Last spring I so enjoyed James Taylor's and Carole King's Troubadour Reunion - such wonderful music and so many warm memories! A few months ago I saw that Taylor would be performing in Iowa, in the Quad Cities, in a small historic theatre akin to the Fox Theatre venues. I decided that seeing him in such an intimate venue was something I'd like to do. To top it off, the show was conveniently scheduled for the Friday night beginning my Spring Break from school - a perfect time for a little roadtrip.
Davenport, IA is about 2.5 hours away. When I headed out after my last class campus was already deserted - everyone was anxious to begin their spring break! I had been craving Thai food so had googled Quad City restaurants and picked a place called Exotic Thai in Moline to enter into my GPS. It was perfect! I had such a delicious and interesting dinner. Picking an appetizer I had never heard of and a chicken coconut curry from their extensive menu I ate every little bit! It was so good that I decided a visit to a second Exotic Thai in Davenport would be necessary for lunch the next day! : )
My seat at the Adler Theatre was in row H of the main floor. Although it wasn't truly the 8th row (there seemed to be some extra "pit" rows) it was still a darn good seat. Taylor is touring with his son Ben so I wasn't sure what to expect. Ben is talented, good looking and has a great sense of humor, so he brought a lot to the evening. The setlist included quite a few of Ben's songs - all enjoyable and mostly of a distinctly different 'flavor' than those of his father (mix in a little soft adult contemporary a la Jack Johnson). Here is Ben having fun with his song "Your Boyfriend is a Really Nice Guy". Some songs they sang as duets, while on others one or the other would primarily provide guitar accompaniment. Of course new, unfamiliar music doesn't produce quite the same warm, comfortable feelings of old favorites but Ben's selections did spark an interest in taking a look at his upcoming album. Ben and James sat far enough apart that I often had a hard time capturing both father and son (between
audience heads) in my videoclips. Here is a bit of Carolina On My Mind
The show was a very chatty and personal offering - almost as if we were sitting in their living room listening to stories and jokes between songs. Ben and James seem to have a wonderful relationship. At one point James got up and nuzzled the side of Ben's head and neck with his balding pate - he is a proud and affectionate father! The Davenport crowd was quite interactive - shouting out Happy Birthdays to James almost as soon as he and Ben came out on stage and then the whole audience broke out into a verse of happy birthday to James.
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