This story actually starts on Thursday. I'm innocently driving to my haircutting appointment, listening to the end of Morning Becomes Eclectic on KCRW. I hear my boy Nic Harcourt announce that they're giving away free tickets to the Blind Boys of Alabama concert Friday night, and since my favorite hobby involves driving while decoding the weensy numbers on my cell phone pad and endangering the lives of my fellow drivers, it seemed like a fine time to try to call and score tickets. Karma, which usually laughs at my face, smiled on me and I actually won tickets to the concert! Sweet! I tried to parlay my luck into getting a free haircut as well, but the salon wasn't having any of that.
So Friday night rolls around, and we make our way to the Knitting Factory, taking the metro as all cool eco-conscious city kids are wont to do. The concert was on the main stage, which is still a really small, intimate venue. The Blind Boys of Alabama are a rollicking gospel-based group who've been around forever, and are thus getting on in years a bit:
Nevertheless, they put on a GREAT show. Lots of passion, great harmonies, and those soaring gospel notes that send a shiver down the spine. Toward the end, they were rocking out and the lead singer decided he wanted to come down into the audience. Since they are literally blind, his bodyguard carried him down into the crowd as he meandered around, the song still pounding, and the rest of the band singing and playing from the stage. He walked by us several times (and wound his mic cord around our legs) and we were able to touch his hand. Many of the audience members were hugging him and clasping his shoulders, but that seemed a bit too intimate.
He stayed down in the crowd for probably 10 minutes as the song went on and on, growing in intensity. With all of the craziness, their lead guitarist was helping the other blind members navigate the stage, so he couldn't concentrate on playing properly. So who comes out to help on guitar but...
PRINCE. PRINCE! On stage, not 15 feet from where we were standing! (The wee little elf was looking pretty hot, too.) We couldn't BELIEVE that the one time we didn't bring our camera to a show, we could have gotten pictures with the lead singer of the band and gotten front-row pictures of Prince jamming on guitar. It was incredible. After the song was over, he gave a modest little bow and left without saying a word. We were hoping he'd come out and play for an encore, but the absence of any encore at all pretty much prevented that. Still, the whole show was amazing and so much fun and...Prince! Can't stop saying it!
UPDATE: I got a nice link from the KCRW blog! I surely do love that station. Also, fellow concert-goer Glenn was there with a camera and got a picture of the elusive Prince. I like the blurriness, it makes him seem more rock-n-roll.
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