Best Concert I Ever Missed!

Last fall I was very honored to be asked to serve on the board of the Metheny Music Foundation. I feel that when I read the list of board members, I have been included in a very unique hall of fame. What an honor it has been.

It was going to be a great time building their web site over the next couple months as the board headed toward m akin g its missions a reality. That was going to take money and the money needed to come from our collective fund raising. It was a no brainer for us to pick a jazz event. That really became a reality when Pat Metheny agreed to take a detour from his “Day Trip album road tour. Best time was for March 7, 2008 but there was a lot of risk in that date. By far the biggest gamble seemed to be the weather. Planning on a nice day in early March is asking for a lot!! We decided to go for it.

Ticket sales would begin on December 1 at a store in downtown Lee's Summit and online. The multitude of other arrangement were also being made, such as getting the venue (Unity Village) and planning the menu for the pre concert event - all of those logistical matters that tend to trip you up if you don't cover all with a primary and a back up plan.

We were a few days late starting the online ticket sales. I finally launched it at 2:00 p.m. on December 3, 2007 . I was shocked when at 2:14 , we received our first ticket order from a lady in mid Missouri . The next sale came in at 3:22 from a person in the United Kingdom - London ! That was a wild start. Sales before Christmas were great and we suspect that Santa stuffed a lot of Christmas stockings with Pat Metheny concert tickets. Then there was a slight lull in the action but that was the lull before the storm. By mid February tickets became scarce. 

After working with Mike Metheny so long on JAM magazine and later, his Web site, I knew he was a perfectionist. That's a quality that few pull off well and those who don't should take some lessons from Mike. The evening of March 7th was shaping up to be a lot more than just a good concert. It was going to one of those very special events that reeks with the soul of the homecoming and the reunion of brothers and parents.

On the Wednesday before this Friday night gathering, I started sneezing. I knew it was time for my Zycam. It was too late and it was obvious that I was not going to be in the audience that night.

I will have to rely on the vivid description of others and imagine what it was like, and hope that the board votes to repeat it again next year.

From Pat's web site . . .

"...Everyone who was there, every single one of us, was touched in ways that go beyond what any words could ever describe. Let me put it this way: I have seen Pat Metheny in concert nearly 30 times over 35 years, and I have never heard him play better. And yet that was just a part of what made the evening so unique and beautiful. I would say that it was almost a sacred event, too much for words. There was a speechlessness about it all. I almost feel that by even trying to talk about it I am devaluing the specialness of what it was. Put it like this: I wouldn't have traded that evening at Unity Village for any musical event that I have ever attended in my life. It was that special."

"The music was, of course, incredible; the trio is so talented and together. But the venue and entire show had so much soul. The show started with a set from the high school marching band -- it was a bunch of Pat's songs arranged by Mike - very cool. And the venue... The fact that Unity Village is such an inspiration to Pat's music should give you an idea of the connection between the music, artist and audience. Mike even came out for the last set and encore. Incredible!"

"Have to agree it was a very, very special evening! My husband and I came from out of town and got to spend some time visiting the town of Lee's Summit and enjoyed so much the sincere hospitality of the people there. And yes, these are unbelievably talented musicians who give their all every gig they play. But not to be overlooked is the humility that both Pat and his brother Mike possess and was clearly in evidence that evening that makes these performers so very special!"

And from Mike . . .

“Rarely does reality equal the planned vision. This time it did, and then some."

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