Foxwoods Fan Reports 

The concert was held at the new MGM Grand theater. I'm not sure how long it's been open, but this was my first time there.  It's across the street from the main Foxwoods complex (although I believe there is a walkway between the two.  There is definitely a shuttle to get you back and forth too.) The theater is hooked up to its own hotel and of course a casino and a shopping/food area.  It was nice and compact so you didn't have to wander too far a field to to get some food or try your (no) luck at the slot machines.   ;-) The theater itself was nice and looked like it held a decent amount of people. (The place was sold out or very close to it too.) 

Even though it was a casino venue, there were quite a few diehard fans there.  :-)  Connecticut is a good central place for the East Coast fans. I saw a bunch of the usual New England fans and a bunch of the New York and New Jersey fans and we were pretty well mixed into the crowd.  :-)  The casual fans were a nice rowdy bunch too - especially the left side of the floor.  I don't think anybody was sitting in that section.  I was on the right and our side was doing our fair share of standing too, but those left side guys still managed to out-rowdy us. (Yes that's a word. I just made it up.  :-) )  I was all prepared to take a few photos with my good camera - but as it turned out I was just a bit too close to the aisle and the camera police were everywhere.  They weren't as gung-ho as the ones in Niagara Falls, but if they saw a camera they would stop you. They were also a little strict about where you could dance.  Some venues will let you dance in front of the stage - this one would not.  (That's not a bad thing - there are valid safety and security reasons for keeping the front and/or the aisles clear.) I think they were okay with dancing in the aisles as long as they didn't get too blocked. I didn't see anybody chased out of the aisles, but then again most of the people I saw were content to dance in their row.

The show was almost the same one we saw in Coney Island the night before. It started with I Will Survive and then went into Shout It Out..... wait, sorry.  That was the dream I had the night before.  ;-)  The only thing that was different about the show, was that she left Fame out in Foxwoods.  That might be a timing issue - Foxwoods probably has a limit on how long the show can last.  (I have to say that the longer I run this site, the more I learn about venues and the restrictions they place on the artists.)

Here is the list:

The Queen Is Back
I Feel Love
Dim All The Lights
I'm A Fire
Could It Be Magic
Sand On My Feet
On The Radio
Mr. Music
Crayons
Enough Is Enough (with Mary)
MacArthur Park
Smile (as a tribute to Michael Jackson)
Stamp Your Feet
She Works Hard For The Money
Bad Girls
Hot Stuff
Last Dance

As I said before, this was a nice rowdy bunch for a casino crowd, so of course everyone was up for the hits - and even for some of the new stuff as well.  Crayons was a lot of fun. As some of you know at the end of that song Donna has a costume change.  So the dancers keep everything going while Donna is offstage.  One of the things they do, is they come out in the audience and dance with random victims from the crowd. Well they had plenty of volunteers and the dancers were trying to bring them to the section right in front of the stage.  But security was trying to keep people from going there so it was a little tug of war. Pretty much they HAD to let anyone through who was actually holding a dancer's hand - but everyone else was barred from the front.  That was rather amusing to watch. (Yes, things like that amuse me.  ;-) )  

And speaking of amusing, Donna was a riot that night. She embellished upon her desperate housewife story a bit more than usual, and she told a funny story about encountering someone on the road who was singing along to On The Radio in her car. (Imagine that you are singing in your car - basically in your own little world - when by chance you happen to turn your head while you are stopped at a light and the person in the car next to you is Donna herself.  Too bad no one got a picture of the look on that woman's face.  LOL)

It wasn't all joking around though. Smile was the most serious moment in the show. Once again it was dedicated to Michael Jackson, and after Donna talked a little bit about him, she kind of talked about being famous in general.  She said that a lot of times when you are famous, you can be in a lot of pain but nobody knows it. People just think your life is perfect and wonderful and all that.  And that as an entertainer you are called on to go out there and put aside your own emotions in order to make other people happy.   I hope that speech makes its way to YouTube one of these days.  Once again the crowd just loved the song.

As always, all too soon it was time for Last Dance. Anybody who wasn't standing before then was on their feet for that. (That includes the 2 guys in front of me who didn't stand for anything even when everyone else was up. I have to confess it was getting tempting to use their heads as bongo drums just to see if that would get them up!  LOL)  As usual, everyone was singing along too - even for the slow parts Actually, with Last Dance it never really feels like the audience is singing along  during the slow parts  - it feels more like we are all singing TO Donna as she is singing to us.   :-)

After the show, we left the theater (well, duh - it's not like were going to move in there  LOL) and the casino is right outside. They play music in the casino and after the show it was all Donna tunes for awhile. Everyone was loving that! I can't remember exactly what they played, but it wasn't just the usual hits. I seem to remember La Vie En Rose being one of the songs.  Then when I left with my travel companion for the long drive home - we kept the party going with more Donna tunes in the car.

Los Angeles - you are next up. If I didn't have bills to pay, I'd pack my bags and join you.  I've decided that Donna is a drug and I am hopelessly (and unrepentantly) addicted.  :-)

- Me, reporting from the third padded room on the right in website HQ  ;-)