I spent Friday being inexcusably lazy. Charlie organized a concert/open mic night/high school reunion on Thursday that I have yet to write about. Come back later today; I should have this entry finished by then. In the meantime, please enjoy some pictures of the event.
Update: The Entry, Finally
I arrived late, which is unusual for me. The coffeehouse– the third I had visited that evening after realizing I didn't know exactly which one Charlie specified– was already half full. I recognized the majority of the audience from high school. Almost the entire guitar jam crew was there: Jeremy, Mark, Erol, Nick, Geoff, plus a few people who showed up later. Just like during Charlie's Purdue Concert, the whole evening was very reminiscent of the many coffeehouse concerts in high school.
The audience had arranged themselves in irregular semicircles around Charlie's "stage" at the front of the building. He had set up two microphones, a multicolored bongo drum, an electronic keyboard, and his PA. The wires seemed worse than usual; several people narrowly avoided certain death when they got snared. One guy whose name escapes me at the moment was the designated "bongo guy". Charlie would call him up to the front to play, prompting him to excuse himself from whatever conversation he was having at the time and hectically navigate the tables, chairs, cords, and people crowding the cafe.
Charlie only played for a short time before handing the mic off to the other musicians in the room. At least eight "acts" played. One of Charlie's friends from college played a steel guitar solo first. I found it especially impressive because no one in high school owned a steel guitar or played with a slide with any regularity. It was the same way with Erol's classical guitar solo later in the evening. Awe-inspiring stuff.
While the musicians did their thing, the rest of the coffehouse filled with friends and family who had heard about the concert. I'm sure it was the busiest place in town that Thursday night. We must have broken several dozen fire codes by having so many people in such a small place. Charlie returned to the stage at the peak of the crowd. I took up the microphone and asked them to give Charlie a round of applause. "No one else could have gotten this many people from high school together in one place," I said. From there the concert devolved into a good old fashioned jam session.
