responding to the jams, and they left to an ovation.
Then the old school groups came on and did their thing. They were pretty good too and left to ovations from the crowd.
Then there was an intermission for about 15 minutes.
Debbie Deb came on singing "When I Hear Music" to a loud ovation. One guy came up on the stage just trying to get a little dance with Debbie Deb, and started dancing with her and then security came up and took off the stage. He didn't seem to put up too much of a fight, but security took that foo out in a headlock! Debbie Deb continued with "Lookout Weekend" and the crowd went wild. Left to an ovation.
Then Lisa Lisa came up to a big ovation. She started singing "I Wonder If I Take You Home" and about halfway through, the music started skipping. The crowd started booing (whoever was running the music, not booing Lisa Lisa). So they tried the music again from the beginning, and she went on singing. Then it happened again, what seemed like in the same place. The crowd started booing again. As they were waiting to see if they could get the music corrected, the crowd started chanting "Lisa Lisa Lisa!" That was a pretty incredible sight and atmosphere. It was what we call in Sacramento "ARCO thunder" which usually happens at Kings' games when something great happens. People were chanting her name, clapping and stomping on the wooden bleachers which created a rumbling sound like thunder. She was getting love that you would see given to Britney Spears or some other current superstar. She started singing acapella and the crowd went crazy. They tried music again, and again it skipped! So she said "cut it! Turn that sh!t off!" She seemed kind of angry. The crowd started chanting her name again. She sang some more without the music, and eventually they got it to where the music didn't skip. During one of her songs she got a few people on stage to dance with her, and I guess one guy grabbed her booty as he was exiting the stage after the song was over, and as the guy left Lisa seemed mad and you could hear her telling security "that guy grabbed my ass!" I think she wanted to grab his throat! She left to a huge ovation.
more to come below in the next post (I guess the post was to long and had to be broken up)...