Hangin' with JT....
Things get a little confusing when you are seated in the FIRST row at the North Charleston Coliseum for a
James Taylor concert.
Yep, about 8 seats to the right of center.
The good news is the microphone is not right in front of his face as it is when you're seated in the center, quite a few rows back.
The bad news is Bonnie Raitt had to cancel her appearance with James due to a medical condition.
He announced at the start of the show that her surgery was successful, she's doing fine and will join the tour very shortly.
The confusing part is you are too close to appreciate all the images changing behind James and his band.
Country roads, mountains, forests, etc. move around, drift across the projected sky, and slowly fade from one scene to another.
Even the Jumbotrons are at odd angles so you can't see what the rest of the audience is being shown.
I'm such a complainer! Sheesh.
Had a young excited couple sitting next to me who said it was their first time seeing Taylor in concert.
She too was using her phone cam and I complimented her on her composition.
I added that we had seen him here in 2014 and in Columbia in 2011.
Just as she asked me if he ever gets up off the stool and moves around, he jumped up and did just that!
He was moving toward our side of the stage.
She was laughing and tried to swing her phone camera to keep his image.
Then, he turned and went back to the stool and sat down again.
I said
"well, it's a live concert. We just need to enjoy the show."
She didn't ask me any more questions about what he might do next.
I concentrated on his interaction with band members, most of whom I remembered from when I had seen him previously.
Without Bonnie Raitt to share the stage, I guessed he would do a shorter show.
Well, he actually ran a bit longer than we expected so I'm glad I had not mentioned that to the young couple.
It had been announced there would be a short intermission so it was fun when the crowd started suggesting songs he should play next.
James had a ready answer,
"We are going to take a break pretty soon and I hear you calling out your favorites."
"Here's the list of what we are going to play in the second half."
"Take a look and see if the ones you want are listed. I'm really looking forward to the next half.
"It has a lot of my favorites too and I'm glad we all are going to hear them."
He played one more of his hits and announced the break and said be sure to come back in about 20 minutes.
As the band left the stage, the young couple got up to go check the merchandising table for t-shirts and CDs.
At about the same time, James walked over to our side, sat down in front of me on the front edge of the stage.
He started signing his name to anything presented to him.
I saw tickets to his show being signed and handed back.
Others had come prepared and had copies of vinyl albums to be autographed.
It was a calm but excited crowd that filled the space all around me, holding out items and taking selfies with their cellphones.
He was relaxed and good-natured, keeping track of who presented what and handing it back in their direction.
My plans to slip out for another beer were stymied as the crowd grew, blocking any easy exit.
Well, what the heck.
I handed my phone cam to somebody and asked them to take a shot of me. And they framed it pretty good.
I have found my arms are too short to do a good selfie so this was fine.
I even fished my ticket from my shirt pocket and he signed it.
I tucked it back in my pocket so I could show the usher I belonged here in the front row when the show resumed and the crowd had dispersed.
Glancing at it, I saw the
"James" was readable but the
"Taylor" was more of a scrawl.
I knew what it said and when and where it had happened.
In past concerts, I have been handed a guitar pick from Buddy Guy, one from c.d.lang and another from the late B.B. King so I appreciate when performer rapport happened.
Oh, the young couple came back for the second part of the show. They didn't ask so I didn't mention the signings they had missed.
Nor the brief conversation I had had with James Taylor.
I said, "we enjoyed your show in Columbia with your son Ben." He said thanks and added he was going to play there again later this year.
As you probably know the big hits come toward the end of the show and really flourish during the encore.
The young couple ducked past us before the encore and mumbled something about "beating the crowd."
Rookies.
(Click on the photos and the links for more details.)
Enjoyed the concert but regretted NOT bringing my small camera along.
The phone cam has its place with really nice HDR results but a real zoom lens was sorely missed.
*Uh, this is posting number 999.
Labels: James Taylor, JT, merch table, signer of tickets and anything handed to him, signing t-shirts and a 1960 vinyl album, what a band
Shoshone vs Mohawk
While I was in Cheyenne, Wyoming last week, I saw an impressive statute of
Chief Washakie.
It stands out in front of the state capitol.
He was the leader of the Shoshone tribe for 60 years.
History describes him as a moderate who negotiated a large tract of good land for his people.
Later, of course, there were incursions on the property but Chief Washakie was a wise ruler and held his own.
The temperature was hovering in the teens/ low twenties so this was a "quick" shot.
I wanted to duck into the capitol and get out of the frigid and fierce Cheyenne Wind.
I had lived in Kansas long ago and the wind came sweeping across the plains, slowed only by barbed wire and wooden posts.
Later, I had dinner at
Sandfords Grub & Pub, downtown on a busy Saturday night.
My brother got an 8 oz steak and a baked potato that might have weighed several pounds. It was huge.
I opted for a grilled chicken "burger" with mixed veggies on the side.
Our server came by often, promising our food would be here "soon." That actually dragged out to about 30 minutes but, finally we could start to eat.
When she brought the check, she said the manager had comped the meal because of the long wait. My brother asked if the manager could stop by - he wanted to kiss her!
The manager had a distinctive, well-groomed hair style and chin whiskers. A hand shake instead of a kiss.
With the cold temps, and the howling wind, probably a good idea to grow his hair long for extra warmth.
After I got back from Wyoming, I was seated down front for the
James Taylor concert at the Coliseum. He was backed by a 10-piece talented band.
What a terrific almost 3-hour show!
I was a typical audience member, growing up with his music in the 60s and 70s.
The first of his five Grammy Awards was "Fire and Rain," followed in 1972, by "You've Got A Friend."
In his more than 40-year musical career, he has sold more than 100,000,000 albums. Yikes.
If you click the link, I found the evening's set list.
I am sure you will find many memorable songs that you enjoyed growing up.
Drums, congas, penny whistle, violin, accordion, saxophone, bass guitar, three backup singers and an array of keyboards.
The show was spectacular and had the crowd on it's feet quite a few times.
The lighting and sound was so good, you forgot your chair was sitting above the hockey ice surface in a large arena.
I think everyone in the world now has a phone or tablet to take photographs.
(Click on the photos for more details.)
After seeing the heads full of hair up in Wyoming, Taylor's bald
pate really stood out.
He spent the 20-minute intermission, sitting on the front edge of the stage, signing photos, some albums and posed for hundreds of pictures/.
When he got up to start the second set, he whipped out his soft hat and wore that for the rest of the show.
I came home and saw that I had his vinyl album "Sweet Baby James" sitting in front of my extensive CD collection.
I also still have a turntable. Might crank that up in a day or two.
Nice hair James.
Labels: 100 million albums sold, 5 Grammy Awards and a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer, James Taylor, Sweet Baby James
400th BLOG. Yikes.
Moments in time.
My
400th posting on my blog.
Marked by a "1970s time travel" experience.
Yes. That is
James Taylor in concert in Columbia a few days ago. Still in fine voice.
His
Sweet Baby James album came out in 1970 with the intensely personal song
"Fire & Rain."He sang the title song as well as
"Fire" and
"Carolina On My Mind" but not
"Steam Roller."
His "Special Guest" on the stage was his son Ben Taylor.
Singing, playing and banter was good from his barefoot boy.
The 63-year old dad broke his left leg skiing last week and quipped he was doing fine
"thanks to some great chemistry." Ben added
"Guess we should stop saying 'break a leg.'"There were wooden stools on stage but both stood up to play and sing as well.
Earlier in the day I stopped at the Columbia Museum of Art.
Enjoyed 2 hours of time tumbling through the 60s, 70s and 80s.
No picture-taking was allowed inside but here's the poster out front with Punk stars
The Ramones.
This classic shot captured a moment at Eric's Club in Liverpool,1977.
Get over to Columbia before this goes away.
The Beatles, Janis Joplin, baby-faced Keith Richardson and The Stones, Elvis, Jimi Hendrix setting his guitar on fire, Kurt Cobain...all these and more were caught in front of these cameras.
Richard Avedon on his 1961 shot of the
Everly Brothers:
"A portrait is not a likeness....but an opinion."Outrageous album covers were being imagined and created long before
Photoshop.
Officials in Morocco were reluctant to allow placing actual giant inflated red balloons along the top of sand dunes at dawn but that was the vision of the album designer.
The funniest part of this looking back experience was using my
Smartphone and
GPS guidance system to find these places.
(Click images for detail. Koger Center for the Arts was aggressive enforcing no cameras..but only on the front row! Flashes going off all around the hall and my little non-flash camera acted as a magnet.
Easy-to-get-to rules enforcement.)
Labels: Ben Taylor, Bob Gruen, Columbia Museum of Art, Elvis, Fire and Rain, GPS, James Taylor, Janis, Jimi Henrdrix, Koger Center For The Arts, Richard Avedon, Smartphone, Sweet Baby James, The Ramones
Had a young excited couple sitting next to me who said it was their first time seeing Taylor in concert.
As you probably know the big hits come toward the end of the show and really flourish during the encore.
