Better late than never, I supposed.

So last (er...the weekend before the last) I went to see Tony Bennett. As you might remember I won a couple of seats, and was pretty dang happy about it. So, after finding a suitably awesome date, I found myself hurtling at a rapid pace towards the Kodak Theater.

Somehow the joint seems bigger during the Academy Awards, but it's still pretty pimp. When you stroll in, there's a great expanse of nice carpet, and at the end, a swank bar, the type that has bottles backlit on tall shelves. On the right is a wide curvey staircase that, to put it bluntly, made me feel like I was in a very glamorous 40's movie. The effect was capped by an upper level bar, that kind of drifted into view as I got to the top.

Anyways, since the show was the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Mancini Institute, they had the Mancini Institute Orchestra step out, and they started with some number I'd never heard, while they showed a montage of Mancini video. After that they played the Pink Panther, which was pretty bad-assed.

Then they said some words.

Anyways, the Orchestra then did a medley of John Williams songs. Star Wars, Jaws, Superman, Indiana Jones...which was also pretty smashing. Then John Williams came out, and conducted something he'd written for Memoirs of a Geisha. I didn't know it.

Then they said some words.

However, what I caught was, "John Williams was Mancini's piano player when he wrote "Peter Gun" (Gunn? - anyways, I thought that was kinda' cool)

Then Bennett came out, along with a 4 piece combo, piano, bass, guitar and drums - who all really ripped. For a guy who's 79, Tony seemed to be pretty spry. He did some softshoe which was rad, and wasn't afraid to skat a bit on a couple of songs. He always pulled some great move at the end of each song, ending in a pose, or hand gesture that seemed pretty right-on at the time. As for selections, well, he did a bunch I can't name, but I totally loved "Stepping Out", and tho I'm not a huge fan, was happy to hear him sing "I Left My Heart In S.F."

After most of the set was over he commented about how much he loved the theater, and then had the sound guy kill all the amps, and set down his microphone. Then he walked up to the front of the stage with his guitar player - and he proceeded to sing "Fly Me to the Moon." That was the topper. He sounded great, even if it was really soft, he carried to the corners of the place.
Shortly after, he split, and came back for three separate rounds of applause, and that was that.