Our Red Dress World Tour – Chapter Fifteen

My fall concert tour – music that fills your heart

Chapter Fifteen

Normally I don’t ‘do’ concerts. They are usually at night and crowded. With limited vision, this raises my anxiety levels. But, when I heard 40 Fingers was coming back to the States, I knew I’d see them again – but twice? Oh YEAH!

40 Fingers – Birchmere Music Hall, Alexandria, VA

The 4 guys and their 40 fingers and the music they create, has calmed me down more than once especially during my lengthy hospital stays. They are extremely talented. They do not sing but they do know how to strum guitar strings! Karen is humoring me by taking me to see them twice while they are in the states again this year.The guys played for 2 hours. A lot of strumming was done! Audience participation was encouraged and there were some shenanigans from the guys as well. It was an enjoyable concert except for the guy’s head blocking my view! Birchmere offers a unique seating system – you arrive early and get a number. When your number is called you show your tickets and find the best seat available. Many people get a ticket for up to 6 people to enter. So even though we were #15, the front tables were mostly taken. I don’t like getting squished in between people so we went to the far end of the front row table so we could turn our chairs towards the stage. Next time, front row seats!

40 Fingers – Philadelphia, PA

Second verse, same as the first! (See above). Karen humored me again as we decided to camp out at the Four Seasons Philadelphia to see these guys once more at City Winery, a nice venue..

It’s joked that the member tipping his head towards mine only likes women over 70…I qualified! LOL

ABBA Tribute – MGM Oxon Hill, MD

More ABBA? Sure why not! We enjoyed our visit to Stockholm, Sweden and the ABBA Museum. We’ve enjoyed their music for years. This will be the second time seeing an ABBA concert. The first time was with the original 4 members.This time, the bass player was a member of the original ABBA band. I can see the MGM Hotel/Casino from my bedroom window. We’ve driven by it many times but never entered. MGM had their fall decorations on display.

Michael Cavanaugh – Baltimore Symphony

Michael Cavanaugh is a very talented musician. So talented in fact that Billy Joel chose him to star in Movin’ Out on Broadway. Micheal is currently located in Las Vegas, where we saw him when we lived there. He used to play dueling pianos at one of the casinos. Now he travels the country playing with various symphonies for an interesting concert concept. He also gives weekly FB concerts from his home studio, something he started during the pandemic and continues today.

The road to Baltimore needs repaving! Wow! What a bumpy ride and not great for someone who exhibits motion sickness. This is new to me and I have to be honest, I don’t like it! We had a great time enjoying Michael’s music and watching the conductor’s ‘antics’ as he directed the orchestra. The drummer was also in Movin’ Out. The saxophone player was great. Michael travels with his own guys – keyboard/guitar; lead guitar; bass guitar, drummer and horn player. I’m not sure what some of the people expected of the concert but I did hear some comments that maybe they were better off staying home. I’m guessing the comments were from loyal patrons of the BSO. But we came to enjoy and hear Michael’s music and we did! I think his busy schedule may be creeping up on him as he was having a bit of a problem hitting some of the higher notes. One of the favorite pieces was one that Michael wrote about music riffs. It was a bit weird to hear professionally trained concert musicians playing In-a-gadda-da-vida for sure! LOL No pictures were allowed but my sneaky photographer grabbed a few anyway! We had great seats!

One thing I will say about the venue is that the ushers are amazing. My walker was delivered to my row at intermission and at the end of the concert. It was tagged with my seat location. The venue is handicap accessible. The parking is a short walk away but handicap parking spaces are very limited. Get there plenty early if you need one.

I swear this guy doesn’t age! He’s 51 and looks about 30.

Once again, Karen’s boss has been very generous with her approval for time off even though she glitched this particular schedule. She truly understands ‘family before job’. Karen’s colleagues have been very supportive and understanding as well. It’s a small department so whenever someone is on vacation or personal days, scheduling coverage becomes a nightmare. Thank you guys (and yes, they are all guys except Karen!) for your generosity and understanding.

Music is one of the only things in this world that you can count on.
No matter how you feel, there is always that one song that can match your mood.

–unknown