Last night was the gig at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. I'd never been there before, and the place was absolutely beautiful, up in the hills above San Jose. The view was incredible, you could see the entire Silicon Valley. The show was held in an outdoor amphitheater. Our seats were in the 3rd row, all the way on the right side, in front of Tom.

The boys put on a great show, as usual. Jamie was in good spirits even though he said he was sick last week. He did look rather skinny though. I think he needs to have a few home-cooked meals and get off the tour bus diet.

This is the set list:

1. I'm All Over It
2. Photograph
3. Get Your Way – with the standard piano jump
4. Just One Of Those Things

Then Jamie chatted to the audience for a bit, talked about the songs he'd played so far, and introduced the band. He cracked me up when he talked about Justin Bieber. Here is the link to my video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGKzRpYS1ak

5. All At Sea – so glad he played this because I missed it at the last gig I went to. At this point, the audience were getting into the show and started singing along and clapping. Although not very well with the clapping. Apparently people in this part of the world have no rhythm at all (myself included).

6. If I Ruled The World – he began with some lovely piano improvisation, then went into the drum beats at the start of the song. It was really gorgeous.

7. Twentysomething – when he sang the line “tight six pack,” Jamie lifted his t-shirt all the way up and I got an eyefull of beautiful brown belly! Oh how I wish I was recording that song...

8. Please Don't Stop The Music – not much piano slapping this time. Maybe his hands were tired.

9. You're Nobody Til Somebody Loves You – Jamie said they had never played this song all together before, and that they might not do a great job. Of course if was fabulous. Rory & Tom's solos were amazing.

10. Frontin' – really fun. Afterwards, he used his gadget to loop his beatboxing, and he had the audience scream, and looped that in the background. It was really cool.

11. These Are The Days / I Feel Fine - Jamie introduced his “special guest” - my heart jumped as Brother Ben walked out on stage! They both sang TATD together, then Ben played piano while Jamie sang “I Feel Fine.”

12. Mind Trick (with Ben playing guitar)

13. Not While I'm Around – it was gorgeous. I tried to record it but couldn't get a good angle around the people's heads in front of me.

14. Cry Me A River (in the audience)

Encore. After they came back out, Jamie told the audience, “you can come up to the front of the stage; if you all do it at the same time, security can't stop you.” I yelled at my brother “watch my purse!” and hauled my butt up to the front of the stage, right in front of Jamie.

15. High & Dry – this was absolutely gorgeous. I felt blessed to be watching him so close while Jamie performed this song. I was in awe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3q0oxP6RBTQ

16. Wind Cries Mary (or “Jamie”)

At the end of WCM, Jamie was dancing around the stage all crazy and introduce the band again. He made a mistake and said “...and on the drums – Chris Hill! No, I mean Brad Webb – F*ck!” He also did another piano jump, right in front of me. Part of me wishes he had fallen slightly to his right. Here's the video of that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4qVqtZ3OdQ

17. Gran Torino – a great way to end the show. The entire audience was silent. All you could hear were Jamie and the piano. I recorded it, and was so into it that I accidentally hit the stop button on my camera, so the video is in 2 parts.

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt90-Cb8llo

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2IIY_Gxzq0

Overall, the venue was gorgeous. It didn't have the best acoustics though, and in the beginning of the show Rory had some trouble with the electric guitar giving feedback. The audience was a bit lackluster for the first half, then they really got into it. A really great vibe for the 2nd half of the show. This is the kind of place that has season ticket holders who go to all the summer shows, so they might not have even heard of Jamie before last night. I bet they're fans now, though.

I was disappointed that he didn't play “Wheels” or “Mixtape,” but I'll trade it for the amazing rendition of “Not While I'm Around” and seeing Ben.

After the show, I hung around trying to see if Jamie would come out and sign autographs, but he left right after the show. They had to make their way down to L.A. apparently. That was disappointing.

So my next stop is Santa Rosa this Tuesday, July 27. Hopefully I'll get to meet him again then.

~Dana