Liza with a Z, Not Lisa with an S
She’s the daughter of the most famous female entertainer of all time and she’s made quite a name for herself as well. Judy Garland’s daughter, Liza Minnelli, has a voice which sends chills down your spine. It’s not everyday that you get to go see a legend perform. Well that’s what my mom and I did today. After an excruciatingly long ride which left my mom on the verge of several panic attacks, spiked blood pressure and nightmares to keep her awake for the next week, we finally arrived at the Chumash Casino. We did make a few pit steps along the way including Neverland Ranch (look out for a more detailed blog shortly) as well as Burger King where I lost my temper at an idiotic employee. Anyway, we finally arrived at of all places to see the living legend Liza Minnelli …..The Chumash Casino. Who would have ever thought she’d play there? Well to tell you the truth I’m glad she did. Minnelli has two upcoming shows at the Hollywood Bowl which has a seating capacity of 17,376. That’s not to mention how almost EVERY SINGLE SEAT at the Hollywood Bowl is horrible. I didn’t want my first Liza concert to be at such a terrible venue and when my mama informed me that she’d be performing at Chumash, I knew we HAD to go. The Chumash Theater holds about 1,200 people if even that. The tickets were the same price so the only obstacle left in our way was the drive. Well, it was terrible –you know that part– but it was absolutely worth it.
We arrived at the casino and headed straight to the theater. We were anxious to see what a $65 ticket view looks like. I can assure you we were shocked at what we saw. Liza Minnelli–one of the last living icons– was performing in a run down theater with removable chairs and filled with tons of elderly women with oxygen tanks (that’s expected though.) The point being that we bought the cheapest tickets that there were and had the view that the most expensive ticket at Hollywood Bowl couldn’t even come close to. I need to try and explain this concert venue a little more though. I’m pretty sure it’s the same location where the hold their bingo tournaments or local middle school formals. It was tacky to say the least.
Liza took to the stage promptly at 8pm. Right away she exploded with energy. I’m talking triple the amount of energy of Britney Spears during her Circus tour. I’m drop dead serious. Liza had no problem speaking one on one with the crowd and even though we were a crowd of a thousand at an Indian casino, it felt as though she was speaking to each and every one of us.
Someone from the crowd shouted out, “Liza, we love you!”
To which Minnelli quickly responded with, “I love you too! No really I do!, I love and appreciate each and every one of you. You know everyone I’ve ever loved my parents, my friends, everyone has joined the choir upstairs. The only thing I have left is you all!”
She got the crowd pumped up when she sang one of the songs that made her famous from the classic film “Cabaret.” It was almost as if EVERY song she sang ended in a standing ovation. She just has one of those voices that can truly make a room shake. She sang songs from her mother as well as from her recent Tony Award winning show Liza At The Palace. I can spend hours upon hours just listening to Liza talk. I mean that. She told a story of how she met her pianist. “I was in restaurant because I was HUNNNNNGRREEEYYY and all of a sudden I heard the most beautiful piano playing of my life.”
Half way through the show the smell of poo poo and senior citizen breath overtook the theater which was a bit hard to deal with at first. That’s one problem that wouldn’t have happened at the Bowl. There was also an obnoxious couple behind my mom and I who talked throughout every song Liza sang. I attacked them with a series of “Shhhs” and before I knew it, they walked out and never returned. They were clearly intoxicated. Who drinks at a Liza Minnelli concert? She’s as pure as soda pop,it wasn’t some trashy Big and Rich concert. Back to Liza.
She recounted a story about a terrible day in which she was awoken by the sound of her phone ringing. She picked it up and her friend told her, “Liza, put on the television.” So she did. “What about it? It’s the Towering Inferno” she quipped. “Change the channel.” What Liza was watching was not the Towering Inferno but the sight of the Twin Towers burning on September 11th, 2001. Minnelli recounted how the day after the attack, “every New Yorker no matter what their ethnicity, race, religion or sex rushed down to help in any way possible.” Then she revealed, ONE SONG had become the new anthem of a city which had been beaten to the floor but wasn’t down yet. The song was “New York, New York” which was written specifically for her. (Frank Sinatra would later do a cover which was even MORE successful.) Upon the story, Minnelli took to the stage and performed the unofficial anthem of New York. Each high note, the crowd would cheer and by the time she was half way throu the song, EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the theater was on their feet. The song is iconic, it is powerful and since the attacks of 9/11 has taken on a much more symbolic meaning. Just as the song as seen a surge in popularity over the past few years, Minnelli remains as relevant as ever. Fresh off her Tony win, Minnelli shows no signs of stopping yet. Though she did joke how she used to need a chair to sit for the second act of the show but now she needs it for both acts.
One thing noticeably absent from the concert was any mention of Liza’s lifelong best friend Michael Jackson. Though Minnelli did make several appearences on Larry King Live following Jackson’s death, she was nowhere to be seen at the memorial and she didn’t even utter a word about it. Maybe she’s waiting for her performance at the Hollywood Bowl on August 29th, Michael’s birthday. I know one thing…I’ll be at that show as well.
As the show came to an end. Liza took her bows but came out for one last song. About a dozen people had rushed to the stage to take a few close up pictures of her. I thought to myself, ‘Wow that’s rude! All these people paid good money for their seats and couldn’t be that close.” I paused for a second then thought to myself about all the people that paid $150 for their tickets. SUCKERS! I quickly dashed to the stage and before I knew it, I was just a couple feet away from Liza Minnelli. I tried to steady my hands to take a picture of her but they were shaking like there was no tomorrow. I did capture a few, the above pic as well as the pic at the top. I felt her vibe. I felt her energy. I saw her perform. If there’s anything I learned after the death of Michael Jackson, it’s the fact that these people who we read about in history books, these public figures that we talk about daily don’t last forever. I spent an entire quarter at UCLA learning about Liza, her mother and MJ. I studied every aspect of their career to the point where they weren’t real people to be anymore. Surely, someone who could have such a tremendous impact on our culture as well as the world couldn’t be real. I knew one thing, if any of the performers I learned about had a concert near me then I sure as hell was going to be there. I was determined to see Michael Jackson in concert. Sadly, he passed away just weeks later. When my mom told me about Minnelli I knew that she was one performer that I wasn’t going to regret not seeing in the future. I was going to be there and experience her talents live and in the flesh. Liza is history to me. She’s just as important as John F. Kennedy, she’s just as influential as the Pope, though she may not have a title Liza Minnelli is royalty in the realm of Pop Culture and that just happens to be the world I live in.
Me and my best friend, my mom. I’m happy that I got to enjoy such an amazing concert with her. There’s NO ONE that knows more about pop culture than her, she’s like an encyclopedia of knowledge. I’m constantly amazed at everything she knows, grateful for everything she does and cherish every special moment such as the concert that I get to spend with her. I love you mom!