So. How WAS she?

After so much excitement and build up, is there any way a concert could live up to the hyped expectations that have developed in my overactive imagination? Normally, I'd have said no. Then I saw Liza Minnelli live at the Opera House, and learnt that homosexual dreams CAN come true. She was an absolute miracle. She had nothing in the way of sets, or props, or fancy staging, but still, she managed to captivate an entire audience for a full two hour show with nothing but her voice and her personality.

From the second she burst onto stage (and I burst into tears...for the first time) she was upbeat, lively and fantabulous, singing all the classics (Maybe This Time, Cabaret, Mammy) and some that I was desperately hoping she'd crack out, even though I wasn't expecting them (If, Liza with a Z, What Makes a Man)

The best part, though, was that despite being in the Opera House, it felt like such an intimate concert. She regaled the audience with stories, and anecdotes, and even just with jokes (Like when she started shifting uncomfortably, then stopped, looked out and declared "My knickers keep riding up!") that were, in many ways, even more entertaining than the songs. It was just unlike anything I've ever witnessed before in my life. I mean, I've seen some concerts in my day. Actually, I can honestly say that I've seen ALL my favourite artists live. Kylie Minogue. Bette Middler. Cher. All of them. But Liza was in a class of her own. The others are true showgirls. Fabulous, amazing showgirls. But Liza Minnelli is Hollywood Royalty. There is nobody on the planet like her. And to watch her live, to bask in her presence. It was unlike anything I've experienced before, or likely after. Her ability to command a room like that, to just captivate every single person in there, is unparalleled, and I'm privileged to have been a part of it.

But the absolute highlight of the night? Her final number, New York, New York. Holy Saint Liza, I think I had a religious experience watching it. She was SO powerful, she almost lifted the damn roof off the opera house. It was fabulous. I've seen concert footage from the height of her career in the 80s where she didn't perform that number with as much energy! And to top it off, she performed "All the Lives of Me" as an encore. I knew she'd have to sing a Peter Allen song, but I didn't realise it would be so amazingly emotional and raw. The fact that before she finished she cried out "Thank you, Peter" ensured there wasn't a dry eye in the house. Thank the gods I wore waterproof mascara, let me tell you...