Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Brandi Carlile Concert by Contributor Peggy56

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DickD Comment:

I feature interesting music, from my personal view, on the web site right column. A while back, I featured => Brandi Carlile who is a young Seattle area native with great song writing and performing talent.

In keeping with my mission statement, I encourage contributing articles of interest. I try to publish them when we both are in agreement.
Peggy56 is one my web site's most ardent supporters. A while back, Peggy commented by email how much she liked Brandi's feature. She enjoyed Brandi's music talent so much, she attended one of Brandi's CA concerts.

I am so impressed with Peggy's email I asked to publish it as a contributor article. She finally agreed!!

Peggy56 is shown as ''Mom" on the images which are a product of her family. Following is Peggy's unedited article with her supplied images.

Select on Images for Larger View



















Hi Dick, ~~I want to share with you my Brandi story…It was a great experience in my life and even though the concert was canceled I got to see her and the rest of the group and to actually be there and hear them in person for a few songs.

Our son tried to get tickets for us (they had been sold out for some time)….but he was told there might be a possibility that we could get them but... we would not be able to know until the day of the concert. We went up to see => Petaluma, CA on this past March 12th and stayed overnight just in case by some “miracle” we would be able to get tickets.

The morning of the concert we drove down to the Mystic Theater and parked on the street near the theater (right next to the theater there is a restaurant and saloon called McNear's Saloon & Dining House). We were going to have brunch there so we had just parked and were talking about how much we liked the little town and all of the old buildings and “small town atmosphere” (People there are very friendly and there are a lot of very old interesting buildings). Anyway, right after we parked, we saw this beautiful big black tour bus came up the street … (OMG…..it was them just arriving!!……. I think they had played in LA the night before). We watched it circle around the block a couple of times and then we decided it probably had parked on the street behind the theater. (The McNear's Saloon & Dining House we had planned to have brunch at is actually attached to the theater and many people go there before concerts to dine before the shows.)

We went into the restaurant and decided to see if we would make reservations for dinner that night (thinking that we at least may be able to hear some the concert even though we could not get in to see it.) We made the reservations for 8pm and then went over and sat down to have a bit of lunch. The food was very good and we were talking to the friendly waitress and asking her about the concert. (We had kind of given up hope of being able to get tickets by this time….unless we could find someone perhaps a “scalper” who was selling them outside the theater) The waitress just happened to say to us “The bartender has a few tickets for sale” We couldn't believe it!! We immediately went over and bought our tickets…..I couldn't believe it until we actually had the tickets in our hand! Someone was looking down on us that day!! We canceled the reservations for dinner because we wanted to get in line early for the concert.

We went to the theater at 6:30pm and got in line because we wanted to be able to be close (there were about 20 people already ahead of us….shortly after we got there, the line grew quickly….and stretched a long way around the block….(we were glad we got there early) The time seemed to go fast while we were waiting in line because while we all waited we got into conversations with other people who were standing by us. There were people there from Sacramento and San Francisco.. One girl said that she had been to over 45 of Brandi’s concerts! Lots and lots of very dedicated fans .……nice people…..friendly and fun!!

You will not believe where I got to stand…..I was standing in the very first row right by the stage!! ( I could have almost reached out and touched Brandi!!) Never in my wildest imagination did I think I would be that close!!

The opening band that played before Brandi was a interesting Blue Grass group ……Then came Brandi (the three songs we got to hear…… fantastic!) Sadly, after the third song Brandi left the stage…..everyone wondered what was wrong….after a while they announced that she wouldn't be able to finish the concert. Of course everyone was disappointed….but concerned for her. The crowd was calm and everything was orderly as we all exited the theater. It took quite while to leave because as we left they were giving the people refunds or passes to be used for her next appearance there.

When we came out of the theater, there was a man there with a big big bicycle and I jokingly said "Oh, it's our limo" he said to me "come on...hop on and take a ride" I replied...."Are you serious?" He said "Of course" So I had quite the experience (by this time it was nearly midnight)) That is what the picture of me riding the big bike is all about.
(Not a very good picture but you can see how long the bicycle is)

They stamped our wrist outside the door before we went in..that is my wrist with the stamp they used on me. Some of the other people had the same stamp and others different ones but they seemed to be stamps from long ago......we were all joking claiming to have the "best tattoo".

Brandi is scheduled to be at the Mountain Winery in Saratoga in June. I am hoping to go to see her then. She is so talented and it was such a privilege to be able to see her..and the rest of the group. They are exceptional......their tour schedule is really something!!

When did you first see them? Brandi has such an incredible voice and the songs she has written are beautiful and have such depth.

The following images are not very clear.....but I wanted you to see the big bike. The man in the picture is the bike owner.

I had such a great time going to Brandi's concert......even though it turned out a little differently than I had expected!

Peggy56~~

PS: By the way, I do have tickets to see Brandi again in Petaluma on June 25th. Hopefully, she will be able to finish the whole concert. She has such a demanding schedule to keep up with......anything can happen...but I am thinking positive! One of my Mother's day's day gifts was a Brandi Carllile CD....that I didn't already have.....of course, I was pleased!!

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