Tuesday night's reprise of the "songwriters' symposium" was pleasantly surprising. Just goes to show -- it's important to keep expectations low -- which I did for Tuesday night's performance.
first of all, I was not really certain we would have a crowd at all since it was, after all, a "work" night. I had forgotten to take into consideration that most of the people who remember the three of us are retired folk who can stay out as late as they please since they don't have to get up and go to the job on Wednesday.
The question then becomes, in their present state, can they "last" past 8:30 P.M. without a nap?
I found out that I shouldn't. It was a very long day for me, beginning with a trip up to Burnsville, Minnesota, to check in with the surgeon who did the work on my battered right leg nearly a year ago.
The good news there is that HE thinks it is continuing to get better. The bad news is, I'm going to live.
That's an attempt at black humor.
Robert and Mike arrived with the van full of equipment around 4:30, giving us enough time to set up leisurely. We originally were going to set up outside, but the wind, at that point, had not subsided and I had visions of light trees blowing over and law suits impending.
(I just re-read that and for the uninitated to "show biz", light trees here does not refer to small oaks, but rather telescoping, three-legged metal stands to which spot light standards are attached.)
By 7:30 (show time), Jake's was really crowded and John Lynch, the owner, was smiling. I could tell he was happy. He bought dinner for Robert and Mike. I didn't eat dinner. Had I known he was paying you had better believe I would have.
I think that the next time I go to Jake's I will order one of those great prime ribs that they are famous for, and tell the wait staff that John wants to pick up the tab.
But I digress.
It could be just me, but I felt the performance went better than Sunday night's. I felt that even though there was some crowd noise, it was less invasive. Of course, the fact that I set my monitor up on a box in front of me so that all I could hear was the sweet sound of guitars and not so sweet vocals, may have contributed to my feeling this way.
There were so many people who went out of their way to come up after the show and express how much fun they had. And as the Menomonie area is my home stomping grounds, I was feeling greatly loved.
Bunny Kinney, Steve Kelly, Charles Lasker, Fr. Jerry Boehm, Marv Lansing (who taught Robert Johnson when he was a 7th grader), Bob "Bubba" Stanton (who came to both shows -- thank you Bubba -- ), Kurt Weber, whom I taught as a 9th grader, my former bass player "too Tall" Tim Kielholtz, Alice Hampton, Deano, head bartender at Jake's, and his grandmother Carol, Jimmy and Donna Backus, John and Cathy Buchholz, Billy and Margie Kraus, chicken farmers, the lovely Kim Wilson, who took the photos, and many, many more were there, contributing to the warmth of the evening.
I will truthfully tell you that by the time 10:20 P.M. rolled around -- -- we played over -- I was running on fumes and today I am desperately in need of chiropractic help.
John Lynch expressed how much he enjoyed hearing Robert's work as he hadn't ever heard him before and John got a lot of requests from those present that he do the same thing over again next summer.
So watch for that.
My personal thanks to Mike Vlahakis who recorded both performances and is editing them down this week into what might be a purhaceable (not a word) CD sometime in the future.
So watch for that, too.
Now I can lick my wounds until Friday morning at which time I spend the day sanitizing and taking inventory of my traveling pizza "kit". Saturday morning, at an ungodly hour, I must begin a five hour drive to Mt. Vernon, Iowa, to party with Catherine-Quehl-Engel, who is the Episcopal chaplain at the college there.
I made pizza for her 30th birthday and now it is ten years later; I have been invited to do an encore. I look forward to it!
That, however, may mean no blogs until I return next week.
I will take the digital camera along and give you a full report.
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