And not just for me. It was big for the whole family. Up in the Big Apple, Davis was cavorting with his godfather, Aloysius, having a fun guys' weekend, roaming Times Square, meeting all kinds of fun people, and doing I don't know what all. I've been checking Facebook all weekend for posts on Davis's page to see what he's been up to. But there's no activity there, which only shows me he's having too much fun to pull out his phone.
And then there was the charity tennis tournament at the Savannah Yacht Club to benefit St. Joseph's Candler Hospital. Laurie and Alicia had come to town for BC's commissioning (because Taylor and Kristen were going to the ceremony and dance), so while they were here, they signed up for this tournament. Just for fun, you know. But they ended up winning the whole dang thing! Congratulations!
I hope they got more than those tiny little flags.
And it was also a big afternoon for me, as I had my book signing at E. Shaver Bookseller, right after Savannah author Mark Murphy had his (and if you haven't read The Shadow Man, you're in for a treat).
So before I reflect on the musical performance at the Civic Center, I'll just make a few remarks about the Georgia game because I'm supposed to be doing football blogs this season:
Football
Georgia won. Duh.
Yesterday's game was the Owls' first game in the SEC, and they made a good show for themselves, all things considered. Although it was smart of Georgia's Jarvis Jones to sit this game out to nurse his injury, had he been on the defensive line, I don't think the Owls would have earned the 20 points that they did.
I also wonder who came up with their mascot. The Owls? Couldn't they have made those owls a little fiercer? The Barn Owls? The Screech Owls? The Fighting Owls? Plain old owls just seem so wise, not athletic. The only team mascot I know of that's less exciting is the Chanticleers.
Enough of that. I'm looking forward to the next game when Georgia takes on...
the Volunteers!
We've really got a tough season this year.
Elton John
In spite of a nagging bout of bronchitis that had him hospitalized in L.A. last May, Elton John gave a spirited performance last night at the Martin Luther King Arena in the Savannah Civic Center. And for that I must thank Benedictine Military School for scheduling their commissioning on the same day, which resulted in Katie Bradley's inability to enjoy her Mother's Day gift, so she sold it to me. Thanks, BC!
I told Katie I'd get some video footage of Sir Elton singing her favorite tune, "Levon." I have fulfilled my promise and sent that video to her. What she may not realize, though, is that I almost missed that chance. Here's why:
The Civic Center is dark during a concert, and the rows on the floor aren't well marked. So Sabra and I ended up in the wrong seats--twice. Both times we got kicked out by their rightful owners, and the second time that eviction occurred by way of a fat lady who I thought was going to bounce us right out of the building.
Armed with her flashlight, she told us we had to move down the row. I told her someone was in our seats, so she replied, "I'll make them move." And off she huffed to the other end of the row, where we found my friend (and Katie's sister in-law) Kathleen McCarthy.
To make sure everyone was in their assigned positions, Fat Lady shoved herself over the knees and feet of Kathleen and other Elton John enthusiasts. I followed her into the fray, but Sabra wisely stayed in the aisle. That's when Kathleen, knees tucked under her chin, asked, "Are you going to come in also?"
Sabra replied, "No. Fat Lady's got to come back out first. I'll just wait."
And she was right. Fat Lady did eventually emerge from the row, and Sabra and I took our correct seats. By the time that was over, I realized Elton John was in the middle of "Levon," and I screamed, "Oh! I have to take a picture for Katie!" Here it is:
Sir Elton sang only one song I didn't know: "Holiday Inn." I wasn't sure why he sang it. Nobody else knew it either. In fact, it was during that song that everyone decided to take a break and sit down. And it was during that song that I was able to take a good look around me and reflect on the crowd. I came to this conclusion:
We might have been rocking out like we did in our high school and college years, but we were really just a bunch of old people at a concert.
We could sing along with the music. We could even get in our friends' faces and point our fingers at each other while singing along. But we didn't know all the words (or we'd forgotten them), because we'd only sing during the most memorable moments of each tune, thereby interrupting Sir Elton, even though he's the person we came to hear.
Here's how "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" went down:
Elton John: "Back to the howling out out in the woods/Back to the horny backed toad/Oh I've finally decided my future lies/Beyond the yellow brick..."
Audience: Rooooaaaaad! AHHHHHHH! AHHHHH!
The bright stage lights confused my camera, and in the darkness I couldn't find the right settings (poor eyesight--another indicator of age), but my Fuji Finepix's audio recorder made no mistakes as it captured the voices of the fans around me. We've got no business singing in public:
Well, we might be old, but Elton John is too. On the
way home, Sabra made an apt observation: "You know we used to carve
people's heads out of apples and then let them sit in the window to dry
and wither? Elton John looks kind of like an apple head."
Yeah, it's blurry. But there we fogies do a lot of jostling around at rock concerts.
He
does, bless his heart. But who cares? At sixty-five, he can still sing up a storm and put on a great show. He's twenty years older than I am, and after months on the road and a pulmonary infection, he has more energy than I do on my best day. And we oldsters in the audience had a great time. If he comes back to
Savannah, I'll be sure to buy tickets, and I think I'll take Katie Bradley with me.
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