What a Night!

This morning I crossed something off my bucket list. And I even have proof:

In the photo: Me, my one true love and soulmate Harry, my friend Beth, who was kind enough to ride all the way to Nashville & back with me for the low, low price of getting to meet Harry.

The concert was AMAZING. I saw Harry during the Come By Me tour, which must've been almost 10 years ago, at the ampitheater on the Mississippi River here in Memphis. And that was a great concert too - he talked about how it felt like home to him to be playing on the River - but I'd say that he's gotten to be a lot more fun in the past decade. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville is a National Historic Landmark and on the National Register of Historic Places. Orignally built as a church, it was once the home to the Grand Ole Opry, and iS referred to as "The Mother Church of the Opry." In 1994 it was completely restored and refurbished and it's really an amazing venue for live performance. Not just because of the history of the place, but because it's so tiny you're practically sitting on the stage. We were in the third row of the balcony, and I'd say we were...maybe 30 yards from the stage. (IDK if it was 30 yards, but I'm judging based on the length of a football field, and we were no where near that far. Not even half that far. So I'm going with 30 yards.) Close enough to see every facial expression. It was practically a spiritual experience.


Harry's on tour with his full swing band for his new holiday album "What a Night," so he started out with several Christmas songs. Then the entire middle section was ass-kicking New Orleans jazz. It was mind-blowingly orgasmic. Like, it made me so homesick and yet it made my spirit soar. He played Bourbon Street Parade, Didn't He Ramble, Jambalaya On the Bayou (which I've never heard without an accordian, BTW) and Basin Street Blues. After more Christmas music, he closed out with Come by Me - same thing he closed with when I saw him on the river - which is one of my favorites. Then he came back out and did Mardi Gras in New Orleans for an encore. And he DANCED! Like he was in a Mardi Gras parade! It was seriously awesome!


He was so easy-going and funny and entertaining. He had this amazing trombone player from NOLA named Lucien with him, and they goofed around and danced and laughed. In between songs he talked about the Saints losing Thursday night to the Bears (the same night he was actually playing a show in Chicago, and people were yelling out the score from the audience), he imitated the way his pre-teen daughters talk to him, he talked about American Idol ("That show's been on since like the 50s I think.") and why he couldn't get some bar-b-que in his dressing room.


I'm grateful to be able to mark off meeting him on my list, but mostly I just want to add another item: "Go on tour with Harry." Because he just seems to have so damn much fun.


The meet-and-greet was quick and actually seemed kinda painful for him. They held it off to one side of the auditorium. It didn't take too long to clear everyone else out and shortly he came out, having changed into jeans, a t-shirt and a Saints cap. There were probably 20 people or so with passes waiting there to meet him. He seemed like he really wanted to get through the line as quickly as possible and just get the fuck on his bus. Which I understand because after the high-energy show we just saw, he must've been exhausted. Plus, it was Nashville. Most of the people in line to meet him weren't fans, per se. Most of them were music industry people. That's gotta be a pain in his ass.

All in all, I'd say that Harry's new Christmas album is very aptly named, because WHAT A NIGHT!!