It seemed like everybody who is anybody was going to be attending the Billy Joe concert last night here in Cardston. I hadn't really planned on going even though I was pretty sure I'd enjoy it. Finally deciding that I couldn't let a chance like this get away (again) I got home from work yesterday and decided to call the theatre in the off chance that by some miracle the tiny room wasn't yet completely sold out... and it wasn't. I couldn't understand why but counted myself lucky and rushed down to buy one of the last seats available.
I figured I was pretty lucky to get a seat right in the middle of the theatre. Even though it was in the last row of the center section the place is so small that I would still be very close to the stage relatively speaking. Upon entering I immediately found out why my seat had lasted until three hours before showtime. Resting on my left armrest and rising up from it like a black monolith from either of the Space Odyssey movies was a big wooden control console of some kind. Lights? Sound? I'm not sure but it was there and wasn't going anywhere. It would be a little extra squishy on my left side but my line of sight was surprisingly good as I had a clear view of all the performers and both of William Joseph's hands, except when they moved so fast my eyes could hardly keep up.
Including William Joseph there were four members of his band. With the lights still down the Cellist and Violinist entered first to a round of applause. Next and still in the dark a man came in and sat at the piano. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought this was WJ himself because he got even more applause than the ladies did but after hitting a couple of notes on the piano to which the violin and cello replied with just a couple of their own he went back and settled into the drum kit. Fooled already and it hadn't even started yet. When WJ finally took the stage you could tell the applause was ever so slightly reserved just until the audience was sure that this wasn't just the tambourine man or piano bench height checker.
I had only watched a couple of YouTube videos to get a taste of what to expect at a William Joseph concert so all of his music was pretty much brand new to me. I immediately realized that I was extremely privileged to be seeing and listening to some world class musicians in an unreasonably intimate setting. It almost seemed wrong that such a small number of us were being touched by so much talent and that there should have been so many more to share in the light only we few were basking in.
After his pretend last song of the night and a standing ovation which I'm sure we were all prepared to continue much much longer William Joseph quickly reappeared to perform two more numbers. The first was one he said many would recognize but no one I was with did so just in case you didn't either it was Bella's Lullaby from the first twilight movie. Last and never least was Asturias. Here is a link to a YouTube of it where he plays it in a setting more deserving of his talent.
In the end it was a great night out. So glad I went. The music was wonderful, beautiful and awe inspiring. The skills and talents of William Joseph and his band were almost too much to believe. It almost seemed like I was watching it all on TV because it was just too magnificent to be happening there right in front of me. Just a little surreal I guess. Chances are good that I will never again hear the piano, violin, cello and drums played live so well and so close by.
