What a concert! Richard Thompson preceded by Joan Osborne! - He pours his heart out, she texts - The United Way

Parked on Wharton Road near a church and walked briskly in my fast-walkin sneakers to The Keswick Theater.

I always like to look at the artists' tour buses. I hovered around hoping to get a look at Richard Thompson.

I knew there would be an opening act but didn't know who.

The great singer-songwriter

  Read about 52-yo  Joan here. 

She sang her signature song, "One of Us," an Eric Bazilion tune.

"What if God were one of us."

Theophany is the appearance of God before humans.  I published a prose-poem about being visited by Christ our Lord.

Ticket price was $35 - plus an $11.50 charge to print it out instead of pick up at the door - to see, in my opinion, the greatest folksinger, balladier, writer, performer and arranger in the entire world.


Richard Thompson, who's 66, has enormous energy, as did the members of his trio. He'd jump up in the air like the Stones used to do.

I confess when I got home I wrote this on FB:

Joan Osborne and Richard Thompson - RT gave fantastic performances tonite. Loved "If God were One of Us" - Guitar Heroes - Hard on Me - Wall of Death - St Vincent's Lighting!!!!

Who was I with, FB wants to know? None of your Bees Wing!



Michaela Majoun introduced the concert. She's leaving XPN on June 30.

I was sitting between two married couples and mentioned this to the guy on my right, who knew about it. He also informed me of the name of the song "Hard on Me." I needed to know so I can listen to it on YouTube.

At halftime, the couple on my left, moved over so I had one free seat to my left. The seats are strange. When you move, they rock. I tested the empty seat and it was the same way.

The theater was half full. I told the guy on my right that the best concert I'd seen here was Youssou N'Dour. He'd heard of him and said Sting played with him.

The theater was half full for N'Dour. I was probly the only caucasian there. People were dancing in the aisles. Me too.

      There wasn't a single person of color in tonite's audience. AND everyone was old.

Not a single young person.

The photos I took at the program were unbelievable. Will show them anyway.

 This was an altercation between a woman using the F word and two Abington cops. I felt sad the Keswick Coffeeshop had shut down. Dan's friend Vinnie with the deep voice was the manager.

 Here's a test shot I took, asking my neighbors "Does the flash go off?"

No, they said.

I was in seat X-19. That could also be the building number at Village Green, where we used to live.

 Richard Thompson and his trio. Thompson was an original member of the  seminal English rock/ folk band "The Fairport Convention."

I cannot tell you how great they were. I just threw my head back and listened with eyes closed.... or open... and I wanted to dance in the aisles, but just tapped and clapped away in my seat.

Dyou believe I was the only one who was shaking my booty!

Left before Thompson did his encore. Heard a man say to another guy, "Do you believe a woman was TEXTING all the way through Thompson's performance!"

***

Okay, it's the next day now.

New Directions received donations for $71.31 from The United Way symbol on our website.

Readers, I know you all want to donate to us, all five of you.

BUT, please, not through United Way. Well, you could, but I will never send you a thank you.

Why?

This is the INSTRUCTION SHEET to find out who donated.

I had to call them two days in a row before they returned my call. Yes, I was more forceful the second time around. Lorna returned my call. And insisted on Walking Me Through the procedure.

Finally I saw who donated. The writing was as small as an atom and I recognized one of the names but not thother.

They'll think me an ingrate.

**
Nearly ten a.m. Will work on my Connelly Grant upstairs but must finish by 1:40 when I'm off to the Huntingdon Valley Library to watch SELMA.

This brings me to the latest unforgivable HATE CRIME by a young white supremacist. Which, the NY Times and Louis Henry Gates says, Only makes the congregation stronger and their belief unassailable.

  Here's Rev. Clementa Pinckney, one of nine murdered individuals. 

Forty-one years old.