Fourth Encore
I had the great pleasure of catching Richard Thompson in concert at the Fitzgerald Theater last night. As usual*, he put on a wonderful show, armed, as he was, with an acoustic guitar, his sharp and sardonic wit and 30 plus years of tunes (of which he chose from liberally).
The show, itself, lasted almost three hours and included a great new ditty about Janet Jackson's breast incident/titty debacle/wardrobe malfunction from the Superbowl Halftime show (I hope to have the lyrics to this song soon...so stay tuned for details...it'll be worth the wait) and three encores.
Three Encores with each comprising three additional songs a piece.
Well worth the 25 bucks for the ticket.
AND there was an added bonus.
After the show I (unexpectedly) was graced with a FOURTH encore--albeit not one performed by Mister Thompson nor in the theater proper-- as presented by a trio of gentlemen out for a 'leisurely' and, quite possibly, besotted evening stroll (heck...they may have even been at the show and had partaken in, not only the fantastic show Richard put on, but also way-too-many inebriating bevinos...or simply the latter at a nearby tavern...I cannot be sure).
En route to my parked vehicle, the wife and I took note of these three fellows galumphing down the street just across from us. They were 'chatting' in a truly gutteral manner (purely monosyllabic grunts and other assorted neanderthalic noises**), which, at first, made me suspect they were Special Needers but, upon closer squints and careful listening, we were convinced that, in fact, they were simply 'Alcoholicly Challenged.'
All the better to chortle at their respective conditions.
It was but a moment after our realization of their state of intoxication that one of them took a splendidly acrobatic spill onto the sidewalk, hitting with an audibley moist THUMP (we've been in a bit of a warm spell and the streets about town are wet with melted snow; at least, I sure hope the wet noise I heard was the guy's body hitting the slick pavement and not the sound of his saturated-via-personally-produced-watery-substances-clothing making contact with the Earth).
Well...WE heard (and saw) him go BOOM; his buddies did not as they continued with their nocturnal constitutional, leaving his prone and slightly shuddering form behind.
APPLAUSE!!!
BRAVO!!!
Assorted WHISTLES!!!
It was a few moments later that they realized they were down to a duo*** and, looking back, espied their companion sprawled out on the ground. By this point I was struggling mightily with a fit of the giggles and dealing with the 'you really shouldn't be laughing' look from my wife. They staggered back to their buddy and, in a flourish of non-assistance, did not help him regain an upright stance.
So...God bless you, too, Mister Impromptu Street Performer and your two travelling companions/trainers. Your prat/splat-fall was the perfect capper to a wonderful evening.
The best Fourth Encore...Ever.
T
*I've seen him live--solo and with a backing band--at least a dozen times at this point in my life. Hmm...I must be a fanboy.
**Probably loosely translated as:
'Me like booze!'
'You am yes!'
'FLAARRGGHH!!!'
If their actions could be accurately translated to modern English.
***'Where am Bob?'
'Bob am Boom!'
'Not goodly.'
I had the great pleasure of catching Richard Thompson in concert at the Fitzgerald Theater last night. As usual*, he put on a wonderful show, armed, as he was, with an acoustic guitar, his sharp and sardonic wit and 30 plus years of tunes (of which he chose from liberally).
The show, itself, lasted almost three hours and included a great new ditty about Janet Jackson's breast incident/titty debacle/wardrobe malfunction from the Superbowl Halftime show (I hope to have the lyrics to this song soon...so stay tuned for details...it'll be worth the wait) and three encores.
Three Encores with each comprising three additional songs a piece.
Well worth the 25 bucks for the ticket.
AND there was an added bonus.
After the show I (unexpectedly) was graced with a FOURTH encore--albeit not one performed by Mister Thompson nor in the theater proper-- as presented by a trio of gentlemen out for a 'leisurely' and, quite possibly, besotted evening stroll (heck...they may have even been at the show and had partaken in, not only the fantastic show Richard put on, but also way-too-many inebriating bevinos...or simply the latter at a nearby tavern...I cannot be sure).
En route to my parked vehicle, the wife and I took note of these three fellows galumphing down the street just across from us. They were 'chatting' in a truly gutteral manner (purely monosyllabic grunts and other assorted neanderthalic noises**), which, at first, made me suspect they were Special Needers but, upon closer squints and careful listening, we were convinced that, in fact, they were simply 'Alcoholicly Challenged.'
All the better to chortle at their respective conditions.
It was but a moment after our realization of their state of intoxication that one of them took a splendidly acrobatic spill onto the sidewalk, hitting with an audibley moist THUMP (we've been in a bit of a warm spell and the streets about town are wet with melted snow; at least, I sure hope the wet noise I heard was the guy's body hitting the slick pavement and not the sound of his saturated-via-personally-produced-watery-substances-clothing making contact with the Earth).
Well...WE heard (and saw) him go BOOM; his buddies did not as they continued with their nocturnal constitutional, leaving his prone and slightly shuddering form behind.
APPLAUSE!!!
BRAVO!!!
Assorted WHISTLES!!!
It was a few moments later that they realized they were down to a duo*** and, looking back, espied their companion sprawled out on the ground. By this point I was struggling mightily with a fit of the giggles and dealing with the 'you really shouldn't be laughing' look from my wife. They staggered back to their buddy and, in a flourish of non-assistance, did not help him regain an upright stance.
So...God bless you, too, Mister Impromptu Street Performer and your two travelling companions/trainers. Your prat/splat-fall was the perfect capper to a wonderful evening.
The best Fourth Encore...Ever.
T
*I've seen him live--solo and with a backing band--at least a dozen times at this point in my life. Hmm...I must be a fanboy.
**Probably loosely translated as:
'Me like booze!'
'You am yes!'
'FLAARRGGHH!!!'
If their actions could be accurately translated to modern English.
***'Where am Bob?'
'Bob am Boom!'
'Not goodly.'
posted by Tony at 5:58 PM
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