First of all, I never would have chosen to go to this show, but my girldate asked me to go with her, and since one hand washes the other, I acquiesced.

There was a delay in letting us in to the Hart Theater, unusual but because there was a meet and greet with Jewel. This is from her website:

Is that crazy? $129 for a CD, a t-shirt, a selfie, and a 'crowd free shopping opportunity', where you could pick up a copy of her new book - not including the price of the ticket itself, which was a steepish $75 (expensive girldate). Also, please sign the required waiver and release of liability. What a hoot.

I could have broken my own rule #1 (always show up for the opener) for this show. JD and the Straight Shot have been around for ten years, long enough to put out five records and an EP. I didn't know them, and after seeing them, have no opinion of what distinguishes them from anybody else. To me, the interesting story is that 'JD' is James Dolan - the mogul, the CEO of Cablevision, Executive Chairman of MSG Networks, Executive Chairman of Madison Square Garden Company --> OWNER OF THE KNICKS! (Keep your day job, JD...oh wait, maybe quit your day job for the good of the team?!)

Then it was time for girly girl. I admit here that I loved the CD, Pieces of You, and played it a billion times. Hmmm, when was that? Oh yeah, 20 years ago! I have no idea what she's been doing since then except America's Got Talent or something similar....

She talked a lot about her life - dysfunctional family with abuse and alcohol, living in her van, getting divorced - and her new book! She certainly has lived an interesting life, and interspersed anecdotes between songs, and a few times the lights went down and a recorded passage was played - Jewel talking inspirationally.

I'll put the set list in here when I remember to look for that scrap of paper I wrote it on...

She does have an amazing voice, so light, so lovely. Overall, this show was much better than I was expecting it to be - and yes, I broke out Pieces of You again...