An Unexpected Pleasure

I love movies, fashion and the music of the 1930's. Last week I treated myself to an at-home Norma Shearer movie day: The Women, The Divorcee and The Free Soul, all in an afternoon. I was in my glory, such glamorous women and fashions, delightful dialogue.

Hubby called home yesterday afternoon. Our friend Susan had stopped by his office with tickets for the Turning Stone to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. Chris had me on speaker phone so I had to bite back the initial thought that flew into my head: why would I want to see a band with such a strange name? And then Susan said, "They're playing a tribute to Cab Calloway. You'll love them."

And so we were treated to a lovely evening of horns and stand-up bass, fantastic singing, someone playing a real piano (not a keyboard!), an amazing drummer, and an opportunity to watch couples who really knew how to dance. Big Bad Voodoo Daddy did their act in three piece pin-striped suits and even wore what looks like real spats, at least to me. You just had to tap your toes or move some part of your body.

We had seats way in the back of the Showroom, where I love to sit. Susan put it best when she leaned over and said to me, "Don't you just feel as if we're in the Prohibition Days and sitting in some Speakeasy listening to music?" Indeed, I did. When I closed my eyes, I imagined myself in some fancier duds than those I had on, and that the glasses I heard clinking held bath tub gin rather than iced tea and that really was Cab Calloway up there singing "Minnie the Moocher". I was glad it wasn't a smoke filled room though.....that's progress, at least.

Thanks, Susan, for thinking of us! And thanks Big Bad Voodoo Daddy for keeping this music alive! How nice it was to watch a boy of about eleven and his mother singing along....they knew every word to every song. It was a magical evening.

Turning Stone Casino's Response

Dear Robin & Christopher,
Thank you for leaving your feedback. I am sending your response to Mr. Garfunkel's management. I apologize for your experience at the Art Garfunkel concert. I am as disappointed as you are. I appreciate you taking the time to write to me and will make sure that his management is aware of the feelings of Art Garfunkel's fans.
Thank you again, Terri Torrey Talent Manager

My Letter to Turning Stone Casino

Dear Showroom Events Manager,

My husband and I, frequent guests at your Showroom and the Events Center, were extremely disappointed by Art Garfunkel's performance and arrogance on Thursday evening when he had the audacity to ask a handicapped individual in his audience to stop making "noise". We wish we had followed those guests out of the concert, and we are hoping that you graciously refunded them the price of their tickets for the performance they were made to feel too embarrassed to continue to sit through with their handicapped companion.

Your showroom is a delightful venue, has beautiful acoustics, and we have never seen an unworthy event there, until last Thursday evening. We urge you NEVER to invite Art Garfunkel to your stage again. Certainly your customers, especially your handicapped customers, deserve talent driven by more than ego.

Sincerely,
Robin Butler and Christopher Jestin

SHAME ON YOU, ART GARFUNKEL !

He's not my favorite of the duo. I've always considered Paul Simon one of the genius poets/songwriters of my generation. I would run down South Salina Street buck naked for a chance to see Paul Simon in concert....well, maybe. When friends invited us to see Art Garfunkel in concert, we said, yeah, ok, why not? And it wasn't horrible. His voice was good most of the time. The songs were familiar and after awhile you got used to the lack of Simon harmony. He developed a rapport with the audience at first. The band was good. We settled in for a nice evening.

And then he read a prose poem from his new book, a clear reminder to me that he's still out there singing Simon and Garfunkel songs because he's NOT a writer after all. I wanted to say, "Just sing, Art. Sing another song."

He didn't. "What are those noises?" he asked, glaring over the top of his reading glasses into the audience. I wasn't sure if it was a part of the disjointed prose poem he was reading or not at first, until I heard the noises, too. He continued with the reading. Then he stopped and made another comment. "Is everything alright over there?" A couple more comments like that came from him before someone in the front row told him where the "noises" were coming from.

Art Garfunkel stood at the microphone, holding his book up, peering over his glasses and said, "I try to be kind to the handicapped, but I'm trying to put on a show here." Now, if you'll imagine the sound of a dozen Catholic nuns cracking wooden rulers down on desks, you'll get the tone of his voice as he delivered this message to his audience just about right.

He continued reading his insipid verse from his little book while the "noise maker" was wheeled out of the audience, the clanging of the door echoing in the room behind them, changing the mood for the remainder of the show, completely ruining the version of Mary Chapin-Carpenter's "Dreamland" that he sang next. (You owe MCC an apology, too, Artie.) And every song that followed the departure of the "noise makers" rang false; Art sang the wrong lyrics to "Mrs. Robinson" and "Sounds of Silence", although I doubted that he was feeling the least bit guilty for his bad behavior. He was simply rushing through the songs to get off the stage.

I hope the Turning Stone Casino refunded that customer's money. I hope that "Bridge Over Troubled Waters" wasn't the only song that once put that child to sleep and the family hadn't saved pennies to be able to hear the song sung live just once. I hope the Turning Stone Casino never invites Art Garfunkel back to perform. I hope you never buy his book or CD.

The arrogance, the ego.

My husband put it best......we saw Paul Simon's back up singer last night.