You've Got a Friend...

I couldn't quite see where they came from, but you could hear the crowd erupt into loud cheers and applause as the band, James Taylor and Carole King entered the stage. I barely remember the opening song, except thinking that James voice sounded stunning. What I most remember, is Carole King at the piano and hearing a familiar, favorite tune. "You're so far away, doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore..." I sang along, quietly, so as not to freak out my neighbors. LOL

Song after song gave me chills and brought back memories. James voice was smooth and clear. He seemed such an engaging and endearing person on stage. He gave a little history behind some of the songs, and made me laugh more than once with a funny remark. IT was enjoyable. I tried to to take photos as well as I could and not concentrate on the migraine that had started make itself more and more known and for the most part, I succeeded in not letting it ruin the evening. It was thoroughly enjoyable.




For the most part Carole and James alternated, but also sang a number of tunes together. Mr. Taylor had informed us early on that this was the original band. What a talented group of musicians! I especially got a kick out of Lee Sklar. His long, silvery white hair and beard gave him the appearance of a wizard from a fairy tale, or perhaps he could have been perfectly cast as Gandolf had he been an actor. I tried in vain to get a good photo of him, but this was the best I could do:

Too soon, the first half of the show came to a close, and there was a 15 minute intermission. I took pics of my seat, and tried another photo of myself and again someone offered to take it, so I let her. I took a few photos of the tables behind the barricade (they were quite expensive and way out of my budget, and in part went to a charitable cause.) I played around with the exposure without flash, and then took one with the flash to compare. I wasn't able to use flash during the show, not that it would have worked anyway. Anyway, this sufficiently killed time until the second half of the concert began.



Again, I was enchanted with the music and the performance of James and Carole.
With the exception of two slight bobbles (on one song the soft start up was slow, and on Jazzman - first part sounded a bit like she couldn't hear herself in the monitor), all of the vocals were unbelievably good. Trust me, she can definitely belt out a song!! During several of the songs, Carole pretty much put some of the younger folks to shame with her stage presentation! She had everyone on their feet clapping and singing.





And there were some incredibly sweet moments were it was obvious that there was a definite rapport between Carole and James. If they weren't having a wonderful time and weren't amazingly good friends, then they certainly deserve an academy award. It made the concert that much more enjoyable for me as a member of the audience looking on.


After the concert ended, the place just erupted with applause, standing ovations and such, and they did come back out for an encore. Too soon, it was over. So many songs, and it seemed as though it should have just been beginning. I have to admit, I was pretty tired, though, so it's probably a good thing that it didn't go on all night.

I headed out towards the exit, slowly since I wasn't in a hurry to catch up with the backlog of people on the stairs. I lingered for a short bit near the sound booth to see if I could spot set lists, but didn't see anything. I figured it was a pretty big long shot as I couldn't get too close. The crowd started to thin a little, so I made my way upstairs and then stopped to take a potty break before heading for home.

So why mention a potty break? On the way out the bathroom door, I noticed a gal with a paper in her hand and it looked like it could be a set list. I was bold enough to ask if it was a set list and she showed it to me. So, I asked if she minded if I took a photo and she was gracious enough to consent. I tried twice and the camera decided I didn't need flash and I disagreed with it, so we moved and tried once more. I didn't want to impose any longer, but she was all for it, very patient and extremely nice about the whole thing.

Afterwards, I thanked her and headed for the car, walking slowly, enjoying the perfect temperatures outside and killing time so that I wouldn't have to drive in the after concert traffic. I even took a few silly photos in the parking garage until I saw that traffic had lightened up (suprisingly quickly.) The drive home went smoothly, except for a bit of a traffic hangup due to construction, and I made it home just a little earlier than I would have had I gone to work.

The only downside to the evening is that this is one show I wish I could have gone with someone. It was meant to be shared. If there is another tour like this one ever, I would not hesitate to go again. Who will go with me?

Peace out,
Melanie