BETTE MIDLER GOING ON TOUR!!!

[ChgoTheatreGuy]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 11:06am

Bette Midler announced on Facebook yesterday that she is intending to tour with the release of her new CD, "It's the Girls", a collection of songs from girl groups from over the years. I am sooo excited, because no matter how good or bad her album may be, she ALWAYS puts on amazing live show!

Updated On: 10/3/14 at 11:06 AM

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 12:40pm

Agreed! She always does put on an amazing show...when allowed.
In Las Vegas her show felt like foreplay without the intercourse.
just when things got going it stopped. That was most likely the casino limiting her time because they wanted people gambling. Still was a great show...just a bit of a tease: don't stop, don't stop, more!

[Luscious]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 1:39pm

Midler USED TO put on a good show. A great one, in fact. One that I was fortunate enough to see many times. But I can't help but believe that it's going to be a toned down and diluted version of her former "Divine" self that will be touring with this latest album. She's become lazy and just doesn't want to work that hard. I suppose, at her age, and at this stage in her career, she's entitled. Still, it would be great if she would mount one last, great, no-holds-barred, balls-to-the-wall, comeback concert, that honors the memory and reputation of the Divine Miss M./Delores DeLago, and gives them the send-off they deserve. Fingers crossed.

Updated On: 10/3/14 at 01:39 PM

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 5:20pm

I'm afraid I have to agree that her most recent show, which I saw in Vegas, was a pale carbon copy of days gone by. My advice would be to ditch the expectations of all the Devine Miss M. trappings - Delores DeLago, the Harlettes, Sophie Tucker and the rest. She is no longer that woman. An elegant nightclub act is what's called for. Stand in a spotlight and sing a gorgeous ballad backed by a big orchestra. Tell a few jokes and anticdotes, of course, but toss the trash and keep it classy. Because that's what she has evolved into - classy.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 8:04pm

I agree that a Midler show today is not what it was in the 70s and 80s. But I don't think it's laziness, just facing the facts of life and aging.

In her last leave-it-all-on-the-floor concert tour, ART OR BUST, in the mid-80s, IIRC she passed out on stage more than once and had to cancel some dates. If she were still singing like that, she'd have no voice at all.

So she learned to place her voice differently (actually improving the quality of the tone) and toned down the Janis-Joplin-like blues screaming. What we've seen since (and not just in Vegas) is sort of Bette Midler-lite--but that's still better than just about anybody else!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 10/3/14 at 9:30pm

I dug around but saw no mention of her touring anywhere on Facebook. I must've missed it.

I'm wondering if you only saw the ART OR BUST TV special, because it was about half as great as the actual tour, which was called "De-Tour" in reality. I think that tends to be a big problem with big productions filmed before a live audience. (Similarly, anybody who thinks the PBS Into the Woods taping even comes close to what it was like to see that show in the Martin Beck is also mistaken).

I would also say that subsequent tours: "Experience the Divine"; "Experience the Divine Again!"; "Diva Las Vegas"; "The Divine Miss Millennium Tour"; and "Kiss My Brass" were *at least* as good and in some ways better than ART OR BUST. Sure, the background singers are relied upon more as time marched on, but there was a moment toward the end of "Kiss My Brass" where Bette and the musicians were standing in a horseshoe configuration and she just wailed. She's the only one of those showbiz gals who actually has an affinity for rock and roll, and the skills to sell it that way when she wants to.

I never made it out to the Vegas show, but did see the HBO special but couldn't make it all the way through. It was like a souvenir of somebody else's experience and I just couldn't connect to it. I do wish she would drop the "I'm so tired" schtick she was using on "Kiss My Brass" and the Vegas specials, and just do what she wants.

I'd see her with a tight band and some girls doing a girl group thing in whatever size venue she'd choose.

Updated On: 10/3/14 at 09:30 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 10/4/14 at 11:21am

The Vegas show was bland but that was not her doing. I have not seen one show at the Caesars venue that could parlay any warmth to the audience. Everything seems distant. And I have seen them all. It was like watching one of those Radio City pre canned christmas shows.

Bette has always put on a great show. Nothing lazy there. When she does go on out tour these are well put together shows that require time and money. Bruce Villanch is not cheap. I agree with you Namo. I'd see her with a tight band and some girls doing a girl group thing in whatever size venue she'd choose.

Updated On: 10/4/14 at 11:21 AM

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 10/4/14 at 9:26pm

Namo, I saw DE-TOUR twice, live, at Radio City Music Hall. Along with Springsteen in Jersey, the best concerts I have ever enjoyed. (I believe you re the title; maybe "Art or Bust" was written on the show curtain and that's where I got it. I do remember the sets and costumes were all based on modernist art movements.)

I also bow to your memory of the chronology of her development. I moved to LA shortly after seeing her in NY and by the next time I saw her 10 years later, she had transformed her singing style and was "marking" some of the more difficult numbers. Still great, just not "dangerous" in the She-might-do-anything style of her earlier concerts.

And in fairness to Miss M, I wouldn't stand on a folding chair for 4 hours, screaming my guts out, as I once did at a Springsteen concert. We're none of us 25 any more.

I am very much looking forward to the new album.