I'm usually not much of a concert-goer, save the occasional outing to an Auburn Chamber Music Society recital or two, but I was coerced into going to the Lake Martin Amphitheater this weekend for their Labor Day Concert.
I must say I was glad that Beth and Mollie invited me along on their trip, as Sister Hazel and the other bands there for the concert provided a wonderful experience.
Aslyn, the opening act, was interesting, and I'm still not sure what to make of her.
She had a weird Carole King vibe going on with her voice and frantic pounding of the piano while she was singing, but she didn't have Carole's stage presence.
She also felt the need to explain each song before she sang it, telling us bits and pieces of her life and the inspirations behind her songs.
Sufficed to say, some of her explanations about the songs were longer than the songs themselves. I paid for a concert, not a book reading.
After she finished her set, Trotline, mainstays of the bar scene, took the stage and the evening began to truly warm up.
Trotline had a decent set, but it was nothing that I haven't seen any other time they've come to town to play.
To be perfectly honest, their rendition of "If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band)" was a bit lackluster. I was hoping for the fiddle player to really attack that song and show us his skills, considering the song was actually about fiddle playing, but he never reached the peaks of showmanship I thought he might.
Perhaps I just have high expectations for fiddle players. I don't know.
The main attraction, Sister Hazel, was right on the money and gave one of the best shows I've seen them give.
Coming fresh from the excitement of the release of their new album "Release," the veteran performers took the stage and you could feel the excitement in the air.
You can tell Sister Hazel is a great touring band, as it had the right mix of old and new songs: enough old to placate the fans, and enough new to pimp the new album.
We were in a crowd filled with true Sister Hazel fans, evidenced by the fact that even when the band sang a few songs from the new album, the crowd was still singing along.
I was surprised to learn the release album had debuted and was, for some amount of time, the number one album on iTunes, a great accomplishment for any band in our digital world.
While their new songs were good and had the crowd dancing and swaying, it was when the band played some of its more recognizable, older hits that everything truly gelled.
Toward the end of its set, the band played its classic "Champagne High" and the assembled crowd went wild, even yours truly (and I am, admittedly, not the biggest Sister Hazel fan).
As I listened to the song, I began to look around at the masses assembled around me, and that's where I saw the magic in Sister Hazel's performance power.
Couples all over the amphitheater were holding each other close and swaying in a loving and slightly awkward manner, including what had to have been a couple in their early 60s enjoying a nice moonlight serenade. Call me an old softie if you wish, but that's sweet.
Young and old had a wonderful time at Lake Martin Sunday night, and, even though I didn't expect to do so, so did I.
If you were there, you know what I mean.
If you weren't, I feel bad for you. You missed a heck of a show.
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