King
Center
 SueC
walked the beach then retired to the patio bar and its view of the ocean.
Thelma joined her, and the skinny is that Thelma caught the eye of an elderly
Greek "shipping tycoon". I thought that unlikely, but came down from
my rest to see it for myself. At least he sounded Greek! We
had some laughs and enjoyed the sea breeze and the outstanding service.
Our waiter didn't offer to spritz me with Evian, but I'm sure he
would have if I had asked.
The drive to Melbourne was longer than we thought. Our policy has been to supplement our atlas and directions with various additions from the hotel staff. Melbourne seemed to elude them, and we had estimates that varied widely. It was a lot farther than we had thought or had planned on. I was anxious to get to the King Center and relive the pleasant memories of our last visit. The King Center is a member venue, and Debbie, the Crown Club director laughs indulgently at the thought of a member from Indiana. They treat their members well, or at least treat ME well, and I feel a relationship with the venue, and take some pride in it. It doesn't hurt that they FEED US before the concert (hence the rush to get to Melbourne and the King Center hors d'oeuvres). The Margaritas were on the strong side, and frankly... I was blitzed! Apparently, the tequila led the way to my stomach, with the meatballs, seafood casserole, minitacos, crudités, cocktail shrimp, cheeses, éclairs, cakes and pies far behind. The tastiest part of the experience is leaning over the balcony and waving a shrimp at the unwashed multitude below. I greeted Debbie at our private bar, and renewed our biannual acquaintance and when she anxiously inquired whether I was pleased with my tickets, I smiled and nodded, and asked whether she had our backstage passes too! She laughed a knowing laugh. We walked unsteadily to our seats, parked our tushies and waited in anticipation of the opening chords of The Voice. We weren't disappointed!  THE
VENUE
The Maxwell King Center (rather than Dr Martin Luther) is a fairly new venue on the campus of Brevard Community College. Parking is spacious and convenient, and was included with my ticket purchase. It's a pleasant, smallish theatre, with a checkerboard design on the ceiling that reminds me of the finish flag at the Indy 500. The stage was low enough that I could see the Jays shoes from my seat. There was the usual stack of speakers on either side of the stage and the flying curved set overhead. It was a sellout. THE FASHION REPORT RT- White long slvd shirt, black slacks, no change GE- Jimi Hendrix shirt, black slacks, flag shirt second half JH- White Oxford shirt, black jeans, no change at half JL- Black on black, black Oxford shirt, black slacks, white long slvd shirt, open cuffs at half  THE
CONCERT
The permanent setlist was performed perfectly with a 20 minute intermission. I thought the sound was a bit loud for the hall, and when I went out for a little fresh air at half, several people came out holding their ears and asking when would the ringing stop. I played Angel of Mercy, and went from victim to victim, attempting to comfort them over their permanent hearing loss, and offering them earplugs. I gave away several pairs and earned tearful expressions of thankfulness from the recipients. The Actor was marred by a strangely dressed woman in the audience in the second row who was moved to shrilly whistle her pleasure as if she were at a baseball game. Glaring glances in her direction finally quieted her, though the temptation was to stand and scream at her to shut up. LOAM featured a fabulous rendition of Ray's flute solo and the first appearance of the famous "cuckoo" since Paul has taken over all the keyboard duties (not counting the two notes that Bernie faithfully contributes each evening.) I don't know if Paul was surprised, but at least two Rayfans on the front row gasped in amazement and pleasure. Ray grinned in delight at us. Great venue, great concert! We're getting into a pattern of perfection here. Nicely done, but no risks are taken, LOAM being the exception. MaggieMay |
