(1).png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
Paducah 2 — The Ricky Tims Concert, with Kat Bowser
Most of Paducah was work, with some notable exceptions:
The rides to and from the airport in Nashville (2+ hours away) with Jan Krentz and Rachael Clark in both directions, and Charlotte Angotti and Rami Kim on the way home, too…laughed, talked, learned a TON just listening from the masters and practiced teachers on the circuit. And had fun and dinner too! Major thanks to Kenny Shroeder for the rides!
Meeting Leslie and Caty, having dinner, and seeing Paducah with them… yeah Quilt Mavs! Meeting online friends in the real is the best!
And going to the Ricky Tims concert on Friday night. I lucked into a ticket (thanks to a certain benificent soul!), and went on my own. As Caty, Leslie and I walked to dinner on Friday, we saw a Looooonnnnnnggggggg line snaking around the Four Rivers Center of folks (mostly ladies) waiting to go to the concert. I was so glad I was going to eat instead, and was quite happy to arrive just before the show and sit in the rafters. Well… when I walked in, first I was WOWED by the building; click here for a video tour online (warning for those on dial-up… find a high-speed connection before clicking on the link). What a gorgeous building. Then I made a bee-line for the ladies room before the concert began and before heading to where I was directed, the upper balcony. When I came out of the ladies room, I noticed a hallway that led toward the stage and orchestra seating that said Orchestra 5. So I went down it. Luck was with me… a single seat, on the aisle, ten rows back from the stage and directly in line with the piano bench! Here was my view:
Does it get any better? Ricky began with a trumpet solo, then told us it was the first time he’d played trumpet in public in 25 years or so, but that the trumpet had been in younger days his best instrument. It’s still good…I swear that man can play any musical instrument he touches. And he’s a born entertainer. Alas, I didn’t get pictures of his entrance… picture this:
- The theatre is dark except for the screen in the center and the spotlights on his two large quilts flanking the screen. Then those lights dim.
- The curtains in the back of the stage part and you see “smoke/fog” backlit… (think dry ice).
- Suddenly a bright beam pierces the dark into the audience, followed by a HUGE rumble….varoom, VaRoooom, VAROOOOOM…. and slowly, carefully, (ya know what Ricky drives?) in he comes on a HARLEY onto the stage! It was a total riot!!!!!
So, he sings, he jokes, he does his thing, and introduces a friend / performer / Kit Bowser. And says she said “Hey, what are we gonna do special for MY entrance?” So…….
Kat Bowser’s entrance, on the not-quite-a-Harley , above, and a shot of her singing later in the concert, below:
The rest of the show was as hilarious and fun….Kat is very much a cabaret type singer / torch singer. You can see her MySpace page here and listen to her music at CuppaJoeRecords here. I enjoyed her singing so much I actually bought a CD, my first CD purchase in about 2 years! Oh yeah…work ALERT—don’t click on the My Space link with your sound turned up on your computer if you’re at work! But it is definitely toe-tapping music!
And during the show, as my throbbing, aching feet began to rest, I could sit there and mellow in the music (or laugh at the jokes) and enjoy the glorious color and dancing designs of Ricky’s quilts. Kat sang a song with “Glory Hallelujah Dance!” which I think would be the perfect title for a quilt…. I used to live to dance… took ballet for years as a kid and studied with the San Francisco Ballet Company. I’d probably prefer modern dance more now, but am too creaky… but I can still dance with my soul! Hmmmm…. I think I’m recovering from the past year, my creativity is coming back!
Next blogpost…some of my classes!
May 7th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
I was lucky enough to attend Ricky’s lecture with slides and music — I think it had to do with history and quilts — at a quilt show a while back and he really is an entertainer as well as a fantastic quilter. What a wonderful trip you had in all ways!