Taylor Hicks at O’Gara’s Garage
It is 3am. I have to get up at 6am to take my son to hockey training. I can’t hear, except for loud white noise in my ears. I’m tired, but happy…so very happy. As I predicted, last night’s little Little Memphis Blues Orchestra concert turned into a major impromptu jam session with Taylor Hicks. He brought along Bucky Covington. The other half of the new Rat Pack must have been at Paris’ 18th birthday party. To watch the entire concert, an Taylor Hicks, from 15 feet away was an awesome experience. I can’t believe I was really there and I’ll never forget it as long as I live.
Where to start? Last January’s auditions…no. The story of hearing the voice during auditions and the plea to have his voice heard has been told before. Instead, I’ll start with this Monday night. After hearing radio and newspaper rumors of a birthday supper at Paris’ mother’s house, I drove around Deephaven pathetically trying to look purposeful as I tried to spot a glimpse of a big limo or other sign of Idol commotion. I gave up after 15 minutes of a very enjoyable ride. (Deephaven is an incredibly beautiful area along the shores of Lake Minnetonka. ) I headed back to my son’s hockey game and thought about what I wished would be. I told myself that all I really wanted was to shake Taylor Hicks’ hand and thank him. I was sad because I realized that I might never have that chance. From the moment I first heard him sing, it was like a The Pied Piper urging me to follow his music. If that sounds silly, so be it. I have heard that same comment from so many people around the globe. Ever since Taylor Hicks became a big star, I figured my chances of ever seeing him perform in the roadhouses he loves so much were low. Little did I realize he had a plan for that to happen for lots of people this summer.
Tuesday morning, I woke up earlier than usual and decided to turn on my school-year favorite radio program, FM107’s Balanced Breakfast with Ian and Margery Punnett. I was shocked to hear them talking about an LMBO concert. How could I have missed that news? I had checked LMBO’s My Space schedule way back in the spring and figured they’d never come to Minnesota. Even when I heard that LMBO was purposely shadowing Taylor and actively looking for bars to host them on American Idol concert nights, I still never expected them to come here. As spring turned to summer, we got busy with our new puppy and our teens activities; I didn’t follow the tour very closely, but noted with amusement the development of the new Rat Pack: Taylor Hicks, Elliott Yamin, Bucky Covington and Ace Young. I read my fellow Soul Patrollers accounts of big bashes in the more musical South and wished I had been there. I didn’t have much more than slight regret about turning down good American Idol Tour tickets in favor of money for other summer activities. When I won the tickets to the LMBO concert, I burst into tears. How could I be this fortunate? To make things even better, my husband agreed to go with me.
It was really hard to focus on work, but work was also a good distraction. I even got a haircut and grocery-shopped after work to keep myself busy. I also had to make a midday run to Best Buy to purchase a camera which we had been without since the spring. The kids both were at friends’ houses for the night, since I knew we would be coming home very late. I made steaks and potatoes on the grill as a kind of celebration dinner.
We arrived at O’Gara’s Garage in St. Paul at about 9pm. Parking was easy and there were few people around. A few doubts about a Taylor Hicks appearance dogged me, but I was pretty confident of my information sources. There was a long line of families at the Dairy Queen across the street and I wondered if any of them knew or cared that the Little Memphis Blues Orchestra was getting ready to play in their own neighborhood. We began the long wait for the show to start. The venue was small: a small dance floor and 10 to 12 round bar tables and stools. We picked out a spot to the stage’s left, right in front of the speakers. I would regret that later on. The room was fairly quiet at first and I worried that there wouldn’t be much of a crowd. A few of us ventured to the stage and took photographs of the set. My husband and I shared pleasant talk while we waited.
At 10:30pm, the LMBO finally took the stage. The band is very talented, but the music blasting out of the speakers was very very loud. I think that they are too good of a band to have their music muddied by volume. I’d like to hear them again in a better setting. After a few songs, Brian Less asked the crowd if there were any Soul Patrolers out there. There was a big roar. Then he said, “We have what you want tonight.” and the roar turned to screams. From then on, it was harder to focus on the band. Every little movement toward the backdoor or glance to the side stage drew reactions from the crowd.
To help me focus, I got out a pen and paper and took notes. The band began their first set with Don’t Lie to Me and Get Back, Honky Cat. They moved on to some New Orleans jazz songs. I couldn’t help but think that, to them, New Orleans is not far away, but to us it is a world away. Early in the show they played Pocky Way, a song I remembered as being distinctly from the south but I don’t remember why. One thing I noted was that The Little Memphis Blues Orchestra didn’t match my perception of them; they far exceeded it. Each band member is an extraordinarily gifted musician in his own right and plays music from an obvious state of love for music. The fact that Taylor Hicks picked these guys out is further testament to his own gift for good music.
From the beginning of the show, Brian Less’ vocals stood out as extraordinarily strong and vibrant. His keyboarding skills rival Jerry Lee Lewis and he proved that by played one of his songs. Zippy Dietrich is not only talented, he’s very happy about playing the drums. I rarely saw him without a huge grin. His exuberance surely gives the band a boost. Sam Gunderson gave the crowd a laugh when he gave a shout-out to all the Gundersons in Minnesota. Jeff Lopez, , the incredible flute and saxophone player, was a surprise for me; his name is not listed on the band’s My Space site. His voice and styling are like Dr. John, along with wearing a dress hat. A flute in a rock band is a good thing, but I was a Jethro Tull fan so maybe I’m biased.
When Taylor Hicks finally took the stage, the air turned electric! He has a stage presence that demands you watch him. It is true; he is much thinner looking in person than on the stage. If you were to compare his image on television to what I saw last night, it would appear that he’d lost about 40 pounds. TV must really distort one’s image. No wonder all those starlets starve themselves. Anyway, I was struck by how young he looked. And how very handsome, too. He is a beautiful man. Not in a feminine way, but a very masculine way. He was obviously very happy to be on stage in a small club with his band. He reached up to grasp a rafter and commented that it was nice to be back in a place where he can touch the ceiling.
He jumped right into Forever Man and went on to sing Ride Sally Ride abd That’s What I Want sounding just like the live tracks I downloaded long ago at GrayCharles and listened to all winter and spring. In fact, apart from the few song titles I wrote down last night, I can’t remember which songs he sang for sure. His performance last night sounded just like those live tracks that are burned into my mind. After taking a break, he came back with Hold On To Your Love, Jesus is Just Alright and Bucky took over the vocals during Supersticious. All during both sets, he kept asking for his harmonica. No one could find it. He seemed to be itching for it and it was found for the very last song. The encore was Feelin’ Alright and he played harmonica for that, also.
After the concert was over, Taylor stayed another hour signing autographs and taking photos. I watched him closely as I waited my turn for an autograph on my new issue of American Idol magazine with him on the cover. He seemed very quiet and reserved, he kept his hands to himself and seemed a little taken back by some of the women. Even during the concert he seemed to study people’s faces and he was still looking at people with a very aware look. It’s no wonder he’s so in tune with his audiences and his market. One woman had pulled him aside and was really giving a speech; he seemed uncomfortable with that. I made the decision not to shake his hand; it just didn’t seem like something he’d be comfortable with. He did, however, happily take photos with who ever had a camera. He flashed that famous smile with great ease. The photo I have of me standing by him is a keepsake, even though I look terrible. I was so tired, sweaty and nearly numb with the night’s events. Funny thing is that he was probably equally tired and more sweaty than me. Ah, youth.
It must be said that for most of Taylor Hicks’ fans, they may have first discovered his voice on American Idol, but kept listening because they also discovered his real music on the internet. We put up with his American Idol performances and indulged in his wishes to receive our votes because he asked us to. But I don’t believe that most of his fans enjoy the music that came out of Idol. We enjoy his live sets, with the songs stretching for 5 and 10 minutes and blending into each other. We listen to Under the Radar and In Your Time, his self-produced CD’s. And we eagerly await more live concerts in small venues with his band and any new music he puts out. Some of us used to worry that the so-called American Idol machine would control or consume him, but he has proved to us and to American Idol that he remains his own man and is driving his own tour bus. Last night, that bus stopped at O’Gara’s Garage in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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