Waking thought...

[theoddz]

Dear Wife and I took in the Van Morrison concert last night, at Ceasar's Palace. It's been years and years since I last attended a concert there.....like 1984 or so?? Oh yeah, I saw Diana Ross there, live, and that was something I will never forget. Wow!!! Anyway, it was a packed audience and we had great seats!! Dear Wife and I have been to quite a few concerts together, and we've really enjoyed them. Most recently, we've seen Jimmy Buffett (MGM Arena) and Garth Brooks, with Trisha Yearwood, at the T-Mobile Arena. These artists gave some really great performances, engaging the audience and really entertaining like they really enjoyed it and the audience. The more worked up the audience got, the more the band got into it. It was truly fun and entertaining and contributed to the "live" experience.

This morning, however, I woke with Mr. Morrison on my mind. The concert was great, mind you, but very different from the concerts I'm used to going to. Van didn't interact with his audience, hardly at all, last night. No "Hey folks, it's great to be in Las Vegas, etc.", or any kind of verbal acknowledgement of his audience. The lights went up, he came on stage, grabbed the mic and started singing. The songs went one by one, one after another, almost without missing a beat and Van sang without missing a beat. He did a fraction of his well-known repertoire and never hit "Brown Eyed Girl" or "Tupelo Honey" (my personal favorite). It was really weird. This went on for an hour and a half. At then end, he did manage to do a rousing rendition of "Gloria", but then he started to walk off stage, then return a few moments later. After a couple of times of doing that, he walked off stage and didn't return. A guy came out from "stage left" and said something to the keyboardist. The band kept playing and did a helluva great job, but no more Van. Finally, after the band finished the last note, the house lights came up and it was time to leave. No more from Van. We didn't see him again.

On the way out, everyone was looking at each other and saying, "REALLY???". Dear Wife and I were thinking the same thing and looking at each other. Never had we ever been to a live concert and experienced anything like this. I got to wondering if Mr. Morrison was okay. He's no young man anymore, yanno. The guy is 71 years old and probably tired. No telling how long he's been on tour or what his real state of health is. We just hope he's okay. He's on my mind today as I wish him the best. I've enjoyed his music for many, many years.

It was just strange.

~Theo~