BoulderSoul's Denver, CO LiMBO Recap

Oh what a night...

The night started on a high note for me when, an hour or so before I left for the concert, our resident troll Kenny appeared and I was FINALLY able to snark in a timely manner.

My original plans included arriving at Herman's Hideaway when the doors opened at 7:00.  Due to the what to wear/what not to wear conundrum I left home a little later than planned.  Then it was discovered that the Soul Mobile was running on empty, so I had to stop and gas up.

HERMAN'S HIDEAWAY
When I arrived at Herman's Hideaway, it was roughly 7:30.  Jason the Valet, decked out in his bright red shirt, parked my car.  I was a little embarrassed because there were several pairs of shoes on the floor in front of the passenger seat (yes, one of my vices).  Before he got in, I decided to move the shoes to the back seat so I started tossing them over my shoulder.  He started laughing and said "Take your time mam, it is ok we aren't busy yet."  HE MAMED ME!!! 

The system worked and my will-call tickets were waiting for me right inside the front door.  The venue is small, capacity 500, and includes two bars-one directly inside the door to the left, the other on the right side of the back wall.  The stage is inside the front door, immediately to the right.  There is a small wooden dance floor with rows of tables on two sides.   The front row of five tables, along the dance floor and directly in front of the stage, were all occupied with perhaps 15-20 people.

I chose a table in the front, to the left side of the stage, ordered a lemon drop martini, sat back, soaked in Herman's character as best I could, and watched the burgeoning excitement take hold.

PEOPLE
I met Jennifer, a 29 year old Taylor fan who spends a fair amount of time posting on taylorhicksfansite.com.  She came to Herman's Hideaway directly from work and was sitting alone nursing her Long Island Iced Tea.  I struck up a conversation with her and ended up inviting her to join me at my table.  Our discussion was pleasant, filled with much laughter.  We attempted to log onto MJ's to send a hello from Herman's message, but to no avail.  When LiMBO took the stage, Jennifer moved to the front of the stage-she loves her some Taylor and wanted to be as close as possible.  She succeeded.

Two other women, Sherry and Stacy, sat at a nearby table.  They reserved two additional tables for their families who were at the Pop Tart concert.  The two of them were originally "mainly Chris fans, but liked Taylor as well."  After Chris was voted off, they supported Taylor all the way.  We spoke off and on throughout the night.  I chatted with several people at surrounding tables-predominately Taylor fans.  The most endearing was a couple probably in their mid 70s.  When I went over and talked with them, they said they were there for Taylor.  The man took my hand and softly said “Soul Patrol” then burst into laughter.  His wife turned to me and said, “He is very excited about seeing Taylor Hicks.” Excitement was mounting.

The table I had selected was next to a reserved table section.  Three "older" people sat down before LiMBO even arrived.  They were sitting there in silence, I was curious, so what the heck, I approached them and asked who they were there to see. It turned out they were Zippy's parents and a family friend. Zippy Mom and Zippy Dad (didn't get their names) drove in from Utah to see their son play.  She was very excited about seeing him.  If I understood her correctly, she stated that she only gets to see him play once a year or so.  She told me they are a very close-knit family and, as her eyes filled with tears, she said she was "very proud of him."  She shared with me that Zippy was always musical and started playing drums when he was four years old.  I asked if LiMBO had heard anything from the "audition" in California and if they had signed with anyone yet.  She said they still haven't heard anything.  A few minutes after I returned to my table, Zippy showed up and hugged his parents.  Cute.

Lots of Ace fans-adorned with their red glow sticks and red heart necklaces (they looked orange to me).  I pimped a few Ace fans and kept asking them if they were ********* fans.  None were, they actually all actively disliked her.  One even showed me a picture that she had had taken of herself while ********* was singing at the Pop Tart concert-she was sticking her finger down her throat simulating vomiting.  No love lost here.  Overall, the Highrollers were a pleasant lot, laughed and were very good-natured about the ribbing.  I met two women-proudly aglow in red-that had just arrived from the Pop Tart concert-made it from the Pepsi Center to Herman's Hideaway in 10 minutes!   They told me that they were "good friends" with Ace and that they had been to 10 concerts thus far-scenes from the movie "Almost Famous" coursed through my brain. 

One of the coolest experiences of the entire evening was meeting MaryR and her husband BoR.  I cannot remember exactly what was playing when they arrived, but I think I was mid-hop, shouting, and clapping when I heard my name called out.  I turned around and there MaryR stood, looking exactly as she described herself in her "what I am wearing email" that she had sent me earlier in the day.  We sat down, ordered a round of drinks and started talking and laughing.  And laugh and talk we did, stopping only when the music played-it was like we were long lost friends that had reunited.  Of course the Mike's Hard Lemonade and White Russians probably helped.

Taylor climbed on the stage immediately to our left.  I am not sure about MaryR, but I admit it, I felt a tad fangirly.  While at the table, we stood and got into the music.  I think I saw BoR rocking to the music too. ;o)  Around 1:30 ish, MaryR and I joined the crowd in front of the stage, we clapped, cheered, sang, and danced to a rousing rendition of "Dance to the Music."  Methinks BoR got a chuckle out of the two of us.

As mentioned in a previous post, I briefly met PJ-quite by accident.  She was passing by our table and somehow we started talking.  I told her that I had met a fellow Taylor fan online and we were now together at the table.  PJ looked at me with a slight grin and asked "what's your name?"  I said, "My online name?"   She said "Yeah."  When I told her Boulder Soul, she smiled broadly and said "I am PJ."  MaryR greeted PJ too, but we were unable to chat because the music amped up.  PJ disappeared, boogying her way into the crowd.  PJ, where ever you are, I hope you enjoyed Ace and your holiday in Denver.

LITTLE MEMPHIS BLUES ORCHESTRA
LiMBO took the stage and started playing.  I had planned to keep a set list, even had a pad of paper out to do so, but once the music started, the paper went by the wayside.  Brian Less is kick ass.  I do remember him playing Elton John's Honky Cat.  I was also impressed with Sam.

George Porter, an excellent bass player had joined LiMBO for the evening.  He was phenomenal.  Check out his website to see who all he has played with (http://www.georgeporterjr.com/).  Taylor appeared especially pleased to have him there.  After the show, I got George Porter's autograph on my ticket stub. 

TAYLOR
Describing Taylor is difficult because no words adequately capture his essence.  Nonetheless, I will try.

He electrifies a room, his presence totally fills the space with a palpable energy.  Taylor looked happy-absolutely in his element.  He is incredibly handsome.  His eyes are intense.   He is a maestro at leading the band.

He played the harp, dropped the F bomb a few times, to crowd cheers.  Taylor gave a mini-shout-out to saxophonist King Curtis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Curtis). 

My heart melted a little when I saw the look on Taylor's face when the other guys were playing and singing.  It totally melted when he uttered these words "Thanks for letting me be me."

ELLIOTT, ACE, AND BUCKY
The three guys showed up with Taylor.  Bucky is a real cutie pie.  I don't think he sang a single note, but he did hang out on the left hand side of the stage, behind Brian most of the night, drinking beers, smiling, waving to the crowd, just hanging, having a good old time.  Elliott and Ace both sang backup vocals for a few songs.  Taylor looked really proud of them.  When Elliott was singing “Use Me”, Taylor moved really close to him, it appeared to me that he was coaxing Elliott to dig even deeper.  Elliott was beaming.

I am so not the fangirly type, but did manage to shake hands with Elliott, Bucky, and Ace.  When I returned to the table after shaking hands with Elliott, a woman was going nuts because I touched Elliott.  I extended my hand to her.  Couldn't believe it, she took my hand and rubbed it all over her face.  Bucky's handshake was gentle, his hands warm and soft. 

Ace sang a solo, but I don't know what the song was.  At one point during the evening, Ace came to the front of the stage where a crowd of Highrollers had gathered.  I figured "why not" and moved to the stage as he signed a dozen or so autographs for some of the Highrollers.  I extended my hand, he looked at me and shook my hand.  I told him I was from Boulder, he smiled.   I also asked him when the last time he was there and when the last time he went to The Foundry, a local billiards club featuring live music (have no clue where that question came from).  He answered that it was "about three months ago."  My response, "oh, okay."  You know, he is cute and all-very attentive to his fans, but he is not, shall we say, my cup of tea.

POST-LiMBO
After the concert MaryR, BoR (coolest husband evah), and I were standing around eating sausage hotdogs that were hot of a sidewalk grill in front of Herman's Hideaway (~2:30 AM). All of a sudden Mary shouts out "Hey, Bobby Bennett."  Sure enough, there was Bobby Bennett.  He came over and talked with us.  He looked dapper dressed in his black trousers, mock turtleneck, and jacket.  Around his neck was a necklace-a star inside of a circle.  I thought I recognized it as one of Paula's designs (why do I know this stuff???) and asked if Paula had given it to him, he said yes.  He also said it was good to see the guys again but that it was weird to see people go that crazy over them.  As he crossed the street to go to the 7/11 to get a drink, I swear he added something like they are regular people, they have bad breath and body odor.  After he was gone, Mary and I joked around a little and sang a few words from Barry Manilow's Copacabana.  :o)

Jason the Valet retrieved my car while MaryR, BoR, and I said our goodbyes.  I then headed back to Boulder.  As I turned from South Broadway onto I-25 North one of Taylor's pre-Idol CDs started to play-I cranked the volume on the Soul Mobile radio, rolled down the windows, and was homeward bound.  As I came to a stop in front of my house, Bob Seger's "Hollywood Nights" started to play.  For some reason, it seemed apropos.