Jody Watley - Birchmere - July 30 2009

Jody Watley - Here's my guilty pleasure show of the year. I am not much into celebrated disco divas who move on to smooth pop-R&B charting, although there are a fair number of artists I have some respect for. I have always like Jody Watley more than most and it helped that my post punk industrial dance music singer-composer friend was also a major fan of Ms. Watley. So, off to the Birchmere and see how she is doing as an independent artist in 2009. The show starts with a DJ on stage who played 6-7 songs in a manner that mostly could have been handled at the soundboard. The band enters and gets going with keyboards, drum kit, percussion and the DJ supplying the sound. Jody Watley comes on to a great ovation by the sizable crowd and is stunning (ok that was one reason I was always a fan). Absolutely fabulous hair, great hoop earings. One glove? Well I can guess that one. Devoted crowd that supplied a mostly standing ovation after two cuts. The songs came fast and furious and the band was solid and not even a bit flashy, so the focus was on Jody aside from their introductive solos. She was in fine form, does have a very good voice and great command of her songs. The DJ proved his value during the set as there was a bit of improvisation and some nice handling of recorded bits like backup vocals. The medley jam was good with some spontaneity within and someone walking near me in the parking lot mentioned it was a Shalamar song which Jody said she didn't do that often but the mood was right. Anyway, I had a nice time and it was a solid show where her many fans were happy. Possibly the only negative may have been a pretty short show for $50 or thereabouts. I didn't catch the exact time, but the DJ came on at 7:50, soloed for a while and I ended up home at about 9:45 (15 minute drive or so), so maybe an hour or a bit over. But I am glad I challenged myself by going to this show.

Quote of the Night: After some geeky fan scooted up to the front and was kneeling low pointing a camera straight up to Jody, she quipped (during a song) "Get a good angle. If it doesn't look right, put me on photoshop. Do you promise?" Aside from the fact that her legs probably looked like Manute Bol from that angle, I would guess it turned out fine.