December 2, 2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Staples Center)

[Allie]

Guess what everyone...I recorded the full show on audio...now im listening to it all..and celines voice is coming through on the audio VERY VERY well...the only problem is the bass on the recorder is too deep...I just need to find a way to lower the bass and then this will hopefully be a very good bootleg of the show...is it even possible to fix the bass problem after its all been recorded though? I will also need some help uploading this from my audio device to my computer and then to the forum..any takers? It was an amazing show though...even better than anaheim..minus the techinical difficulty...so I will try and have this bootleg up and running as soon as I can figure out how to do it. I am very happy with how it turned out on my device though. Thanks to allie for helping me get this audio recorder! Thank you!!

 

I can fix it for you when you get it uploaded. And I'm sorry I couldn't get the box to you, but I looked at the USB port on the recorder is like one you use for a camera. I dunno if you have one of those, but if you get it uploaded you can PM it to me and I will split it and tag it and fix the bass as best I can. I am so excited that it turned out well

[nano]

Thanks Allie for the pics!!

[tahitiCELINEfan]

Hello everyone!

I might be the only one to say that, but I'm glad there was a technical problem tonight!

Due to a family problem I got to the concert around 10 only!!!

So was very lucky that there was a pause during the show!

My family and I got to see the rest of the show. and we all loved it!

 

Sorry again to the other fans I was to meet before the show (especially Paul) but I really couldn't arrive earlier! :confused:

Take care!

Vive Céline!

Edited December 3, 2008 at 09:22 AM by tahitiCELINEfan

[CellyDee87]

Ok so first of all had a brilliant day on Rodeo Drive, shopping it up big time . My excitement was increasing as it finally became time to go back to the hotel and get ready, so by this time I was crazy, don't mess with a Celine fan Got a chauffeur to drive us to the Staples Centre where we arrived quite early and finally met the lovely lovely Ramona ! Ramona it was so FABULOUS to meet you and Christine, so exciting I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say goodbye after the show

 

Ok so my ticket was scanned FRONT ROW yay went and bought the merchandise stand out, people were looking at me thinking "OMG this girl is nuts!" Took my seat and watched Gordie Brown looking at my watch every ten sceonds, thinking Come ON Celine HURRRYYY UP, I didn't fly all night 16 hours mind you to watch this guy! Sat next to a lovely couple who were astounded at the fact I came all the way from Australia for a Celine concert, they asked me lots of questions who was who, songs and all that jazz! So I knew when I saw the sucurity guards lining up near us she would be coming right by us Yes I nearly died that first sighting just seeing her walk so gracefully through the stands made my heart nearly stop!

 

So IDAN of course first up "Is that all right Los Angeles" that song for some reason always gets me, the adrenalin the excitement I love it. TPOL don't even get me started I've always despised this song, it's high time for it to leave Regardless of lipping IACBTMN, BYLM and TLYM always get the crowd going many are casual fans so it's nice to see them get into the show at this point, so then we had the standard TC which was great but we did notice part of the screen that sits over her podium was stuck in the middle, so she'd done her welcome speech blah blah, great to be finally back in LA then after ABM she said we're having some technical difficulties with the screen and Celine says " as much as it looks nice and all and it works for us like that, we'll get it fixed and be back shortly", so 20 minutes later she's nback My Heart Will Go On Remix then I'm Alive, and I must admit this technical malfunction changed the whole dynamics of the show for me. I think she was really disappointed that it happened and obviously had to stick to a time schedule So after she was back there was pretty much no talking from Celine which is what I look forward to the most I think she was under pressure and still a little sick, so no audience interaction. She did the rest of the set list no changes apart from the Queen Medley getting dropped again. I tried many, many, many times to hand over my frog which I purchased in back in MAY but sadly I don’t think there was time for her to stop and enjoy the moments unfortunately. I started to freak about not giving her my frog once I heard RDMH I knew it wasn’t meant to be!

 

Hopefully she’s back in Oz or Vegas again so I can test my luck another time. I must admit for vocals, enthusiasm, set list and interaction Melbourne was MUCH better, LA was visually better, she was so much more relaxed and talked A LOT in Melbourne, she was hilarious! So MHWGO ended and she said goodbye and then I high jumped and hurdles many rows of seats to try and get the frog to her as she departed and this *CENSORED* had the nerve to tell me off Again nothing as she was quickly ushered off backstage with her security guard.

 

A whole heap of the Vegas dancers were there which was nice to see their little reunion and I saw all of them after the show going backstage with Patrick! So again I hurdled over chairs to him and introduced myself “Hi I’m Denelle I came all the way from Australia to see the show could you PLEASE pass this on I’d be very grateful” Patrick says looking at my top impressively “Woah, you came from Melbourne, wow!!!” “Who would you like me to pass this on to?” (laughing) “Ummm… Celine” he said “Sure I’ll give this to her in hand now.” I was thinking to myself please, please take me backstage with you, so I got all teary knowing that I couldn’t see Celine’s face when she got the frog, I was very shattered in the car on the way home, don’t get me wrong I LOVED IT, any Celine concert is FAB, but tonight I thought it would be my night. Not to worry it was still great, David Foster was there and I took a very blurry picture of him too. The vest suit thing has got to go, it’s so un-Celine and those diamante knee pad things are gross Very tired now I must go to bed I’ll post some pics up now, much love See you at the Grammy's

[CellyDee87]

Some of my better photos

[ashleylovesceline]

Aww, Denelle. I'm sorry you didn't get your moment to hand Céline your frog. At least you know Patrick will give it to her for you, right?

 

Maybe your moment is meant for tomorrow at the Grammys, you never know! Have fun!

[CSCfan]

Thanks for the amazing reviews & pics!!

 

Céline looked incredibly beautiful that night! :wub:

[mirage]

why is she leaving this queen medley out!? since when is she doing that?!

was it only a Europe thing?

 

didnt Sir Duke was on the songlist in the tourbook!?

 

its just like vegas, she starts with many songs, new songs, and later on she drops the best songs...

[Costa Santos]

Thanks for you review, Denelle!

[celine_rox]

prob cuz many neg things had been said about it

and also that she wont strain her voice.....

??????

[maxceline]

i think they cut out the queen medley cause for her voice was too much high! hope she will sing it later...

[superstarleash]

So was the Queen medley replaced with anything? Or were there just less songs altogether?

[kwright]

Thanks so much for the reviews and pictures guys!! I'm so glad you all had an AMAZING time!

[superstarleash]

I am glad you enjoyed yourself Denelle. Hey...atleast you got to see her again!! And have a wonderful holiday whilst you were at it!! I wish I could have gone...

 

Did you prefer the concert in the round?

[Costa Santos]

Thanks for you review, Denelle!

... Your...

[CellyDee87]

I am glad you enjoyed yourself Denelle. Hey...atleast you got to see her again!! And have a wonderful holiday whilst you were at it!! I wish I could have gone...

 

Did you prefer the concert in the round?

 

 

Actually as much as the in-the-round show looks gorgeous visually and all, I felt that the end stage was really a more personal show and trust me, you know yourself being in Melbourne how chatty and excited she was it was awesome, better than LA in this respect

 

So was the Queen medley replaced with anything? Or were there just less songs altogether?

 

No not replaced just completely cut out

 

Aww, Denelle. I'm sorry you didn't get your moment to hand Céline your frog. At least you know Patrick will give it to her for you, right?

 

Yeah I know Patrick will give it to her but I just wanted to see her face when she got it. She didn't accept any gifts in LA, I saw people with flowers and other things at the show but she took nothing

[Krys]

ah thanks for the review hun but sad thing you didnt managed to hand Celine the frog yourself

[Chellbie]

aww, Denelle, thanks for the review! I'm glad you got to pass your frog on to Celine, you KNOW she got it and was probably very impressed you came alll the way from Australia!

 

its cool that her dancers went to see her! too cute!

 

I'm glad everyone had fun! Allie, thanks for the updates during the show!

 

Denelle, go rock out at the Grammys gal! =)

[autumnskies00]

wear your australia shirt again, maybe she'll know you're the one who gave her the frog if she sees you! you never know.

[takeachance]

I must be on another planet? Did not know Celine was better and these concerts were on. Groovy

[Shesings2me]

Thanks everyone! Tam...glad u got some of the show in with your family, luv ya! Denelle...your time will come baby; I like the idea about wearing your T-shirt again to the Grammy show. Keep trying and by golly have some faith, girl!

[maceta_biloxi]

...She didn't accept any gifts in LA, I saw people with flowers and other things at the show but she took nothing

 

Maybe because she is afraid to catch another virus for touching stuff from unknown people, even though most of them are fans that love her A LOT.

 

No videos yet?

[tahitiCELINEfan]

Thanks everyone! Tam...glad u got some of the show in with your family, luv ya! Denelle...your time will come baby; I like the idea about wearing your T-shirt again to the Grammy show. Keep trying and by golly have some faith, girl!

yeah, but I really was upset about it!

if it was bot for the tehnical problem I'd have missed the whole show!

there's someone up there!

[CSCfan]

Review: Celine Dion's Taking Chances tour at Staples Center

 

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/images/2008/12/03/celine_dion_.jpg

 

09:48 AM PT, Dec 3 2008

 

It's a no-brainer why Celine Dion's Taking Chances tour is shaping up as one of the highest-grossing North American concert attractions of 2008.

 

Think about it: As a nation we’re going to have to pony up several hundred-billion dollars and hope it might halt the ever-deepening economic meltdown.

 

Feel-good factor for that outlay? Zilch.

 

But for a measly C-note or three, hundreds of thousands of fans are filling arena after arena to hear Dion deliver emotional climax after emotional climax, goosebump-inducing vocal thrill after thrill, sweeping chorus after chorus filled with spirit-lifting affirmations and enough technical razzle-dazzle to dwarf the Super Bowl halftime show.

 

And that was just her opening number.

 

The reason she’s such a hit with the masses was plain during her two-hour show Tuesday night at Staples Center, only the second performance after resuming the tour that had been interrupted by a bout of throat problems that forced her to cancel several shows here and in Australia.

 

After five years of nightly honing of her act in Las Vegas, she and her tour director have created a production that’s all peaks, no valleys — at least in terms of pushing all the right buttons. Her songs celebrate romantic love at its most dramatic. Her 1993 No. 1 hit “The Power of Love” indeed lionizes the potency of the heart, but by way of the muscle in that delicate looking French Canadian throat. Melodies are structured for maximum impact, starting in the middle of her comfort range, dipping low for the “of” before taking a skyrocket leap up to “love” that’s the equivalent of a gymnast’s 10.0 dismount from the uneven parallel bars at the Olympics.

 

Indeed, much like a champion athlete, Dion frequently punctuated her prize-worthy phrase-and-song endings with a clenched fist pumped in the air or pulled down from the sky.

 

But if her vocal workouts are all about perfection — and without a hint Auto-Tuning in sight — she succeeds at letting her human side come through in the spaces between songs.

 

Right out of the gate Tuesday, she offered up a heartfelt — and lengthy — explanation and apology about the spate of canceled shows before digging back into the music. And when a technical glitch with some video screens suspended from the ceiling rigging forced a 30-minute delay midway through the night, she returned to the stage with another equally sincere humbling of herself before her adoring fans.

 

(All the same, she disappeared down her rabbit hole at center stage while stage hands scurried to dismantle the recalcitrant contraption. If only all of us could do the same every time our computers or cars break down.)

 

That gave some tangible ballast to the often overblown arrangements that typify her middle-of-the-road pop songs. The album from which the tour draws its name does indeed take a few chances —stylistically, placing her in harder-hitting rock settings than she, or her fans, have been used to. And she included a healthy dose of the new songs, pumped up by her razor-sharp band and three singers, who were joined by eight dancers on several of the night’s biggest numbers.

 

This, of course, culminated in the finale performance of “My Heart Will Go On,” which opened with film clips from "Titanic" and filled out with candle-lighted chandeliers that descended from the rafters and countless refracted beams of light crisscrossing the arena to eye-popping effect. The only thing missing was an iceberg.

 

Dion is an easy target for music aficionados who think it’s possible for a diva to inject as much soul as voltage into her singing — Aretha Franklin being the standard-bearer. Yet even though Dion may be rightfully blamed for spawning a million wanna-bes, all of whom seem to turn up at “American Idol” auditions — she displayed more restraint than her main competitor at the top of the pop charts during the '90s, Mariah Carey. Only a couple of times did she let fly random crystal-shattering high notes for the sake of demonstrating her range.

 

Excess has become a matter of degree in pop. Where Dion once represented the epitome of pop bombast, in the wake of a new generation of vocal showboaters who dominate the pop and R&B singles charts, at 40 she often as not came across as the poster girl for elegance and good taste.

 

Well, except maybe for her earnest but misguided stabs at James Brown’s “It’s a Man’s Man’s Man’s World” and Ike and Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High.” She can slip in a few R&B inflections, but a soul diva she’s not, and she completely missed conjuring the anguish of the former or the romantic desperation of the latter.

 

Even there, she at least was lending some credence to her tour’s title. That should be worth some reasonable chunk of the $2 million she likely grossed for the night.

 

--Randy Lewis

Photo: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

[celinemaniac07]

Would anyone want me to put up the audio of the complete show up on the forum?

[Shesings2me]

Thanks for the review/article! Someone who appreciates our classy, super-talented, god-given chanteuse! Yay!! Edited December 3, 2008 at 07:33 PM by Shesings2me

[iloveceline22]

hey everyonee!

sorry i didnt post anything yesterday!

my friends slept over and i knocked out without knowing lol

 

 

so obviously i had the time of my lifeeE!!!!!!! it was sooo fun! i was sitting in the front roww! i was soo excitedd!!

at one point celine came over and winked and pointed at me cuz i was crying and blew her a kiss! ahh what a moment!!

 

i loved the fact that there was a technical glich! that meant i got to stay longer and add the finishing touches to the letter i was writing for her!

 

celine gave her best yesterday! she was rocking it out!

 

i was happy to meet more of our forum members

 

...anyway i loved all by myself, when she hit that note...it sent chills down my spine! i finally got to hear that live!

i loved the different vocal riffs she gave to its a mans world! overall the show was awesome!

 

during the show i talked to the security gaurds and asked if i can give my frog and letter to her and they said we promise u stand here and ull be able to give it! they were so nice! i had written so many letters to celine, but had always left it with her crew! finally i was able to hand it straight to her! i was dying of happiness! i was bawling...n while i was handing it to her, she paused and said aww, and gave the face like dont cry...afterwards i started jumping and screaming of happiness, that finally i had given it to her! after all these years, i got the chance!

 

 

the night was awesome!!!

 

here are some pics of the nightt! sorry for the bluriness! my hands were shaking! Lol

[iloveceline22]

hope u like them!

[celinedream]

Would anyone want me to put up the audio of the complete show up on the forum?

 

yes please!

[autumnskies00]

hey everyonee!

sorry i didnt post anything yesterday!

my friends slept over and i knocked out without knowing lol

 

 

so obviously i had the time of my lifeeE!!!!!!! it was sooo fun! i was sitting in the front roww! i was soo excitedd!!

at one point celine came over and winked and pointed at me cuz i was crying and blew her a kiss! ahh what a moment!!

 

i loved the fact that there was a technical glich! that meant i got to stay longer and add the finishing touches to the letter i was writing for her!

 

celine gave her best yesterday! she was rocking it out!

 

i was happy to meet more of our forum members

 

...anyway i loved all by myself, when she hit that note...it sent chills down my spine! i finally got to hear that live!

i loved the different vocal riffs she gave to its a mans world! overall the show was awesome!

 

during the show i talked to the security gaurds and asked if i can give my frog and letter to her and they said we promise u stand here and ull be able to give it! they were so nice! i had written so many letters to celine, but had always left it with her crew! finally i was able to hand it straight to her! i was dying of happiness! i was bawling...n while i was handing it to her, she paused and said aww, and gave the face like dont cry...afterwards i started jumping and screaming of happiness, that finally i had given it to her! after all these years, i got the chance!

 

 

the night was awesome!!!

 

here are some pics of the nightt! sorry for the bluriness! my hands were shaking! Lol

 

You met her at Jay Leno too right? Two days of Celine? You lucky girl. Maybe she remembered you and you'll get a response to your letter.