submitted by Adriane Wilson
I was fortunate to see Harry perform this weekend, in Kansas City as
well as St. Louis. The concerts started out the same with Harry introducing
his very talented band. Followed by "How Do Ya'll Know" and "Hear Me In the
Harmony". In St. Louis he told us he wanted to play the small venues because
he wanted us to feel like we were in his living room for the night. The band
came out wearing funky, cool hats (Lucien looked liked the Village People).
Both shows Harry had incredible energy but I felt the audience in St.
Louis was more in tune with Harry and his new funky side. He performed
"America", "Eyes of the Seeker", "Fire", "Whisper Your Name", "Mind on the
Matter", as well as the ballad of "Danny Boy", and other New Orleans tunes.
He mentioned that at the moment his favorite song was "Drift Away" where he had
the crowd singing and swaying along. He did encores to Sly and the Family
Stone's "Thank You". In St. Louis Harry and Jonathan had a contest: Harry
sang the note... Jonathan did it on his guitar... Then Tony and Harry had a
match off to see who was the better guitar player. We all know who won...
During one song in St. Louis the croud was clapping and started
stomping their feet to lead the group into their funky next song. It was
very cool to see everyone enjoying him so much. I thought that maybe the
older crowd that came would not like the guitar playing and rock songs Harry
performed but Harry gave a nice balance of the two. As I have seen him do on
several occasions he jumped upon his Steinway and started "tap dancing" with
boots on. Towards the end of the show Harry did some cartwheels and rolled
around stage. Then he did a kung-fu, karate impersonation on the mike like
you see in a dubbed movie. It was hilarious.
After both shows you could find Harry and the guys out by their busses
signing autograhs for everyone and Lucien with a camcorder asking everyone
what they thought of the show. They are all amazing.
I admire Harry and his band and have a great deal of admiration for
their ability to put forth so much energy every night on stage. They are
awesome! I can't wait for the chance to see him again.