Wow. Sunday was a crazy day. I got up early, walked up to Heine Brothers, did a bunch of work (yes, this seemingly glamourous life I lead is actually fueled by hours and hours of music business that involves computers and receipts), and went back home to work on my basement.
Having been out of town for a month, I had completely forgotten that it was the Breast Cancer walk. I didn't even know it was still October. My too-kind-not-wanting-to-bother-me mother didn't text me until after the walk to let me know she and my dad were at the Monkey Wrench.
So I took a break and joined them.
At some point, I discovered Dolly Parton was in town that night. You leave town for a month and are suddenly completely out of the loop when it comes to what's happening in town. But seeing as I had already failed the Breast Cancer walk, I figured I'd at least go see Dolly's Breasts. Dennie at the Wrench and I decided that we absolutely must find a ticket.
We did, of course, being the clever folks that we are. (It wasn't sold-out.)
I'd never seen Dolly before. Well, that's a lie. Back when I worked for CBS The Early Show, she was on with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt (promoting their second Trio record). I was in charge of the Green Room that day, being the only one under 50 who knew their music. I remember as I was introduced to Dolly and was walking her to the studio, she said in that thick-holler-drawl, "Darrrrlin', I looooove that big red hair. Are you Swedish?"
I thought she was just kind of dopey at the time, but having seen her whole show last night, I think she must have been joking at the Swedish comment.
That woman puts on a show. Vegas-style. She's not afraid to talk, and although she must have been telling those jokes for years, they seemed to flow well.
My biggest complaint about seeing live music has always been that the musicians forget about the entertainment factor. Unfortunately, it's still show business, so you can't forget the show element. I'm not saying you need a light show and a joke writer, but at least act like you're happy to be there.
And Dolly's been doing this for a million years, so it's natural that she's got her stage show and it's more of a Vaudeville than a concert. Sometimes jokes emerge naturally.
Peter and I developed a few jokes on the road that came about naturally. No planning or anything. They just sort of happened night-to-night and became part of the act. My favorite one is when he introduces a song and says, "I wrote this one for my wife," and I interrupt him angrily and shout, "You have a WIFE?!?!!" Then the audience laughs uncomfortable and we all start giggling. It's really funny, I swear.....
Anyway, I had a good time at the Dolly show. She sang most everything we wanted to hear ("Jolene" was the third song in!), and she made at least four jokes about her boobs. Her 12-piece band was great. She played the auto-harp without apology. And though the tickets were expensive, it was a lot cheaper than a flight to Vegas and a hotel.
I had a few other adventures this week ... more to tell later...
Read more: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=19356498&blogId=444464581#ixzz0taqPTYMU
Having been out of town for a month, I had completely forgotten that it was the Breast Cancer walk. I didn't even know it was still October. My too-kind-not-wanting-to-bother-me mother didn't text me until after the walk to let me know she and my dad were at the Monkey Wrench.
So I took a break and joined them.
At some point, I discovered Dolly Parton was in town that night. You leave town for a month and are suddenly completely out of the loop when it comes to what's happening in town. But seeing as I had already failed the Breast Cancer walk, I figured I'd at least go see Dolly's Breasts. Dennie at the Wrench and I decided that we absolutely must find a ticket.
We did, of course, being the clever folks that we are. (It wasn't sold-out.)
I'd never seen Dolly before. Well, that's a lie. Back when I worked for CBS The Early Show, she was on with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt (promoting their second Trio record). I was in charge of the Green Room that day, being the only one under 50 who knew their music. I remember as I was introduced to Dolly and was walking her to the studio, she said in that thick-holler-drawl, "Darrrrlin', I looooove that big red hair. Are you Swedish?"
I thought she was just kind of dopey at the time, but having seen her whole show last night, I think she must have been joking at the Swedish comment.
That woman puts on a show. Vegas-style. She's not afraid to talk, and although she must have been telling those jokes for years, they seemed to flow well.
My biggest complaint about seeing live music has always been that the musicians forget about the entertainment factor. Unfortunately, it's still show business, so you can't forget the show element. I'm not saying you need a light show and a joke writer, but at least act like you're happy to be there.
And Dolly's been doing this for a million years, so it's natural that she's got her stage show and it's more of a Vaudeville than a concert. Sometimes jokes emerge naturally.
Peter and I developed a few jokes on the road that came about naturally. No planning or anything. They just sort of happened night-to-night and became part of the act. My favorite one is when he introduces a song and says, "I wrote this one for my wife," and I interrupt him angrily and shout, "You have a WIFE?!?!!" Then the audience laughs uncomfortable and we all start giggling. It's really funny, I swear.....
Anyway, I had a good time at the Dolly show. She sang most everything we wanted to hear ("Jolene" was the third song in!), and she made at least four jokes about her boobs. Her 12-piece band was great. She played the auto-harp without apology. And though the tickets were expensive, it was a lot cheaper than a flight to Vegas and a hotel.
I had a few other adventures this week ... more to tell later...
Read more: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=19356498&blogId=444464581#ixzz0taqPTYMU
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