We went to
I knew the name, Mickey Gilley, but had to Google it to
remember why. Does anyone remember Urban Cowboy, Debra Winger and the
mechanical bull? Yeah, that Mickey Gilley. I’m not a great western music fan,
but I was prepared to humour my uncle.
Turns out it was actually a pretty darn good show. Gilley is 78 and recovering from a paralyzing accident –
it’s a miracle he can walk, never mind perform. He sang and even did a couple
of dance steps with his nurse maids back up singers, but I mostly enjoyed his
narrative. He interspersed his songs with the story of his music career, told a
few jokes, dropped a lot of big names and made a couple of humorous references
to the famous cousins I didn't know he had: Jimmy Swaggert and Jerry Lee Lewis (amazing family, eh?) Listening to his voice, I could hear his kinship with Jerry Lee, though their
music styles are quite different.
Pat marvelled that the band – all nearly as old as Gilley – set up and tore down for
themselves, and he said Gilley was as nice as he could be. After the show there were photo ops and autographs on offer, also music, pictures and t-shirts for sale.
I stayed seated
and watched the band pack up. After their enormous coach pulled out – they were
due to play in New Orleans
the next night – we went out to dinner with Pat and some of his colleagues. It
was good to see my uncle looking very contented.
2 comments:
I'm not much of a Western music fan, but free popcorn will go far with me. :)
Sounds like a fun evening! Were there many fans there?
The downstairs was sold out and there were some people seated upstairs. Not all the seats downstairs were filled, however. Seats were bought by corporate sponsors but then not used. Pat told me he'd changed the practice of keeping the front rows for such sponsors, as empty seats there were a dispiriting sight for the performers. Good call, I think.
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