Work hard all week and then what? You play! And play we did, all weekend, with FAMILY!Starting with Friday after painting, I drove the 6 miles from Amy's house to Nicholas' daycare to pick him up for a sleep-over. The usual: Mexican for supper, PacMan hand-eye coordination for quiet time before bed, Waffle House for breakfast, and driver's ed again before it got too hot. What's so cute about his driving is that he always picks out one of his friends to ride with him, seatbelt and all. He likes to share and pretend.
Then Donica left for the airport to pick up her niece, Silke, who flew in from San Antonio, TX, Saturday morning for a short visit, first with us and then Donica's mom. Donica just happened to be checking the round-trip rates last Wednesday and spontaneously jumped on a cheap fare. It all happened quickly. The next thing we knew, she was here! So when Amy came to pick up Nicholas Saturday afternoon, Silke was here to say HI to her and Nicholas before we all headed out the door again.
This time, Donica, Silke and I drove north to Knoxville, TN, to hear Westrin & Mowry at an evening gig there (driving down from Michigan State!). This was our surprise to Silke after finding out she was going to be here. She had already become quite the fan of W&M, thanks to Donica giving her their CD last Christmas. So now was her chance to actually meet them, up close and personal. Pete Mowry, remember, is my nephew, so this was big for us as well. Family meeting family, popping our buttons, hootin' and howlerin.' Silke didn't have to ask more than once to get this shot of her with Pete. In fact, she even got a nice note and autograph from him for when they make the Big Time. I love it!It's 3 1/2 hours to Knoxville from our house, so coming home, while Donica slept, Silke and I talked up a storm, passing the time till we got back home at 2a. Just put us 2 talkers together any time and we'll cover the territory on just about anything. A short night, though, for sleep!
Now we're exhausted! We really did play hard for us old farts before starting another work-hard week. We're supposed to be "working harder on relaxing" but we just couldn't pass up all these "fab" opportunities. It kinda felt like a family holiday weekend without the extra day off--very nice memories that wear you out!
We commissioned Silke to write the review of W&M's gig in Knoxville Saturday night. Here's what she wrote:
ReplyDelete20 aug 05
knoxville, tn
how do you express the beauty of the sea after a storm to someone who has never seen the ocean? i ask in earnest because that is the nature of the problem i'm having right now. i was asked to write a review of the show i saw tonight and i'm somewhat at a loss as to how i should start. it reminds me of a line in a movie i saw years ago where a woman was trying to explain how the music made her feel. and the response was, "you can't talk about music. talking about music is like dancing about architecture." and as flaubert said, "the human word is like a cracked cauldron upon which we beat out melodies fit for making bears dance when we are trying to move the stars to pity." so here i go...
it was an unexpected (and wonderful) surprise to learn that i would finally be able to see westrin & mowry perform live. my expectations were high. very high. so when the guy who was opening for them finished his set (he was quite exceptional), i leaned forward eagerly awaiting the first notes. and i was not disappointed. far, far from it. they started out with "you've got it all" and they just... bloomed. you could see the energy building in them, the current flowing from them, around them, through them. by the time they reached the chorus of "saturday" i was utterly spellbound. i'm not sure exactly when i acquired the goofy grin and tunnel vision that blocked out everything but the stage, but it was when they began the chorus to "saturday" that i realized how profoundly impressed i was. and more than that, i was moved. watching them play and sing you could see the joy they found in it and it was impossible not to be caught up in it.
brian looked like he was having the time of his life belting out the words with every evidence of euphoric abandon. his voice (at once husky, strong, and light) played over the melodies and almost forced you to yearn to reach such heights. peter, bouncing on the balls of his feet, made his guitar work look so fluid it took me a moment to really understand how good he was. to my untutored eye it seemed so effortless, the fingering and strumming, that i actually had to concentrate to see how fast his fingers moved and to grasp the skill it took to be able to create the sounds he did.
after that, they played a couple of new songs from their upcoming album, including “white lie” and “cold snap”, and then they turned down the tempo with "for you" with only peter and brian playing. peter sat cradling his guitar while brian stood and the body language alone could have broken your heart. combined with the music... but then, then i was undone. for the next song was my absolute favorite and it was dedicated to me. they stood there strumming the first notes to "stronger, too" and i just... melted. my eyes lost their focus and i couldn't have moved if my life depended on it. the tenderness in that song... it evoked memories from the past, exquisite and painful, bruises of the heart that hadn't quite healed. i'm not ashamed to admit tears fell as the song came to a close.
after that the tempo jumped up as they finished with some new songs that definitely rocked and my feet moved of their own volition as my body swayed to the beat. the whole night was intoxicating with their music playing tug-of-war with my emotions in a way that i've rarely experienced. and all too soon, it was over. and the first thought that came to me was, “how am i going to get myself up to michigan on the 26th so that i can see them again?” truly, i don’t think i’ve witnessed a performance that could compare to tonight’s in longer than i can remember. extraordinary.