Let the Music Change my Mind

I think I'm finally starting to come down to earth from the high I've been on since Monday night's concert.

James Taylor and Carole King ~ in the same place, at the same time. It was everything I'd hoped it would be, and then some.

The capacity of the Allstate Arena is close to 20,000 and it was packed with exuberant, devoted fans. I fit right it:)

I had purchased tickets back in January when they initially went on sale. It had not yet been a month since Erin had passed away. I looked at the ticket prices, hesitated for a moment, and then pressed "order 2". I felt we deserved the good ones. When Dave got home from work that day, I rather sheepishly told him what I did. He agreed ~ the cost was justified.

Our seats were just off the main floor, and since the stage was in the center of the venue and it rotated, the view was fabulous. Dave snapped some pictures with our camera that has just a standard lens, so most came out rather blurry. This one's not too bad.


Both singers were on stage at all times during the show, and the play list was arranged so that when one star took front and center with a selection from his/her album as the highlighted song, the other stepped into musical/vocal accompaniment. They danced in intimate complement of one another's unique talents; alternating and equally sharing the spotlight.

James' selections were mostly his gentler classics that had the audience seated in appreciation, seduced by the rich tones of his noble vocal distinction. He once again captivated everyone with that night's rendition of "Steamroller Blues" which he has sung at each concert I've attended, changing it up every time with facial expressions and vocal intonations, making it an unmatched experience with each performance. Everyone was enthralled. (By the way, he's still hot!)

In the previous post I bragged about my ability to sing every word of the songs from Tapestry. Thank goodness we were surrounded by other women with similar "talent", because together we danced and belted those tunes with unabashed abandon! Dave just smiled along with the other men sitting near us. Carole (we're on a first name basis now) sang all but three of the songs from the album. When singing "A Natural Woman", she exuded an aura of such confidence and dynamic energy that she had all 20,000 fans in the palm of her hand. She absolutely owned the place, and at the age of 68 I think she was better than she was when I saw her in Phoenix five years ago.

Is there anyone out there that cannot relate to "Will You Love Me Tomorrow"? Really! How many of us have cried over that song through the years? (Dave tried to get a good photo, and unfortunately they all are blurred.) I'm still trying to recover from hearing it live, after listening to it in recordings for years.


There was a lovely girl (age 20-something) to my right, and her mother was on her other side. As they began to sing the first couple of words to the song, I heard the mother say, "Oh, I'm going to cry." at which point I picked up my stack of napkins (they served popcorn, so of course I had some) stuck my arm out across the daughter's chest and handed several to the mother. The girl started laughing, and I just looked at her with deadpan expression and said, "Oh be quiet! You're just too young" at which point we all burst out laughing. The mother and I proceeded to sniffle our way through the song, and Dave just gently patted my leg in the "here she goes again" manner to which we've grown accustomed.

After the song was over, we blew our noses and stood back up and sang along with the next one. The whole evening was like that ~ alternating from "Oh God, just listen to his voice" to I have to get up and dance because "I Feel the Earth Move under my feet"!

When we got home near midnight Dave, of course, was sound asleep, snoring within 3 minutes and 17 seconds. I, on the other hand, was so wound up from the whole experience. As I lay there, replaying and reliving the evening, I realized something. I had been happy at the concert. I mean REALLY happy, without the typical "but I just miss Erin so much" whispering in my ear.

I often work so hard to redirect thoughts so that I can enjoy an experience, but I found that night I didn't have to work. It just happened, and that is a pretty uncommon occurrence for me at this point. It felt good, in a kind of scary way.

In my last post I referred to some of the lines of JT's song "Music" that continue to cause a strong reaction due to Erin's inability to fulfill the "symphony" of her life. Yes, those words and that fact will gnaw at my broken heart forever. But a couple other lines from the song are ~

Crank out the music
Give me music
Let the music change my mind