Marcia Drummergal
12-13-2009, 07:25 PM
What a weekend folks! It had been about a year and a half since I attended my last Janis concert. Made up for that in spades these past 3 days! Bat and I met up with my long time friend, newbie Rudie Ty_Riann in Elyria. Got reacquainted and then we did a bit of jamming...mostly, Ty treated us to our own private concert before the Janis concert! We were off to meet up for food (of course) with Terrie/Stardust and KarenSews2. After a seafood dinner, we headed for the Stocker Arts Center on what had to be one of the coldest, windiest nights in recent memory!! Understatement! The Elyria show was really a treat. Susan Werner opened for Janis. I found her to be an extremely entertaining, talented vocalist, pianist and guitarist. And she's funny too! I intend to head to her website and pick up a cd or 2. Janis was in rare form, as ever...always better than last time! I was a bad Rudie and didn't get any setlists (tried in Kent) nor did I write down the songs! I mostly sat and enjoyed, taking very few photos since Ty took enough of them for everyone on the board and then some! :) I "believe" this was the show Janis opened with, "Jesse." After the show, we took the traditional Rudie Group photo. It was GREAT to see Jan Elliott looking good and feeling good too! I got a wonderful photo of she and Bat! Fun evening!
The Kent show....before the Kent show, Bat, Ty and I headed over to Karen and Terrie's hotel where we gave them a private concert. Ty sang and played guitar, I accompanied her with a little hand drumming. A great time was had by all! After Mexican food, we headed over to Kent Stage. Gretchen Peters opened for Janis along with Barry Walsh on keyboard and accordian. Barry also accompanied Janis on accordian on "At Seventeen." I enjoyed when Janis played some lead guitar on one of Gretchen's songs and then later, they all got together for "I Got You Babe" and "These Boots Were Made For Walkin"! What fun!!
After the gig, we did the traditional Rudie photo (again) and Tim from Ohio got some guitars autographed. Since it was the first night of Hanukkah, I brought Janis a dreidel! It lights up and plays the dreidel song when spun. Janis was absolutely delighted with it! Bat tried to spin it but Janis yanked it away from her stating, "You have to be JEWISH to spin my dreidel!"
After the show, we got together again with Karen and Terrie and listened to more of Ty's music (on cd). We really wanted to play it live again but it was going on midnight and it probably wouldn't have gone over well with guests wanting to get some sleep! Our time together was all too brief!
As far as we know, Bat and I were the only Rudies at Janis' show at "The Ark" in Ann Arbor, MI. I had purchased these tickets at the last minute so we had general admission seats. We arrived at 6:50 for the 8:00 show. We were 6th in line (not bad) but found out they didn't let people in until 7:30. It was WAY too cold for us to stand outside for that long so we hung out at a nearby Starbucks. When we got inside, we found that the general admission seats left something to be desired! They were in the very back row, they were behind posts, they were on the sides and behind the piano! We opted for the side sans piano! It WAS an interesting vantage point to watch Janis in profile or even from the back. The Ark is an intimate venue and the audiences there are especially receptive. Janis opened with "The Crocodile Song!" Also, I noticed nuances...like, on "I Hear You Sing Again", Janis began this song acapella! She also performed, "In The Winter". That was a treat! And on "Tea And Sympathy", there was also a bit of acapella I hadn't heard before. Janis did 2 encores...the first as before with "...Babe" and "Boots Made For Walkin..." Second encore was, "Jesse". It was an inspired performance! After the show, we somehow managed to be FIRST at the signing table...this has never happened to us before! Gretchen had some lyric sheets for me....she promised me them from Kent......You see, usually what is left on the stage after the performance is "up for grabs." This time, she needed the sheets for the upcoming show. So I gave them back (of course, and was a bit horrified!) She made copies and brought them to the table where she signed them. I gave Janis some Hanukkah gelt and a Hanukkah card game. Janis made an exception and took the "Rudie photo" first so that we could go back to our hotel. Bat mentioned to Janis that she IS Jewish by marriage (see the dreidel story). Janis blew Bat a kiss as if to say, "Bat, I was just playing with ya!" It was cute. Janis said she didn't know when she would see us again...I told her....we'll see you in Nashville! That brought a smile to her face! Then, it was off to our car...it was now snowing lightly...we awoke to icy roads. No hurry to get back home.
How can it be that Janis keeps getting better and better every time we see her? She was fun, funny, poignant, depressing ;), and brilliant as ever on guitar, adding new riffs to songs.....knowing what to expect and hearing something even better....is always exciting!
I will post a few pictures and add them on to this thread soon.
Marcia :)
The Kent show....before the Kent show, Bat, Ty and I headed over to Karen and Terrie's hotel where we gave them a private concert. Ty sang and played guitar, I accompanied her with a little hand drumming. A great time was had by all! After Mexican food, we headed over to Kent Stage. Gretchen Peters opened for Janis along with Barry Walsh on keyboard and accordian. Barry also accompanied Janis on accordian on "At Seventeen." I enjoyed when Janis played some lead guitar on one of Gretchen's songs and then later, they all got together for "I Got You Babe" and "These Boots Were Made For Walkin"! What fun!!
After the gig, we did the traditional Rudie photo (again) and Tim from Ohio got some guitars autographed. Since it was the first night of Hanukkah, I brought Janis a dreidel! It lights up and plays the dreidel song when spun. Janis was absolutely delighted with it! Bat tried to spin it but Janis yanked it away from her stating, "You have to be JEWISH to spin my dreidel!"
After the show, we got together again with Karen and Terrie and listened to more of Ty's music (on cd). We really wanted to play it live again but it was going on midnight and it probably wouldn't have gone over well with guests wanting to get some sleep! Our time together was all too brief!
As far as we know, Bat and I were the only Rudies at Janis' show at "The Ark" in Ann Arbor, MI. I had purchased these tickets at the last minute so we had general admission seats. We arrived at 6:50 for the 8:00 show. We were 6th in line (not bad) but found out they didn't let people in until 7:30. It was WAY too cold for us to stand outside for that long so we hung out at a nearby Starbucks. When we got inside, we found that the general admission seats left something to be desired! They were in the very back row, they were behind posts, they were on the sides and behind the piano! We opted for the side sans piano! It WAS an interesting vantage point to watch Janis in profile or even from the back. The Ark is an intimate venue and the audiences there are especially receptive. Janis opened with "The Crocodile Song!" Also, I noticed nuances...like, on "I Hear You Sing Again", Janis began this song acapella! She also performed, "In The Winter". That was a treat! And on "Tea And Sympathy", there was also a bit of acapella I hadn't heard before. Janis did 2 encores...the first as before with "...Babe" and "Boots Made For Walkin..." Second encore was, "Jesse". It was an inspired performance! After the show, we somehow managed to be FIRST at the signing table...this has never happened to us before! Gretchen had some lyric sheets for me....she promised me them from Kent......You see, usually what is left on the stage after the performance is "up for grabs." This time, she needed the sheets for the upcoming show. So I gave them back (of course, and was a bit horrified!) She made copies and brought them to the table where she signed them. I gave Janis some Hanukkah gelt and a Hanukkah card game. Janis made an exception and took the "Rudie photo" first so that we could go back to our hotel. Bat mentioned to Janis that she IS Jewish by marriage (see the dreidel story). Janis blew Bat a kiss as if to say, "Bat, I was just playing with ya!" It was cute. Janis said she didn't know when she would see us again...I told her....we'll see you in Nashville! That brought a smile to her face! Then, it was off to our car...it was now snowing lightly...we awoke to icy roads. No hurry to get back home.
How can it be that Janis keeps getting better and better every time we see her? She was fun, funny, poignant, depressing ;), and brilliant as ever on guitar, adding new riffs to songs.....knowing what to expect and hearing something even better....is always exciting!
I will post a few pictures and add them on to this thread soon.
Marcia :)