Cause you ain't fully dressed 'til you're covered in cat hair!

Taylor Hicks, Silverstar

Tayday started at 4:30 (as usual) to get ready for work. I gotta tell ya, the hours crept by and I felt like one of the kids anxiously checking the clock every five minutes. Is it time to go yet?

Kelly and Patrice (both 30 somethings) are going with me to the concert in Philadelphia, MS at the Silverstar casino. Patrice isn’t “officially” taylorized yet, but she will be. Patrice sat with me this summer after my surgery and I showed her videos and got her curious about the man. When I caught her singing “The Right Place”, I knew she was almost there. (One quality fan at a time)

FINally, got my “early out” from work at 2! Anticipation for the concert filled my thoughts on my hour-long drive home. Stopped by Cato’s in Indianola (home of BB King) on the way to make sure they didn’t have something fabulous I’d missed in my last perusal to wear to the concert. (a’cause you just know Taylor will notice ~LOL~) I ran over my mental checklist: nails done, check, toes painted, check, outfit, check, camera, check, ticket confirmation number, check, call Patrice and Kelly, check, map to Philadelphia, check.

I arrived home about 3:30, showered, re-ragged, slathered on the make-up and layed on the bling. Patrice arrived about 4:30 to dress and I loaned her some bling. (a’cause you just know Taylor will notice.) Kelly called, “Where ARE you guys, I’m ready!” Patrice and I loaded into the VW in all our fabulousness to go pick up Kelly. Is the traffic heavier than usual? Will we ever get out of Greenwood?

At last, we are on the open highway! Of course, we blast the Taylor Hicks CD. Patrice is impressed. We stop for gas in Vaiden and ask the clerks the best way to get to the Silverstar, because I don’t trust no map from the Internets. “Oh,” says the clerk, “I don’t know the names of the highways, just the eating spots,” and proceeds to tell me, “just take a left at Wendy’s, a right at the Taco Bell and KFC and keep going; you’ll be right there.” She was right. (Ya gotta love those “eatin spot” directions)

From Vaiden, the drive seems interminable. Not only are the country roads two-lane and slow, maybe because we are so eager to see Taylor, but these country girls are not used to waiting so long to eat supper. Visions of steak and shrimp buffets at Siverstar danced through our heads. We listen to Amos Lee, Paolo Nutini, James Morrison, and Marc Broussard and periodically whine, “Are we there yet???” (Somehow the chocolate and bag of nuts I’d packed just weren’t very fulfilling)

At 7:30, we see civilization! There’s this big ole disco ball in the sky! What the heck IS that?

Then we see “Silverstar Casino!” Yay! We pull up to the hotel and ask a valet where the concert is and where we should park. The cute little valet (down, wompie, down) takes the VW to park and directs us through the casino to the box office.
Where’s the buffet??? We’re hungry country girls! We walked the gaming floor in search of steak and shrimp. At the other end, there’s the buffet! Oh, my, god, there’s a line out the freakin door! Ok, we regroup and decide to eat at the Rib Shack, which I heard was good. (groan, bbq again) and by this time we are ravenous. I have the brisket plate, and this pic is for you, SR. T’was delicious.

8:50 and time for the concert! We are seated about 20 rows from the stage in a large banquet/meeting-type room. The stage is elevated, the seats are not. There’s an eclectic mix of people there, the room looks full. Oh, did I mention I told everyone, from the valet to the box office folk to make sure to stop by for a minute to see Taylor Hicks that they would love him? (One quality fan at a time)

9:02 and here’s Taylor! Wooooooooooo!!! Of course, the folks in front of us stand up and block my view. Oh, well, I can not sit when that man is on stage anyway. I go stand in the back so I can take my new hip out for a boogie. Here is the set list, courtesy of juliegr and the Boogie Board: Video cameras were banned, but I did get a few pictures and snuck some snippets of video. I have since removed my videos, as the sound quality does not do Taylor justice.

Taylor Hicks Concert Set List

Accompanied by L.M.B.O. and Josh Smith

November 2, 2007; 10:00 p.m. (EST)
Pearl River Resort & Casino,
Philadelphia, MS

10:02 Hey Pocky Way

10:07 Heaven Knows (Josh guitar solo)

10:12 Gonna Move (Jive piano; guitar; and the voice oh-lala!!)

10:18 Just To Feel That Way

10:22 Medicated Goo (harmonica talking)~~~

10:27 The Maze (Feel the Silence; Its a hot night??)

10:31 Call Me the Breeze (Jazzy piano intro; followed by intense Brian solo) honky-tonk is right

10:40 The Deal

10:44 Soul Thing — Taylor called the Blues out to Play!!(East Bound and Down)

10:49 Will it Go Around in Circles (Billy Preston) — Cool Jam with Josh on Guitar and Brian Less on Piano

10:55 The Right Place (AMAZING harmonica solo)

11:02 The Run Around (Willie Brown Blues) soaring harp; Brian L. turned the keys loose — can’t you just see the fingers dancing on the keys

——————————————-
11:07 First Set Ends

See you later Soul Patrol

——————————————-

Encore:
11:10 Forever Man (Major Flute solo Jeff Lopez) cool

11:15 Concert ends

I’m spent. What an amazing concert this was! I can’t believe the band had time to learn and rehearse all these songs off of the album. They did a great job! I was happy to see Taylor so relaxed and joyful to be back with “his boys.” They have such rapport and Patrice noticed and was impressed with the way he directed the band with his hands and body language.

Post Script:

Kelly had never gambled before, so we asked where the penny slots were. “I’ve got 4 pennies!” Ha, now you KNOW how country we are! The penny slots take dollar bills! ~LOL~ Needless to say, we did NOT gamble.

BTW, the line for the steak and shrimp buffet was STILL out the door after the concert.

The ride back was spooky as all get out. Patrice drove the VW. Those country roads were lonesome and foggy. We almost ran over: a dog, a cat, and three deer. I swear, we were watching for pigs, alligators and armadillos to run out in the road next!

Post post script:

C2What has early MP3′s of the first and last songs up.

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This entry was posted at 8:11 am on 11/4/07 | tagged: Ponderings.
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