Yes, the rumors are true. Many people had candles; some had candlesticks, and some had little votive candles. All in all, the little lights gave the atmosphere a nice touch, I thought. There were bottles of wine, table cloths, trays of cheese. There were also Subway sandwiches, pizza, chips, and beer. I enjoyed the setting, after all, I was there to see TR; everything else was peripheral. Well, except one thing, which bothered my husband, Lee, and I admit, it was hard to ignore.
The sound was not great. The vocals and instruments seemed jumbled much of the time. The instrument solos were not pulled up, so even though we knew TR was doing a great job, it was hard to actually hear it. I do not know the source of the problem, but there was not much improvement throughout the evening.
But still, Todd was on stage, playing and singing, clowning around now and then with the bass player and young guitar player. I loved it all -- from the acoustical "Cliche" to the combined efforts of all musicians on "Can we Still be Friends." I had never heard Todd play "I'm Looking at You, But I'm Talking to Myself" live, and I enjoyed hearing that, too.
The friends we came with were there to see H&O. But they began asking all sorts of questions about TR. I made my way to the foot of the stage for the encores where I joined a number of loyal fans, some of whom brought flowers for TR. By the end of the evening, it seemed to me there were many new TR fans in the audience.
Though Lee would have enjoyed hearing "Hammer in My Heart, " it was an evening that was indeed "Hot Fun in the Summertime." Thanks TR for coming to the South!
