Chicago, IL
August 6, 1999
Review #1
submitted by Carlota Toledo
I have seen Harry live three times so far and I have to say THIS CONCERT TOUR IS BY
FAR THE BEST!! Harry has played here at the Chicago Theater and the Rosemont
Theater, but no venue supports big band music like the Auditorium Theater. You
could hear every note resonate through the theater. Harry even commented on how
happy he was with the place. We were definitely jamming from beginning to end.
I managed to get lower balcony seats. Harry was dressed in a black silk top and
slick fitting pants (LADIES: He looks great!). The electronic music sheets were
really cool to check out. The layout on stage was classic big band (silvery stands
for the musicians and Harry with his black Steinway) with white cast flooring and a
huge white bubble backdrop.
As for the music Harry performed tunes that varied from "Charade", "We Are In Love",
"Cry Me A River" (great live!), a lot of Cole Porter tunes, "I Love All of You" (dedicated
to all the Beautiful Ladies), "Time After Time", "Nowhere in Love", and a funky energetic
"If You Go to New Orleans" (Note: everyone in the band was definitely jamming with the
audience, boy we were finger snapping, hand clapping fools. Heck even one of the
trumpeters stood up and danced all over the stage shaking his stuff-it was great!).
He included three instrumentals: one which was a very jazzed up funky version of
"Danny Boy" -- he really tickled the ivories on this one, "Avalon", and "Tie a Yellow
Ribbon" (the Tony Orlando hit-I loved Harry's version!).
I definitely want to make sure that NO Harry Connick Jr fan misses this concert
especially. DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO SEE HIM!
Larry Jones' was phenomenal with his solo rendition of What a Wonderful World.
This performance cannot be missed, it really felt like a once in a lifetime experience.
The big band was really great and of course humble Harry never went without thanking his
band members for their immense talent.
Harry ended the concert with "Come By Me" (by this point we were all finger-snapping
grinning fools). The audience was definitely satisfied with his performance. After
the curtain rolled down of course we couldn't let him leave without an encore set.
Well he came back and did his classic version of "It Had to Be You" (one of my personal
favorites) which was a great ending to a UNBELIEVABLE EXPERIENCE!!
I cannot emphasize this enough. If you have the opportunity to catch this tour DO IT.
You will not regret it I promise.
Review #2
submitted by Manuel Sanchez
What a great concert!! He performed in the Auditorium Theater. He commented on how
beautiful the theater was, because it was his first time there. (Sorry, but I didn't
think to make a set list. I'm sure someone else will write in. I'll try to remember
as much as I can though) Ned Gould, Ben Wolfe and a drummer who's name I can't recall
opened the show. The Ned Gould trio. They were good, but you could tell that the
crowd wasn't very interested because they kept talking over their set. I thought that
it was kind of rude, but oh well. They played for about twenty minutes. Later, Harry
walked out and the crowd erupted. They started with "Charade," then "We Are In Love."
Then I believe they played "Nowhere with Love." Harry was on fire with all of his
piano solos. I think that he impressed a lot of people because on the way out of
the concert I heard many people commenting on how they were amazed at what a good
pianist he is. A lot of people didn't even know that played the piano, if you can
believe that. Of course, Harry was his usual funny self. He riled Lucien and another
trombone player for not "takin' it to the street" when they were featured. Lucien
was really funny too. After one of his solos, he danced all around the stage twirling
a towel that Harry threw at Ben. Then he picked up one of Arthur Latin's drumsticks
and a cowbell and was bangin' a tight beat. One of my favorite moments of the concert
was when Leroy Jones played and sang "What a Wonderful World." He has a really great
voice. They played a lot of Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. It was neat when the whole
crowd snapped the beat when he sang "There's No Business Like Show Business." Good
thing the crowd kept a good beat. They closed with "Come By Me," and for an encore
they played "It Had to be You." It was such a fun and beautiful concert. The greatest
thing about this show was that he made a great impression on everyone there. Like
I said, everyone was amazed at how he hacked away at the piano. Driving on Lake Shore
Drive along the vibrant Chicago skyline just topped off the night.
