On Meeting Natalie at the Orpheum
11 December '98
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This account is one of a more personal nature given the circumstances. To begin with, I missed both the opening act, Anggun, and Natalie's entrance because I got a flat tire on my way to the Orpheum. So I didn't get there till about quarter past 9, to see her singing on stage with Susan McKeown, an Irish singer. Natalie sang with delightful playfulness, even dancing like a "whirling dervish" at times. It was refreshing to see the more wild side of her, which she seemed to have tamed down a bit lately. Besides singing her usual songs, like "What's the matter here", she also sang "Gulf of Araby" (a Katell Keineg song), and "Children Go Where I Send Thee" (3 times). For a Christmas song, she did a Bob Dylan song, and she also did a wonderful piano version of "The Living". She eloquently told of how she didn't like Celebrity, the Woody Allen movie she had just seen, and asked Peter how he liked it. . . he said that he liked it just fine. Susan also sang an Irish song about her homeland. After much cheering and applause, Natalie came out for 2 encores. She also talked to the audience much more than she did at Lilith Fair, and seemed to be more comfortable and playful. After the concert, about 20 of us waited for Natalie to come out. I was confident that she would come out this way, since that was where I had met her before. After about an hour, she came out the front entrance and we got to meet her. Although she didn't sign any autographs (she said she didn't want people to be able to practice her signature over and over), some of us got to take pix of her. I gave her the pix that's on this web site that she took of us 3yrs ago, and told her about this site. Upon looking at the pix, she then looked at me, and looked at the pix again, and said "Wow! You grew up!" and gave me a hug for my birthday! Natalie then put the pix in her wool coat pocket and proceeded to say that she was a Luddite, which she explained as a textile worker in England in the early 19th century who used to go around destroying the machines that were installed to replace them. She also said, however, that she would have to have someone show her -- and added, "My brother [Christopher] is into that stuff. . ." She also gave out candy canes to everyone who was there. It was a thoroughly exhilarating experience! |
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