i've been to memphis, and i don't mean texas...

note: i've been to memphis, texas - don't recommend it...

last night, for the second time in my very fortunate life, i have seen lyle lovett and his large band live in concert.

concert number one: a lovely november evening in houston three years ago. trenda and i saw lyle at jones hall (home of the houston symphony).

it was a spectacularly texas evening: the people sitting in front of us were wealthy houstonians who inhabited their wealth in a particularly texan way. the ladies sported fur coats, leather pants, large hair, bright red lipstick, and LOTS of perfume. the men were clad in wranglers, ostrich skin boots, leather vests, crisply starched shirts, big ole cowboy hats, and carried with them the faint smell of cigarette smoke mixed with expensive cologne. and they were tall. and kept getting up. and talked. alot.

but the concert was WONDERFUL. that's right (you're not from texas) is best experienced when in texas. it's like texas' school song.

and the musicianship on that stage. holy cow. assemble fifteen of the best studio musicians from austin, los angeles, and nashville, throw them on a stage together and let 'em go. my ears were very pleased with me.

and lyle lovett is funny. and from houston. and told tales of getting lost in a semi-shady part of town late one night on his way home from his favorite mexican restaurant. and we all laughed knowingly, because we all knew that part of town. and had either gotten lost there ourselves, or had worked very hard to ensure that we knew exactly where we were going so as not to find ourselves in the same predicament.

concert number two: last night with ruthie. a stormy night at kansas city's starlight theater (an outdoor venue).

the crowd looked a little less (ahem) refined than the texas show. likely it was because we had all gotten caught in the POURING rain on our way from the car to the venue. we all looked like wet dogs. but excited wet dogs, because we could see the stage full of instruments and microphones, and we knew we were in for an a-plus evening. if the freaking rain would ever stop.

we were slated to begin at 7:30, but were delayed just a bit because of said inclement weather. it seems the storms ushered in a bit of a cold front, because when the band took the stage at 8:00, we found ourselves in the midst of a perfect fall evening. the thunder rumbled a couple of times early in the performance, and the umbrellas came back out for 15 minutes or so at one point, but we were undaunted.

that's because we were entranced by lyle and his large band.

as a transplanted texan, it was fun to hear him make references to places i knew. like that line i've been to memphis, and i don't mean texas. as i said before, i've been to memphis, tx. it's about 30 miles from wellington (my hometown). we don't like memphis very much. or when lyle mentioned a truck stop at the corner of i-40 and highway 287. i know exactly where that is - right on the outskirts of amarillo. i've been to that truckstop before - it's a pilot station that has super-cheap gas.

and the music. un-freaking-believable. the fusion of jazz and blues, and country, and gospel. very few people can pull that off. lyle does it better than anyone. he and his merry band of better-musicians-than-the-majority-of-the-six-billion-people-in-the-world.

so if you ever have the chance, GO SEE LYLE AND HIS LARGE BAND. if you don't believe me, just ask ruthie. or trenda. or dan hamilton.