Mann Center
I made my first visit to the Mann Center, a beautiful outdoor venue inside the city limits of Philadelphia. I was a big fan of Natalie’s Tiger Lilly album, on the strength of the songwriting, vocals and variety of classic-sounding keyboards.
This was another great show by Brian and his band; "Imagination" was a great album, a milestone and wonderful achievement for Brian.
Burt’s music has been with me (and on my piano) since growing up with it in the 60s.
Before this show I had recorded the "One Special Night" TV broadcast that included a wide range of artists as well as Burt himself. This was a fun show, Burt told a lot of stories and kept the crowd amused.
Fans of Elvis Costello knew that Elvis had a strong affinity for Bacharach songs for a long time and had covered a few. I was happy to learn that Elvis and Burt were working together before "Painted by Memory" came out (and their appearance together in the first Austin Powers movie). That album is among the darkest and moodiest of all those that I like a lot, but its one I listened to quite a lot.
