Penguins Are So Sensitive
Last night we got to see Lyle Lovett and His Acoustic Band in a little theatre in Torrington - The Warner Theatre. He was with:
- Luke Bulla on fiddle
- Viktor Krauss on bass
- Arnold McCuller, singer
- Russ Kunkel on drums
- Cellist John Hagen who has been with Lyle since the 70's
- Keith Sewell on guitar (from Duncanville, TX)
We had a great time. They played for about 2 1/2 hours. Apart from enjoying the music and being terribly homesick and missing mom, the thing that really stuck out to me was the encore. They did You Can't Resist It. It was SO GOOD! One of my all time favorites anyway.
The musicians were all singled out and got to really showcase their amazing talents. But the best part during the whole song was watching Lyle. He would be listening and watching as intently as the audience, standing back in the shadows. When something was really good, he'd grin a genuine grin. When the younger guys were playing (Luke and Keith) he would look over at one of his long time friends and fellow musicians. They would give a knowing nod, as if to say to each other, this kid's got something. And then Lyle would go back to admiring the talent and skill. He was getting just as big a kick out of them as we were.
I really don't know what to type here. I was thinking I wished I had Haley or Bill in the car on the ride home to talk to. All I knew was it looked really hard and sounded amazing. The only way I can think to describe it is like a diner who sits down and enjoys a gourmet meal. They may have no idea what a parsnip or leek looks like, where it grows, or how to begin to prepare it. They just know the puree under the salmon tastes really good. That's how I felt. So ignorant to the actual amount of skill and talent I was watching. I was simply amazed. The guitar solo, for example, was unbelievable. It was the perfect way to end the show. You just walked out uplifted, a little stunned and definitely feeling like it was an evening well spent.
The concert as a whole was much different than the concert that Mom and I went to. That one was sheer joy and fun from the first song to the last. I remember us singing and grinning from ear to ear the entire time. The Large Band has a much different feel. Release Me is a collection of cover songs, not Lyle's own. It was the stories about why he chose them that were more interesting to me than some of the songs themselves.
And there was a GREAT birthday idea ... A large group of people started to file in right before show time, all wearing hawaiian leis. Come to find out, a woman was turning 50 and she invited 50 of her friends to see the concert with her. They came in on a school bus and had several center aisles right up front. She was on the second row. So Lyle, quite appropriately for that small a theater, stopped and sang her Happy Birthday. It was really cute!
It was a fun time. We had great seats. We could see everything and the sound was really good. Lyle even commented on how nice it was to play in the old theater and how well it had been refurbished. I wish I could have posted some photos. We politely asked the tickets takers if camera were allowed. They said no. I didn't bring mine in. As the show started cameras came out from all over, including one much larger than mine just two rows ahead of us. David got a few on his phone, but they were fuzzy and dark. Next time I'll know. Don't ask!
Mom, doesn't look like he's coming to Dallas or Ft. Worth oddly enough. But he is coming to Texas:
- September 1, 2012 - Midland TX
- September 2, 2012 -Austin TX
- September 3, 2012 - San Antonio TX
- September 6, 2012 - Tyler TX
- September 9, 2012 - Austin TX
And for his tour in Texas he's bringing his Large Band, because he knows everything bigger in Texas!
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