Saturday, October 27, 2012

Road to Phoenixville

While idly checking Facebook the other day, I spotted a little ad in the corner for a show by singer-songwriter Al Stewart on Oct. 26 at the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville. Al Stewart, here in Chester County! His "Year of the Cat" album was the soundtrack to my sophomore year in college! I immediately went to the Colonial's website and bought my ticket, and thank goodness I did because there were very few seats left.
Al and guitarist Dave Nachmanoff -- just two very talented guys with acoustic guitars on stage for two hours-- put on a terrific show, including the classics "On the Border," "Lord Grenville," "Palace of Versailles" and "Soho (Needless to Say)." In addition to being a marvelous singer -- that voice is unmistakeable -- Al is so cheerful, amusing and self-deprecating, telling funny stories like how he shared a dressing room with the Rolling Stones in the 1960s and irritated Mick Jagger by asking why the band members weren't wearing uniforms.
Few in the Colonial audience were under 50, and I think we were all not-so-secretly excited at the novelty of staying up long past our usual bedtimes (I didn't get home til midnight!). The couple next to me, Steve and Linda Crane from Methacton, introduced themselves to me as soon as they sat down, and we had a great time chatting in that way that people who grew up in the same era, and the same area, do (suburban Philly in the 1970s).
WHYY taped the show and will air it in January, and somebody has already posted two songs from the show on YouTube.
The Colonial is a great venue, and I was surprised at how thriving downtown Phoenixville appeared on a Friday night. 

No comments:

Post a Comment