Yes, do I have a story for y'all!
First, on my way into town I had to stop less than a block from the Cyrus farm because someone had thrown a Big Mac box and a bunch of napkins out on the side of the road. I just couldn't let that slide. And who special orders a Big Mac with no pickles, anyway?
Unlike last time, when I got to park at the Mexican restaurant next door because we ate there before the concert and were, therefore, legally parked customers, I had to parallel park 2½ blocks away, and I do mean real city blocks. I pulled an excellent parking maneuver on my first attempt, which should have been videotaped from four different angles for use in a driver's ed course. As I locked my car and went to step up on the walkway, I nearly tripped on some cute little drinking glass someone had left on the pavement. I brought it home with me and it's in the dishwasher now.
I stood in the line that had already begun to form for probably around a half-hour before they let us in, and I was the first to take to the floor. Since I knew the show wasn't due to start for at least another half-hour, I just sat on the floor up front near the stage so I could get off my feet which had already seen a few miles of downtown Nashville before I even parked the car. Most everyone else was either sitting at a table or standing in the back. The next couple of people to the floor also sat down to wait, and by the time Alexa came out, there were probably around a hundred people or more sitting on the floor up front, and we just somehow stayed there and enjoyed the show. Alexa made the comment that we must be true fans because there's no telling what all had been on that floor, and yet we didn't seem to mind. I don't know about everyone else, but I'd had a very long day and was glad to sit. Several people remarked about the "living room" atmosphere it gave the event.
Alexa's show was short, no more than a half-hour itself, but quite enjoyable and I would even say memorable. Really cool at the end of her set, she was joined by the cellist and a guitarist from Joshua's band for a graceful rendition of "Moon River".
A full 15 minutes ahead of schedule, Vanessa came out and had to remark almost immediately about how us sitting around on the floor reminded her of Montessori school and how they would sit in a circle and listen to music or read or whatever, and how they would have a circle jerk at the end. Just kidding.
Her set list (which ended up in my pocket after the show) consisted of...
1. Ordinary Day
2. Hands On Me
3. White Houses
4. Who's To Say
5. Heroes & Thieves
6. Half A Week Before The Winter (with Alexa Wilkinson on trumpet)
7. A Thousand Miles
8. Home (with longer coda)
9. More Than This
She commented at least a couple more times between songs about the Montessori school and the circle jerks, which she said was not funny when we laughed about it because she was just kidding about that. After her set, she went back to the merchandise counter for all of about two minutes before virtually disappearing for the rest of the night. When Joshua came on stage, more people had come to the floor, including several who only showed up to watch him, and they were standing. After his show, I heard him backstage making comments to a couple of people about how the crowd was awful and sleepy and how he just wanted to quit mid-set. I don't know if he was being sarcastic or if he was serious, but the girls he was talking to were doing their best to convince him otherwise and that they were actually still cheering wanting an encore.
I make the trek back up to the car to grab a copy of the DVD I'd made from Vanessa's previous performance there at the Exit/In and my 12" single of "White Houses". I, along with about 4 or 5 others, lingered around out back by the bus hoping to catch her before she got away. We did just barely get to see her before she got back on the bus. She autographed a couple of shirts for some young ladies and made a picture with a couple of young men. She had to borrow a blue Sharpie, but she was amazed and happy to autograph my 12" single, wanting to know all about where I got it and telling me she wanted one too, and I gave her the DVD before she slipped away.
I didn't get any video or many pictures, but I'll see if I can post what I do have by tonight.
