The concert… was… sensational! Thank you, Eastman, for watching our sick kids and letting me have three hours of uninterrupted, beautifully written, fabulously performed music blaring in the theater and resonating in my head, filling up my spirit. Wish you were there, too, but I understand your reasoning.

I’m going to get geeky here, talking about, in my opinion, one of the most brilliant music writers and producers of our time. And, you know what, I’m not that sorry for being geeky on a couple of levels.  I’ve LOVED, I mean, LOVED, his songs for maybe a little over 2/3 of my life, and I still love it. I’m 36, now. Two-thirds of my life?! That’s a long time. So, I’ll probably sound like a sappy teenager. And, geeky in a musical sort of way. I want to explain.

I personally know only a few people who listen, really, really listen to music like I do. The first time I hear a song, I’ll listen to lyrics and melody. That’s typical. But if I really love a song, I’ll listen for every instrument I can pick up, listen for every singer, melodies and harmonies sung or played. I will listen for subtle nuances and details that beautiful writing and arranging can bring out in a song. Okay, it’s like tasting a great dish or your favorite recipe in the whole world. You first think, hey, that tastes really good. Then you take another bite and try to figure out what seasonings are in the recipe, and you savor every single bite. Music is like that for me (and maybe why I also like cooking).

What you might not understand is that there will be parts, small details, of a song that will just sound so incredibly rich and harmonious to me, sometimes it sounds longing – it will make my chest feel like its filled up with so much emotion, my heart feels so, happy!  Sometimes it will make my eyes teary… it’s that beautiful to me. The song doesn’t even have to have lyrics. In fact, a lot of David Foster’s pieces that I adore are instrumental. Only a couple other things, aside from my kids and husband, make me feel like that every single time. One example is when I see or walk into amazing architecture and see the details, especially in the fall. I really get a kick out of thinking about the work that has gone into the piece.

So, three hours, 11 artists, 30+ songs… crazy, crazy deal for the 4th row tickets we had. My brother and I were super excited walking to our seats. It couldn’t have been better. It was a sort of cute how excited David was about opening his tour in Chicago. I had no idea. Though, the comment “Did I tell you this is my first tour?” did get a bit old, just a little. There was a slight problem with mic feedback, too. Oops on the tech crew. There were also these two guys sitting at the back of the center section who were dancing their tushes off, and giving standing ovations for almost all the songs… I loved them. Hello to you.

I also found his commentary in between songs interesting, if not educational.  I didn’t know that “You’re the Inspiration” (Chicago hit in the 80s) was originally written for Kenny Rogers. And I didn’t know that Richard Marx was an intern for two years under him. David gives credit to performers and writers where credit is due, and he owns up to his mistakes. I really enjoyed watching him give direction to the band (which was fantastic) and interacting with the singers while they were performing. It’s incredible watching people at work when they really enjoy what they’re doing. We were also able to see young talent perform, and I’m looking forward to hearing more from them: Canadian Tenors, Cody Carey and two young Chicagoans who won an opportunity to tour with David Foster through namedrop.com.

So, I don’t know if I’m going to get in trouble here for posting these pictures, but we wanted to capture a little bit of the evening in print.

Loved Michael Johns, Deborah Cox, Philip Bailey… Richard Marx was a complete surprise guest for us, as was Ruben Studdard (American Idol fame). Seriously, sitting there listening to Richard Marx open with Endless Summer Nights, I was 13-14 again, and I could almost feel and smell the summer breeze on my face, like when I would go to a local beachfront at sundown with friends. The audience sang parts of Right Here Waiting.

And, then Peter Cetera. Om my gosh, I would have never thought I’d see David Foster and Peter Cetera perform together… EVER. It was spectacular to hear their songs live. Funny thing, he started playing one of the songs in a higher key than normal. It looked like Peter Cetera was going to pass out, and David stopped playing, apologized profusely, and started over again. What a relief for Mr. Cetera.

Charice. She is soooooooo little and cute!!! She gave a shout out to the Filipinos in the audience, and believe me, there were a lot! To hear her voice come out of that body, oh my goodness, and she just kept belting it out in her perfectly pure voice, hitting every note, every time. I can’t stand it, she’s so talented. Then there was a really inspiring rendition of “Note to God”, with a young girl, Lisa Smith, who interpreted the song in sign language. So moving.

I’ve added a new playlist under the “Tunes” page that follows most of the evening’s performance. Here it is… some of my life in song from late 70s to early 90s. Thank you, Mr. Foster, for being such an integral part of my life through your music.