Virginia Beach

Vah. Beach. We had a great look at the Sandler Center for the Performing Arts from across the street in the fitness center of our hotel. The promoters and staff like to say 1300 seats, with not a bad one, and all within 120 feet from the stage. My kind of venue, with people’s elbows on the stage. They could reach out and touch the sax player.

My heart is touched by a squirmy little blond girl 5 to 6 years of age who hid her face and 3 times said her name so quietly that I never got it. Her mom was the same. Just to their right were 3 ladies who were good friends of each other’s who came together and did everything together in unison—Laughed and chuckled and sang… Three people who made a plan ahead of time, made it work, and came with a high set of expectations and anticipation. It was great for me and the band to witness that.

This area which includes Hampton Roads, Chesapeake, Norfolk, and Suffolk, has a great big sports arena that is very big and echo-y, that I’ve played often. Lots of the audience gets to be half a mile away. So, we could tell immediately that this audience felt and warmed to the short distance from themselves to the stage. They spoke and whispered things to me and the band as though we were across the living room.

Three different people came with flowers, and we began the night with a vase right in the front and center of the stage. It must have been placed there by someone who came early and never identified themselves. A little grey-haired lady down front and to the right of stage held up flowers and squirmed and squealed so much herself that I had to go over and give her a hug and a kiss… OOOOOOOO!

We surprised ourselves with a front half of an intermission show that was really short—about 48 minutes for 9 songs. Wow. That’s breakneck speed, and I hope that the audience didn’t feel too jammed or rushed or hurried. …We stretched it out in the second half and added some impromptus, including our unique little version of Summertime, me and Larry, with the audience singing along and making it a trio.

The extra stuff in the second half made up for our short first half, and it all worked out great, including the polite assistance from security officers to an unscheduled backup dancer who found his way onstage. The house promoter and talent buyers were grinning from ear to ear, and came with some of their special guests to the backstage hospitality area. We did photos and autographs, as they continued to chatter about what a great evening it was. And so it really was.