Concert Reviews
The Birchmere.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
The Birchmere. Alexandria, VA
By Cindy W.
I drove up to Virginia with my sister and niece on Friday and we stayed in Arlington, just a few miles away from Alexandria. I was afraid to venture out too much into DC or the surrounding areas because I knew we would get lost. We had an excellent view of the Pentagon and Arlington Cemetery from our hotel.
Early on Saturday we decided to take a trial run to test our directions to the Birchmere, and we got there with no problem. I met Nadine (Hello Nadine!) and another lady from NJ, but I cannot recall her name. Talk about the DC fog.
When we saw the outside of the Birchmere, we were a little dismayed, to say the least. It looked like a hole in the wall, and the neighborhood was not so great. (As it turned out, though, the place had great acoustics and David sounded wonderful.)
When we arrived an hour and a half before the show, the parking lot was packed. I heard several people mention they had never seen it so full. I was pleased to hear that, until I realized that you are seated in the order in which you arrive - good golly, had I realized that, I would have arrived much earlier! That will teach me to pay better attention, since all this info was available on their website, and I hadn't bothered to read it. Actually though, I could not complain at all. I wound up being at a table that was only about 30 feet from the stage, and the place was very intimate, so I doubt that anyone really had a bad seat.
Well, what can I say? It was a fabulous show. David was in a great mood and sounded wonderful. He sang "Common Thief," which I enjoyed very much, as well as "How Can I Be Sure." I am not sure he has sung those two in the last few shows I have seen, so I was glad to hear them.
The thing that impressed me the most, however, was how receptive David was to the fans. He did a lot of the hand holding, and touching that we have come to expect, but he also kissed just about every woman who was near the front of the stage - and there were lots of them.
I went up to the stage and got my "DC touch" early on, and then instead of going back up there, I sat and watched the reactions of the other fans. It was actually sort of touching to see how emotional some of them were. I was loving watching them love him - lol! I heard several emotional outbursts of "he touched me!!" And one woman called out something to him, and when David answered she screamed "oh my God, I am talking to David Cassidy!" I didn't see anyone acting disrespectfully, but instead, they actually seemed completely thrilled. I was thrilled for them, and it made the experience all the better for me. Does that make any sense at all?
I noticed something else during the show. There were more men there than I can recall at any show I have seen recently. All the ones near me seemed to be really enjoying the show, too, instead of acting like they had been dragged there against their will. As I was leaving, I overheard one man on his cell phone. He was telling the caller that he had just gotten out of the David Cassidy show, and he said "you know, it was a really great show." And, of course, it was!
