When Mom and Sis announced their plan to visit us in California in September 2008, we looked at dates to visit New York City. Around that time, Celine Dion's "Taking Chances" tour was in full swing. I discovered that she was going to perform at the Prudential Center at about the same time we were planning to visit the Big Apple. Sis has a few of Dion's albums and singles, including "The Power of Love" single. I know this because Sis played that song at full blast almost every day for months back in its heyday. Wife loves Dion's duet "The Prayer" with Andrea Bocelli. I myself have a modest collection of Dion's hits on mp3 files. Her "O Holy Night" is my second favorite version of the carol (number one being Josh Groban's, which is an homage to her version).
Wife and I were visiting her in-laws – Priscilla, Tyesha and a friend – in Las Vegas while Dion was a resident performer at Caesars Palace. Tyesha was a fan of Dion. However, the other two adults balked at the exorbitant price of tickets, whereas I didn't mind paying for wife and myself. It was a missed opportunity. Ticket prices for "Taking Chances" were only slightly lower than those for Caesars Palace. However, I was not going to pass up the opportunity again, especially when Sis was a fan and had never seen Dion performed live. We decided on three tickets – for Wife, Sis and me – while Mom would stay with (11-month-old) Son at the hotel.
On the afternoon of Sep 10, 2008, we returned to the hotel in Newark, NJ after visiting Ellis Island and Liberty Island. We barely had enough time for a quick dinner. I was concerned about one thing: directions to the Prudential Center. Wife decided that it was entirely up to me to find out, Sis was a visitor, and the hotel staff weren't helpful. After about 30 minutes of fumbling about, I was able to print out the directions from MapQuest. We arrived 15 minutes late at the Center, but Dion’s show had not started. As we were taking our seats, a stand-up comedian was doing the opening act. According to Wikipedia, it was Gordie Brown. His impression of President George W. Bush was hilarious. Another impression – probably of Lil Jon – came with a familiar soundtrack. I found Brown to be more entertaining than the comedian that opened for a Julio Iglesias concert we saw in early 2007. Wife agreed.
A short break followed. After that, the band and backup singers came on stage and started performing. Finally – what we all paid to see – Celine Dion appeared and was greeted by a chorus of cheers. For those seated too far away – like myself – to check out Dion in her outfits, the big screens above the stage provided visuals of her up close.
For 17 years, I didn’t know the title of the first number. Thanks to Columbia Records, a live video album of the concert was released. Now I know that "I Drove All Night" was the first number. I recall the four conveyor tracks forming the sides of the stage, and how they gave. Dion the appearance of movement while she remained stationary. "I Drove All Night" was good but not memorable. What came next was better. As the applause started to die down, Celine started the next number with a familiar line, "The whispers of the morning...."
A thunderous roar erupted from the audience. I felt it in my body. Everyone recognized the song. Originally recorded and co-written by Jennifer Rush, "The Power of Love" – along with the one that followed – was the first of three epic highlights of the concert. Speaking of power, what a voice! The YouTube clip does not do the performance justice. From where I sat – mid to upper level section – Dion's voice filled the arena at a near overwhelmingly level before she got to the chorus. She did not perform the entire megahit and didn't need to. What she did gave was priceless.
Contrary to the video edition, the song that followed "The Power of Love" was a hit in its own right with an acapella intro. "For all the times...." was greeted with a rapturous cheer. I was beaming and started bobbing along. Like with "The Power of Love", she didn't have to perform the entire song. What she did gave was of equal caliber. Although the setlist appeared to place "Because You Loved Me" within "Hits Medley", plans do change at one's discretion – as written isn't always as delivered. As I remembered it, the song was between "The Power of Love" and "Taking Chances". Wife and Sis could not confirm. (It had been 17 years.) To anyone that had attended the concert at the Prudential Center, let me know if I'm right (or not).
As for "Hits Medley", it did came after "Taking Chances". I don't remember "Taking Chances". but I do remember “It's All Coming Back to Me Now” and “To Love You More”. They were good but not enough to shake off the wonderful experience from "The Power of Love" and "Because You Loved Me". After "Hits Medley", I don't remember anything else till the second epic highlight. I barely remembered "All By Myself", which was a somewhat subdued rendering compared to "Hits Medley". Back in its day, the song – a cover of Eric Carmen's – was on my radar because its melody was based on the second movement of Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18.
Dion set up the second epic highlight by first naming the song – "The Prayer" – and then explained how Andrea Bocelli would join her. Wife smiled, clearly looking forward to it. Not knowing what to expect, I watched as she sang the first verse. Then Bocelli's voice was heard. His appearance on the big screens immediately after drew a loud cheer from the audience. There was probably more than one video clip of Bocelli singing his part of "The Prayer". In the version shown at the Prudential Center, he was dressed in red and there was more background light. Nonetheless, the virtual duet was flawless, magical, emotionally stirring. It was met with cheers and applause upon its conclusion. But it wasn't all about Dion. She gave a compliment to Bocelli, which drew another round of cheers and applause.
After that, Dion mentioned something about not being able to sing again and did a French number. My mind drew a blank on that one, but not the next number. It started with a familiar stomp-stomp-clap-pause beat. No way! The audience quickly got into it and were singing the chorus. I was somewhat amused. It wasn't Queen great, and not the reason why I was at a Celine Dion concert. If I wanted to see/hear "We Will Rock You", I'd look up Queen's version. Or better yet, I'd pull up the iconic performance still hailed as the greatest in the history of rock concerts.
As if "Tribute to Queen Medley" wasn't enough, "Soul Medley" came next. I was less impressed. Both medleys probably came from Dion's Las Vegas residency shows. Unlike "Tribute to Queen Medley", "Soul Medley" – that included "Soul Man" – was led by an African-American backup singer while Dion sat out. I told Wife this guy could have subbed for Peobo Bryson to do "Beauty and the Beast" – my favorite Dion duet. At the Julio Iglesias concert, Iglesias performed "All Of You" with an African-American backup singer subbing for Diana Ross. It worked out great.
I wished Dion had included more of her earlier hits in place of those two medleys, one of them being Patti LaBelle's "If You Asked Me To". After performing two covers, why not a third? Ms. LaBelle would have appreciated the renewed interest. Who can forget the well-known "Where Does My Heart Beat Now?" from her first English-language album Unison. That song should also have been included. Missed opportunity!
The remaining numbers after the medley drew a blank until the final number – third epic highlight. I could not imagine a better one to close out the concert. After the penultimate number, the lights dimmed as the performers were lowered until they disappeared below the stage. The silence from the stage was longer than what was shown in the video edition. Then a tin whistle introduced the familiar James Horner melody. Dion appeared in a long black dress (the only such outfit she wore, the rest had short hemlines) as the platform she stood on continued to rise until she was about six feet above the stage. (I remembered it to be higher than that.)
Something did flashed before my eyes while Dion sang "My Heart Will Go On". Nope, not my whole life but scenes from the movie Titanic. Dion at an elevated position reminded me of Jack Dawson's similar position at the bow of the doomed ocean liner yelling "I'm the king of the world!" Despite performing for nearly 90 minutes, she showed no signs of exhaustion – still had the audience at the palm of her hand. Then came chorus 2. She belted "... there's NOT-T-THING I fear" with the volume, strength and control as she did in "The Power of Love". Like with "The Power of Love", I felt her voice physically. After the song was finished, she was met with sustained applause. What a magnificent conclusion.
As we returned to the hotel, I didn't have much to say. Words could not describe what I experienced. I rate the concert 8/10. It wasn't perfect, but yet enjoyable. Sis had a great time. In reflection, it turned out to be a good thing that Wife and I didn't catch Dion in Las Vegas years earlier. Had we did, there would be no reason to attend the "Taking Chances" concert, and therefore not able to share it with Sis. I regret not keeping the ticket stubs. Not only that, Dion continued her "Taking Chances" tour with a stop at the Honda Center – our neck of the woods – a few months later. One report mentioned that there were technical difficulties during that concert, namely Bocelli's video footage during "The Prayer". We chose well with Sep 10 at the Prudential Center.
There is a time and a place for everything indeed. So this is me signing off with the wisdom from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes as sung by The Byrds.
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