On my way back from the West Palm show, a job crisis required me to divert to Orlando. After crisis resolved, I was too tired to drive home, so decided to grab a hotel room for the night. While deciding what to do for dinner, I remembered that CW was at the O-rena that night. Who needs dinner! Wonder what my chances of getting a ticket are? Only one way to find out!
The O-rena (short for Orlando Arena – I used to live in Orlando) is your typical sports arena. They end up using one end of the arena and put chairs out on the floor. Amazingly, I ended up with a seat about half way up the first level of fixed seats, on the center aisle.
Like a lot of people here, I am spoiled. If I can’t get a really good seat (1st couple of rows), I probably won’t spend the $$$ to travel to see the shows. I only went to WPB since CWFan2 was selling his front row tickets. This was my first opportunity to see the show from a distance. You get a different perspective. I was able to sit back and mostly enjoy the music.
Some comments –
I was impressed with the lighting design/lighting effects. From a distance, you can really see how the lights enhance the show. I never really caught on to the “smoke” in the show until I saw how it worked with the spotlights. While we all watch the lights switching between Ray and Nicky on Mo Ghile Mear, they used some similar effects on other songs. To me, the lighting effects are one of the big differences between this show and, say IOH.
Sound – WOW. I’ve been to shows from small theatres to RCMH to Red Rocks. Again, sitting away from the stage, you appreciate the overall sound much more. I was not expecting this, especially in an arena show. I was amazed at how clear and powerful the sound was.
Staging – As is typical for arenas, they hang a black curtain across the arena. Thus, all you see is the stage. At other venues, my eyes tend to wonder, especially if there are lights/reflections/etc on the sides of the stage. With the lighting effects (think the “stars” during, say, When You Believe), it made the show totally different for me. All you see is the stage.
Costumes. One of the people sitting near me had never been to a CW concert before. I kept getting questioned “which one is
” during the ensemble numbers. From a distance (and OK, I probably need new glasses), I had trouble determining the “accent” colors on the second half dresses. While yes, I knew who everyone was, you couldn’t just say “Lisa is in the green/blue/whatever dress”. I thought they could have used some more color.
I had gone to the show in Orlando last year, and even thought I had a M&G, I was disappointed in the venue, and said I won’t come back. (and that’s before this year’s parking issues). What this taught me was if I go to another arena show, don’t sit near the front (and I never thought I would say that!)
