I had spent most of the day listening to Diana on Pandora Internet Radio trying to get ‘ready’ for the concert. I wasn’t very familiar with 48-year-old Mrs. Elvis Costello, however, between Pandora and the show I am now! And I’m happy about it!

This Canadian born singer can sing sultry/sexy/just flat out HOT with little effort, the best I can tell. And I might add that she is very easy on the eyes.  I didn’t ‘see/feel’ that sultry side at her concert (like I had on her recorded tunes) yet this didn’t take away from her performance for me. I thought she was sincerely trying to entertain the audience and did it quite well!

Krall hit the stage just as a beautiful Texas sun set over the Pavilion Hill. She went right for her piano and pretty much didn’t leave it for two hours.

I found her engaging, perhaps even too much –  and  I’ll explain in a few moments. She was funny, witty, (did I mention beautiful?) and certainly talented.

Her set design was from the “Golden Era” with an old Victor record player as a prop. Along with this there were antique   rugs and lamps, and a very old and beautiful Peerless Upright Piano, which she played during her set. Only problem with it is you couldn’t see her playing it or singing as her back was to the audience!  Maybe it could have been turned somewhat, but who knows?

There were videos from that era on a large screen behind her and  five talented musicians that accompanied her. At some point she thanked the crowd for coming out to our ‘Drive In’! It was an accurate statement as the entire evening there was one old cartoon/vaudeville video on after another. I thought they were cleverly done and added to the evening’s entertainment, especially in view of the fact that she never moved from the piano.

Throughout the evening Krall played many songs from times gone by which I just hadn’t heard in many years. I had forgotten many of them and yet almost from the first note of each she brought them to the forefront of my memory with joy on one hand and sadness on the other. There we so many of my dearest extended family members from those times that had since passed on. On to a better place for sure but nonetheless sorely missed.

In her 20 song set, she started with We Just Couldn’t Say Goodbye followed by Ain’t No Sweet Man and included If I Had You, Ain’t Misbehavin, Fly Me To The Moon, Glad Rag Doll ,Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter and Sunny Side Of The Street.

Earlier I mentioned she perhaps was a little too engaging with the audience. Some others might have found her asking for ‘requests’ a good move however in this reviewer’s opinion, it is just not good practice. It’s a green light to yell out FREEBIRD (thank goodness no one did), but they yelled out about every other song ever written. The result was that neither she nor the audience could make out what was being said. Diana please, you choose.  Play what the audience expects you to play, throw in some of your personal favorites and let us savor and enjoy the experience –vs- this disruptive episode of those annoying screams. Thank you!

So enough about the ‘low light’ of the evening – the highlights included her singing of Temptation written by Tom Waits and Boulevard Of Broken Dreams. There is a piece of art with the same title. If you are not familiar with it it’s worth a look on the internet.

In closing, I don’t know what I missed with her song selections as I had no favorite Diana Krall tune. On balance she hit the mark for me. That seemed to be the case too for all my fellow audience members at the beautiful Woodlands Pavilion on this beautifully cool and hot night.

Until next time I hope you keep it between the navigational beacons.

dwc