After Ned's trio finished it didn't take the crew long to get all set up for Harry! Harry's performance began a little before 9:00 pm. I cannot recall the entire playlist, but he started out with "Charade" then went into "We Are In Love". From there it was a total barrage of a wonderful combination of songs and instrumentals from past and present, even a couple of "future" songs that Harry stated was played for the first time this very evening. He even had the lyrics taped to the stage floor (just in case). But he really didn't need them! He ended up giving the printouts to a couple of lucky women sitting in the front row.

Harry is such a dynamic and energetic performer. The rapport between him and his band was second to none. At times they were jamming and laughing and making mistakes which only added to the completeness of the concert. Lucien Barbarin was amazing and Leroy Jones was incredible. There were several times when Jerry Weldon just left the crowd sitting in awe with his fabulous saxophone solos. All in all, the concert was filled with such great energy and pizzazz that I recommend that everyone catch at least one of his shows.

Now for the emotional part. During his performance, Harry talked about how great Southern hospitality is and how good it was to be back in the south. Past reviews talk about how Harry really cares for his fans and takes the time to sign autographs and come down to earth. Well after the concert was over, there were several green "VIP" passes handed out. How or why the people, who got them, acquired them? I don't really know. But they were the only people allowed to see Harry and request and autograph. My wife and I was really looking forward to actually meeting Harry and respectfully requesting an autograph. We went around to the exit gate where the buses would leave the pavilion. There might have been 10 dedicated fans waiting and hoping that Harry would stop (like many times in the past) and give a little time to the unfortunate people that didn't have the chance (or opportunity) to receive a "VIP" pass. One of those people happened to be a disabled boy in a wheelchair. He sat there with the rest of us for over an hour waiting and hoping. You can imagine the emotions when I saw the tear roll down his cheek when he watched the tour buses pass by without even a wave. So Harry, (if this review happens to get posted and you happen to read it) I ask you, human to human, Cajun to Cajun, were you not allowed to stop? Were you restricted, by Houston or the Pavilion, to only meet the "VIP"s? I welcome your Email at BHebert@lii-nde.com.

I have the utmost respect for Harry and his band. The performance was the best I have ever seen. Even if you aren't a Harry Connick Jr. fan, you will get hooked after attending one of the performances in this Tour.

The band sounded so awesome. Lucien stole the show with his solos, the audience loved him. He was kind of making fun of Harry during a trio they did with Leroy Jones. Some woman have given Harry a flower earlier and Harry had left the flower on the piano. Lucien, while Harry was playing, took the flower and smelled it and pretended to swoon over Harry. Overall, the audience loved it. Towards the end of the show, people were literally dancing in the aisles. If he is coming to play anywhere near you, I highly recommend going. I'm sure you'll just as great a time as I did.

Well before the show, Arthur told me that I should try to find him before the show during the sound check. The security guard wouldn't let me pass and wouldn't send anyone to find Arthur. But a few minutes later I saw Arthur walking to the bus and yell out to him and he came over to let me in. He walked me back stage where I heard the trombones wood shedding on some parts. I heard someone playing drums and asked Arthur who was playing. He said it was probably Harry.

Then we walked on stage, Harry was keeping time on the drums while he was working the trumpet and sax sections on a new chart that he wrote. We walk up to the drum set, where Arthur introduced me to Harry as one of his best friends and as a composer. Harry shook hands with me and said he was glad to meet me. I made a brief comment on the computer system that he was using for the band members to read his charts on, because I am a music technology and MIDI expert. I am a Macintosh man, and I guess Harry is also because all of the computers were the blue and white G3 power macs. I told him that I loved macs and Harry said that they are good computers.

After that Harry went back to rehearsing the band. Arthur then walked me back to show me the tour bus, which was nice. It is sort of like the old train sleeping carts that you see in the old movies.

After that we walked back to the stage. We sat off stage and talked a little bit about the tour and life on the road. Arthur was waiting for the rest of the band to come in so that they can do the sound check. A few minutes later the rest of the band came in and Arthur went to work. It was great for me to see Arthur play drums from six feet away. He can swing like no body else! Arthur is also a great producer, composer and writer of songs. I know that one day more people will find out how talented Arthur really is.

Harry rehearsed the band on the two new Cole Porter charts that he wrote. The sound was incredible on stage! This was the first time I think that Harry heard these arrangements. It was great as a musician to see how Harry rehearsed his big band. I was able to sit and watched the band play for about 20 minutes before I had to leave to go get the tickets, park my car and get my sister. I told Arthur that I had to leave and that I would find him after the show.

Well I got to my seats about 45 minutes before the show. I was in the 7th row dead center. The Ned Goold trio started the show off at 8 pm. I loved it, but people were still coming in and were talking. I guess that Ned Goold and his trio are used to this, because they kept on playing without any concern of this rude behavior.

After the trio, it took about 12 minutes before the big band came out. The crowd was excited for Harry's appearance. Harry came out and opened with "Charade". A girl gave Harry a flower during the first set. I don't remember the order of the songs because I was so happy to see my friend on stage.

After the first set of songs, Harry did his comedy routine. He said that he loved the South and Texas, but it was really hot here. He made a joke about seeing a fan with mist on it out back. He said why would you need a fan with mist here in the high humidity south. Harry then said that he knew that Texans wanted to buy all the new products but you don't have to buy every thing. Harry said it a lot better than I wrote it out. Harry also had many more funny points in the show. A girl yelled out "I love you" right before he was starting to play and Harry stopped and said into his mike "Security Please". Also some people that had 3rd row tickets came in 20 minutes late and he said while he was in song "Thanks for coming out". He added real quick that since they had 3rd row tickets they feel like they could come in at any time. The crowd loved all of his jokes. Harry had the giggles during the show with various members of the band and front row audience members.

I thought it was great that Harry let many of his band members share the limelight. Leroy Jones did a great rendition of "It's A Wonderful World". Lucien Barbarin on trombone had a great night. Man this cat can play! Lucien and Harry even danced part of one tune and they both were joking throughout the night. Harry even bought a kid that he said that he heard when he was 8 years old and was impressed with. He is older now (18-20) but I can't remember his name, but he could play jazz piano great. Harry ended on "Come By Me", and he tore up on the piano. The crowd gave a standing ovation for about a minute and a half before Harry came out with an encore. I guess Harry wants you to earn the encore.

One thing that none of the reviews had commented on was how great the lighting and the stage looked. The metal stage looked great because of the different lighting that was used. The stage could be red, green , blue or any other colors that they wanted to use. I thought that the simple stage with the lighting added to the show greatly.

Well after the show I had a VIP pass to the meet and greet. The woman told us that Mr. Connick would be out in a minute and would love to meet everyone of you so that he won't miss anyone, please get in a line and please no pictures. A few minutes later I saw Arthur come out and he talked to a few of his friends. Then Harry came out and went down the line to sign autographs. When he came to me I gave him a CD to sign and told him that I loved his arrangements. He thanked me and went on to sign a CD for my sister.

Then I when out to find Arthur. All of his friends were out side and we took pictures with him. Arthur then walked us to the bus where we hung out for about 20 minutes. I got to talk to a few of the other band members that were on the bus. I have to say that every one that I met were really nice to me even though I know that they were tired after the show. The bus started to move, so we all got out and Arthur told us bye. But Lucien came over and we all talked for a few more minutes. Then we said our good-byes for real and walked to the mall of get our cars. As we walked out, about 20-30 hard core fans were waiting for Harry to come out.

I had a great time. I want to say special thanks to Arthur "Bam Bam" Latin for getting back stage VIP passes and tickets for my sister and me. Thanks Arthur, you're the man and a great friend.

We got to the show and after the Ned Goold trio performed (pretty impressive in their own right), Harry took the stage. He started off the set with "Charade" and then went into a few of his older songs (including "We Are In Love" - a personal favorite). He and the band played a couple of Cole Porter tunes that they'd seen for the first time that day in sound check. According to Arthur, Harry charts a new arrangement every day. He did several songs from Come by Me (title track, "Nowhere in Love", "Time After Time", "Cry Me A River"...) and even a cut from Star Turtle.

The show was awesome, my only disappointment being that Harry didn't sing "Danny Boy" - oh well, next time.

We went backstage after the show and Harry signed autographs (sorry, no pictures!). He is a genuinely nice person. Even though he was visibly exhausted, he made time for each person that was there. Mark Mullins was there as well and as I was wearing my Mulebone t-shirt, Mark came up to me to say hello.

Finally, Arthur took us on a tour of their bus. It was pretty cool, we got to meet a few of the other band members (including Luscious Lucien Barbarien) and then we went home. It was truly a dream come true - after being a diehard fan for 10 years, I finally got to meet Harry! Thanks again Arthur!

It was my intention to meet Harry after this concert to tell him of my sincere respect of his talent and my love of all of his work. Sounds pretty impossible without a VIP pass, right? Well, let me tell you what happened...

My husband knows all too well that at the end of every Harry concert that he may as well get comfortable. The concert may be over but I’m not leaving until I get an autograph( or at least die trying!). So, we waited. And we waited. We waited until the crowd cleared out and then we made our way to the right side of the stage where stood all of those “special” people proudly donning their VIP passes. (I’m not sure if they were actually fans since they didn’t really seem that enthusiastic about meeting Harry. I’m biased, though, because I would have been (was) bursting with so much enthusiasm and excitement about just the possibility of meeting Harry that I could barely contain myself.) Nevertheless, I stood there with them with no pass at all with my faithful husband near my side. After about 15 minutes had passed and the special people were all inside visiting with Harry, the Pavilion staff began to request that everyone who did not have a VIP pass leave the premises immediately. The only people that would be allowed to stay were those who were waiting for folks inside who had VIP passes. Well, at that point I decided that I was waiting on someone who was already inside. That sounded like a good story. Why wouldn’t it work?

Well, my story got old pretty fast. I guess the enthusiasm and hope that showed on my face every time the door opened gave me away. After people started coming out, I was asked directly who was I waiting on. I faltered!! I told the truth and explained that Harry typically comes out after every performance to sign autographs and that this is what I was waiting for. The girl told me that she was not aware of any plans for Harry to come out and insisted that she would know about it if it was going to happen. She told me that I needed to leave. I begged her to understand that I only wanted to wait and see if I could meet Harry and get his autograph. Couldn’t she tell that I was one of his BIGGEST FANS????

Anyway, I guess my pitiful look got her because she then proceeded to tell me how I could elude the staff and Sheriff personnel who was all over the park trying to make sure everyone was gone. Guess what she said to do? Go hide in the restroom!! She said to go into a stall (it was about 30 stalls) and stand on the toilet seat. She said to wait there until some of the staff would be allowed to leave for the evening (for about 5-10 minutes). So, I sent my husband off to the men’s room and I went into the ladies room and we waited. After a while I came out, found my husband and then we headed for the bushes just on the other side of where Harry was still signing autographs inside for the VIPs. I overheard a lady explaining to a Sheriff person that Harry ALWAYS comes out to sign autographs. Her boyfriend was standing with her. We came out and walked over to where they all were standing. I chimed in to support her claim and I guess he must have felt sorry for us because he didn’t make us leave. We talked to someone else on the staff who told us to go around to the left side of the stage and try over there. She said that certainly if he were signing autographs that it would be on this side of the stage. Well, my fellow HC fan and I were on a mission. We were determined that we would see Harry before the night was over. She and I hurried off to the other side of the stage with our respective others close behind. (The guys weren’t really complaining but they weren’t thrilled to be walking around in this empty park dodging people trying to throw us out!)

Once we made it over to the other side, we found nothing. We didn't see anyone standing around waiting for autographs. There was no one around. My counterpart found a door (which was closed but unlocked) that would have led us backstage has we not gotten stopped by Pavilion personnel. After explaining what we had been told and pleading for assistance in our plight to meet Harry, we were turned away and told to leave the premises for the 15th time. He led us out, locked the door but did not follow us. We were slightly discouraged but we knew that he was just doing his job. We decided to go back to the VIP section and try again.

By this time, there was only one staff member left manning the door. This was definitely an advantage. We went over to him and asked if he could let us in. We explained that we were dedicated HC fans, that's all. We only wanted an autograph and to say hello. We explained that it wouldn't make that big of a difference to anyone inside because most of the VIPs had already left. Surely allowing 4 people inside would go unnoticed! We explained that we could understand his concern if there were 50 of us but there was only 4. We explained how dedicated Harry is to his fans and that if he only knew that we were out there that he would come out. We asked him if he were a HC fan. (Obviously, he wasn't or he would have understood.) He told us that he was not a fan and apologized for not being able to help us. At that moment, God stepped in. A lady came up to him and told him that she needed his assistance with someone in a wheelchair. He turned to us and told us that now we really had to leave the premises (or be charged with trespassing) because he had to go and help the lady and the door would be left unmanned. WHAT A BLESSING!!!!

We turned as if we were leaving and walked just far enough to satisfy him discussing as quickly as possible the consequences we would be facing: trespassing, breaking and entering, etc. It didn't really matter, though, because we felt strongly enough about meeting Harry that whatever the charges, it would be worth it. As soon as he was out of sight, we made a run for it. Well, my counterpart and her boyfriend and myself, that is. My husband stayed back mumbling something about needing someone to stay behind to get us out of jail. Boy, was I nervous! In that moment I accepted the fact that I was about to have a criminal record for the rest of my life!!! The worst part is that I DIDN'T CARE!!

We walked in trying to look as natural as possible despite the fact that we clearly stood out with no VIP badge taped to our chest in plain view. There he stood. Harry Connick, Jr. in the flesh!!! We made our way to the line of 3 people waiting to see Harry. We were still overwhelmed by what we had just done so we talked a little bit more about what kind of trouble we were in. We were so close to meeting Harry but the thought of being arrested before meeting him was unbearable. The three of us were sweating bullets!! Just then my fellow HC fan gasps and tells me not to turn around but that the guy who had been manning the door had now come inside. She told me not to move and that maybe he wouldn't notice that we were standing there. Yeah, right!!

I was just about to become terrified when I noticed that Harry was standing there smiling at ME and offering his hand for a handshake. I became immobilized. I tried to put my hand out but it wouldn't go fast enough. Everything was in slow motion and my hand was trembling uncontrollably. I couldn't speak. All that would come out was "Oh, my God!" My fellow HC fan then spoke for me and told Harry that I was just nervous. He said (with a smile), "Oh, don't be nervous. It's not that big of a deal meeting me in person." I thought I would faint! My hand was now in his and I was cherishing every moment of this slow motion. It was incredible!!! Coming back to real time, I handed him my "Come By Me" CD for him to autograph. My counterpart asked him about receiving an email which she had sent to him. Before he answered, I jumped in and asked him if he actually read his email or did he have someone else do it for him. He said that he actually reads all of his email. My counterpart and I talked to him about a couple of his videos and his music for a bit but it was clear that he was exhausted. Though, the way that he was talking to us you wouldn't think that this was the case. He didn't rush us but gladly gave us his time to allow us to ask questions and tell him how wonderful he is. He's so genuinely sincere and such a gentleman. Thinking of him, we wrapped it up and prepared ourselves for our punishment. He never said a word about our not being VIPs although he must have known. Partly this is because he had autographed the passes of the VIP guests.

Well, we proceeded to leave the building but I never made eye contact with the guard. I just stared at my autograph from Harry as if it were my saving grace as we headed toward the door. To our surprise the unexpected happened: He didn't stop us. Why, I don't know. What I do know is that it was the best Harry experience ever. I am ebullient to have had the opportunity to tell him how gifted and talented that I think he is. I know that you're probably thinking that I'm nuts to be willing to be arrested for something Harry's been told over a million times before. Well, I guess it's all in the way you look at it. You see, until that moment he had never been told by ME before.