Well, this has shaped up to be a good weekend so far. It started early when our younger daughter (the “Mistress of Sarcasm”) decided to come in for a quickie visit... she arrived late Thursday night and we got to spend a day with her before she split and headed back to school. Amazing how much mother-daughter bonding (read: “shopping”) can take place in one day.
And then, tonight, a wonderful concert at Chastain with T’s and F’s. Chastain Park, for those unfamiliar with Atlanta, has an outdoor amphitheatre that serves as an excellent concert venue. Atlanta has the advantage of being at a slight elevation, so even the hottest summer days generally settle down and become pleasant, temperate evenings. Of course, the trick with any outdoor concert is the weather, which ideally should be dry. Considering what we’ve been going through this spring and summer, a dry evening is a rare blessing... and tonight we were blessed.
The ritual at Chastain is to pack a picnic dinner, to be consumed (mostly) before and during the opening act. Opening at Chastain is therefore a little like dinner theatre - you do not have the audience’s undivided attention. And these dinners can be pretty elaborate affairs, complete with tablecloths, candles, wine, et al. Tonight we were celebrating the birth of the T’s first grandchild, so we had Champagne and a wretched excess of food: boiled shrimp, bruschetta, Caesar salad, gazpacho, yada yada yada. And then, the headliner: Mary Chapin Carpenter, who delivered a solid, heartfelt performance. I’m more of a Zappa fan myself, but I enjoyed the music thoroughly... and even more, enjoyed the way Mary connected with the crowd. And it didn’t hurt that we sat at Table 1 - front row, right - thanks to the T’s having had a subscription of 20 years’ standing. This meant that we were “up close ’n’ personal” with the Flamingo Conga Line of MCC fans.
All in all, a delight. Now I may have to actually get some of MCC’s tunes...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment