What should I expect at this concert ?

[psychojohn]

It's been a good music month for me. Two weekends ago saw Kevn Kinney (of Drivin N Cryin fame) do a solo acoustic show. Last weekend saw Pierce Pettis do a living room concert. Knew what to expect from both these shows. They were both awesome !!

This weekend am seeing Bill Champlin (apparently of Chicago fame), Kim Carnes, John Ford Coley, Lenny LeBlanc & Greg Barnhill all at the same venue, all in one night. While I hope to hear "Betty Davis Eyes" (Carnes) and "I'd really love to see you tonight" (John Ford Coley), I have no familiarity with the other performers, or why these particular performers are all doing the same show in one night. Any insights or thoughts on what to expect beyond my aforementioned aspirations.

Thanks !

John

[psychojohn]

perhaps these artists aren't a well known as I thought. Does anyone know anything about them (other than Carnes and JFC) ?


John

[amyFB]

maybe a youtube video exists that would introduce you to these mystery performers.

sometimes, no expectations leads to a richer experience.

[psychojohn]

Originally Posted by amyFB

sometimes, no expectations leads to a richer experience.

Truely words of wisdom. If I had no expectations, I would never be disappointed.

Thanks

John

[Rip VanWinkle]

Forget Chicago, Bill was the the leader of the great Sons of Champlin that made some of the greatest albums of the 60's and early 70's that very few people outside of the Bay Area know. Yes, Bill has done an admirable job with Chicago...but check out the Sons and some of Bill's solo stuff. He's in the pantheon of great American writers, musicians and singers for certain. Enjoy the show, sounds cool!

[psychojohn]

Given that I am an obese, tallentless guitar player and worse singer/song writer, I feel the need to tread lightly. As it turned out, I should have gone with no expectations.

The Venue (Milltown Music Hall, Breman GA): Voted best large country music venue of 2016. Great venue but large? IDK. Am a poor judge of size (you should see the size of that bass I caught) but I'd guess 500 people capacity. The seats were extra wide and cushiony and rows were spaced with enough distance between them that you didn't have to stand up to allow people in your row to exit. Nice !. Not really a terrible seat in the house and they had two big screens on either side of the stage for close up views of performers as they performed.

I believe it is owned by a young baptist couple so the venue concessions included food and candy, but no alcohol. No biggy. The unusual aspect that the owner ship brought, however, was that the show was started with a prayer. No biggy either, just strange for me as I've never been to a concert where this was done. You could still take it or leave it, but the request to join in prayer was made.

The Show: Conceptually, I was perplexed by the line up in terms of why they were performing together, what did they have in common ? Well, the name of the production was "The Heart of Country" and it turns out that all of these performers and about 14 others (Bo Bice, KT Tunstell being more recognizable modern "stars") are either managed or produced by the same guy (his name escapes me, but he grew up in Breamen, managed Alabama, and now lives and works out of Nashville, as did most of the performers) and have been touring in small groups promoting their hits and non hits as "country roots music." A bit of a stretch in my opinion, as when most of these songs were hits, they were on the pop charts, not country.

4-5 groups or performers on stage, each singing one of their hits and introducing the next performer so that all told each person performed 3 of their hits (not all had three hits unfortunately), except of Kim Karnes who sang on 4-5 songs.) Not a very rigorous playing night for any of them.

John Ford Coley (formerly of England Dan and John Ford Coley) was the highlight for me. "And I'd really love to see you tonight", "Nights are forever without you" and "Love is the Answer" were all mega hits in their day and were well sang and performed by him.

Lenny LeBlanc: Awesome voice and playing. One hit recognizable to me: "Falling", but his other tunes were gripping none-the-less and he vibrated with the most pleasant and approachable energy of anyone on stage.

Bill Champlin: Sang "Look Away" but was so a reworked as to be almost unrecognizable as it's former self. Same for "Hard Habit to Break" and couldn't tell you his third song. Seemed personable and respectful of others.

Kim Carnes and Greg Barnhill: Kim apparently has reinvented herself from a California Rocker to a Nashville singer/songwriter with Greg as her partner. Unfortunately, it was her performance where my expectations hurt me. Of all the performers on stage, she seemed less attentive to the other players. Seemed bored and distracted until her turn came around. She looked like a timid, frightened, demented, jowely granny in her frizzy blond hair, rather than the sexy, deer skin clad, assertive woman I remembered from TV performances. Duh!!! She's a few years older. The years and plastic surgery (or lack there of ) were not kind to her. I'm no fashion model myself and aging is inevitable (and not kind to me either) so this was more about my own fantasies, needs and expectations.

But then there was her voice: Still had that gravelly/raspy quality, but was so pitchy and out of tune on her first tune and final song (Bette Davis Eyes) that it was kind of sad and painful. She was apologetic and asked for help when singing (more like talking) though Betty Davis Eyes. On the three songs in between, her voice was on point. Beside Davis Eyes (which she didn't write), she sang one song she wrote for Kenny Rogers that I recognized as a hit. Didn't recognize nor was I drawn to her other songs.

Greg Barnhill played a few songs I've never heard.

Overall, a fairly entertaining evening with only my own expectations for Kim Karnes somewhat dampening the experience for me. Conceptually, although new to country music, nothing about the players or songs was reminiscent of what I would think of as the "heart" of country music and in fact were mostly pop hits but, not being a hard core country fan this probably benefited me, as I'll be skipping upcoming shows including John Conlee, John Anderson, The Oakridge Boys etc. which seem more in line with the conceptual model for this show.

John