The good, the bad and the GREAT

[Pen]

The good: For Valentines Day, my girlfriend purchased tickets for us to attend the taping of the radio show E-Town last night with the Del McCoury Band headlining. WHAT A GREAT GIRLFRIEND! Man was I looking forward to it all week.

The bad: Well, Sunday rolls around and I show up at her place to pick her up. She's not ready. I sit. I wait. I pace. I wait. She finally declares herself ready and we depart in a rush - only to arrive a full hour late to the show. BUMMMER. We walk in as they finish the last song of the first set. I've missed the interview with them and the majority of their show. Should I get angry? It crossed my mind. I decide that nothing good can come of that. Lets just enjoy whats left of the evening.

So she and I are standing in the back of the Boulder Theater waiting for our eyes to adjust to the darkness to find a seat. Once they do, we can tell that the place is packed and not a seat to be found. We decide to head upstairs to the balcony.

The GREAT: As we turn to leave the main floor area, a man touched my arm and asked if we would like to sit down. I said "sure - thanks!". He then escorts us all the way to the front and seats us 4th row. There where 2 reserved seats who's owners hadn't come to the show. Had we arrived on time - we would have been in the back (we only had General Admission tickets).

In short, we enjoyed the last half of the show throughly. A guitarist named Kaki King played and was great. Then, Del and friends came back and blew threw a quick set including a great version of Rawhide and Blue Moon of KY. All in all - a great experience. Plus, as this was run just like an old time radio show - that made it even more interesting.

Anyway - that was my evening. A lesson in patience and possibly the benifits of karma? Who knows. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[Ray Neuman]

I am a firm believer in everything has a reason and a benefit.

Congrats on the lovely girlfriend that gave the gift, and the fate that brought you to the 4th row. Your right, getting angry would have ruined it all.

ITs a wise man that can control himself.

professir

[J. Mark Lane]

Ah, yes. You did the right thing.

About ten years ago, I went out and bought myself a nice new Martin guitar. It was just a D15, but I liked it a lot. I had it leaning against a table, and my girlfriend came in for something, I can't remember. She was wearing some kind of boots, as she often does (those slinky leather things, you know). She spun around to go back out of the room, and kicked my Martin. I'm sure that the actual sounds that followed were not that loud or dramatic, but to me, it sounded like the entire earth was collapsing. It put a beg dent in the back of the neck and several other scratches and dings. Of course, in the grand scheme, it would be no big deal.

The expression on my face must have been...significant. She never missed a beat. "I'll get you a new one." And indeed, she did. And she upped it to a D18, which was nice.

I exercised patience. I also married her.

Mark

[Moose]

You guys are great - thanks for posting....- and the words of wisdom!! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[Hondo]

Mark,

I'm married, but am asking this for the single guys on the forum: does your wife have a sister? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[sunburst]

A guitarist named Kaki King played and was great.
I've heard Kaki King on the radio and was impressed.
I get the impression she's sort of a young prodigy that has her own ideas about the guitar.

[delsbrother]

Kaki's great! She really whomps on that Ovation! Some of her ideas are pretty far out and a little disorganized.. I'd love to hear her in a few years to see how she's matured as an artist and composer..

Oh, and yeah, she's cute as a button. Got that whole pierced lower lip thing going. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Pen]

Yeah Sunburst - she's has a very different way of playing guitar. The first song she did, she used her left hand to come over the top of the neck (exactly opposite of the traditional way to hold the neck). Her left hand provided not only the finguring on the frets, but also was percussion. She would tap the body of the guitar to keep beat a split second before she was back finguring notes. Quite impressive.

I'd guess she's only 25 or so. Very pretty young lady with a world of talent.

Del McCoury made a great comment about Kaki after hearing her play.

He said, "I've been playing guitar for 66 years and still can't do that. Maybe I should practice more."

[jom]

Cool. I used to work for Etown (I helped Del change a string on stage once, which is a neat experience to tell friends about). Your story brings back memories. I'm happy they continue to record great shows, and that folks still get a kick out of them.

[Baron Collins-Hill]

same sort of thing happened while we were in canada and decided to go to a junior A game. (gotta get your fix cause theres no NHL) we were walking in and they just sold out. some guy asked us if we needed tickets and he had exactly trhe right amount. we followed him to the seats, which happened to be a whole room to ourselves, right above one of the goals. it was one of the best hocky games i have been to ever. the guy was super friendly as well.

baron