26 Jun 2006

from Marie from Brooklyn

Saturday's appearance at Saratoga was rather a different breed of Jamie gig (at least in my experience), in that 1) there was a much shorter-than-usual time limit, due to the line-up of multiple performers, so Jamie and the guys played only about 45 minutes, more or less; and 2) it was outdoors and during the daytime - OK, not so unusual for the European fans, but rather rare over here, and different from any Jamie gig I'd been to before. For me, this show also marked the first time I'd seen the newest band member, Rory Simmons - impressive on both trumpet and guitar (welcome, Rory!). In keeping with the "jazz festival" setting, the set was totally jazz - again, different from most Jamie gigs. Some of the audience seemed to be a tough sell: this was also the first gig I'd been to that wasn't exclusively wall-to-wall Jamie fans. To my astonishment, some of the audience seemed rather unmoved, but to their credit, the guys didn't let that deter them or knock the wind out of their sails at all: they played with every ounce of enthusiasm I've ever seen them demonstrate, and Jamie, as always, played his heart out. Gotta love that about him: Jamie ALWAYS has a good time on stage, as far as I can see. And the guys NEVER give less than 100%. Ever. (And I can say that on the basis of having seen 8 performances to date.) And if some of the audience simply wasn't going to be "sold," some most decidedly were: if the cheers were coming from disparate pockets of the arena, they were still enthusiastic cheers, and I personally witnessed at least one "conversion" first-hand: the guy sitting next to me had come for the other acts, had never heard of Jamie, but after Jamie's set he was going out of his mind raving about his remarkable talent (so of course I reinforced his impressions and encouraged him to go buy some albums and tell his friends!). When I'd checked the day's line-up I'd found that there was going to be a signing after Jamie's performance, so of course, I had to go say hello (at this point, I don't really need to have Jamie sign anything, but I do like to say hi and express my appreciation whenever it's possible). To my surprise and delight, I found that there was a good-sized line waiting to meet Jamie, and it looked like record sales were brisk, as well (of course the CDs were on sale right there via a retailer with a sales tent). When my turn came, I had a sweet little chat with the man, who was as gracious, down-to-earth, and funny as he always is. In all, a different sort of Jamie experience, but I'm happy to say he seems to have picked up some new fans there who might otherwise not have had the good fortune to discover the magic that is Jamie. And I'm glad I went.