The previous post is I choosed!.
The next post is Dunkin' Donuts Newport Folk Festival, Sunday Edition.

Linda Ronstadt, Live in Newport · Aug 4, 08:19 PM

Yesterday Merrilee and I saw Linda Ronstadt at the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which is two block from my apartment (when Pete Sampras was inducted a couple weeks ago it was a week-long madhouse). We were joined by a young Russian hosteler with poor English; he was here for the Dunkin’ Donuts Newport Folk Festival this weekend. Linda was the opening act.

She’s on tour right now with a jazz band, and that’s where the evening started — three or four incredible jazz pieces, including Straighten Up And Fly Right. Then she threw in something popular from her career, and moved on to Mo-town and early rock & roll, transitioning via a jazzy Spanish thing — toured for a couple years with a Mariachi band, she says — into recognizable and class Linda: stuff from her recordings with Dolly Parton — even the Somewhere Out There duet from An American Tail.

The Russian hosteler and I were one of the very few under 45 in the audience. They loved her. The sound system carried her dynamic rannge, tone, and vocal range beautifully, except for when the generator crapped out after her first song, right as she was about to explain, “in case you’re wondering why you’re hearing jazz, this is what I’m going to do…”. Then darkness and silence. After ten minutes someone bravely takes the stage and braves catcalls to explain that it will be another twenty minutes while they procure another generator. It was about ten.

Everything except the band-stand was sold out. The audience gave her a standing ovation at the end, and she returned to the stage to sing something in Spanish and then closed out brilliantly with Desperado..

Today as I was training in the park I could here the crowds and bands playing at Fort Adams today. Tomorrow I’m going out there with Ann and Les. Right now I’m google-ing the Sunday lineup.

* * *

Name
E-mail
http://
Message
  Textile Help