Kristen

Carrie Newcomer in Petoskey and Traverse City -- June, 2008:

 
On June 16th and 17th, I was lucky enough to get to share some of my favorite music with two of the dearest people in the world to me, when my parents and I attended two Carrie Newcomer concerts in northern Michigan.  I was able to take a couple of vacation days from work, and the three of us traveled to Petoskey, Traverse City, and back for these two shows.  I'd never been to either city before, and I was excited about seeing new places in my home state, as well as looking forward to the fabulous music I knew we would hear.

The first concert was in an area of Michigan called Bay View.  Bay View borders the city of Petoskey, and it is known for the Bay View Music Festival that takes place every summer there, of which this concert was part.  The concert was supposed to take place right on the beach in the evening, but the weather proved to be too cool and windy for an outdoor concert to be viable, and there was a threat of rain, so the concert was moved inside the beach's recreation center. 

One wall of the center's main room had tall windows overlooking the sand and the lake, so it was almost as good as being outside for the show, and much warmer.  The Festival folks did a wonderful job of setting up a raised platform to serve as a stage for Carrie, and of setting up chairs for the audience.  Plus, the sound system and the people running it were both top notch.  I was quite impressed. 

I've seen Carrie perform live many times in all kinds of venues, but nonetheless, this night held a somewhat humorous first for me.  It was the first time I saw Carrie perform with pool tables behind her.  The main recreation center room was long, and the platform had been set up about three quarters of the way inside with seats going from in front of it back toward the entrance, and the remainder of the room behind the platform happened to house pool tables, foosball tables, ping pong tables, etc. It was a unique sight, and worth mentioning because it is one of the things that made the concert memorable.

Carrie performed one long set of 12 songs and one encore on this night.  Songs from her February 2008 release The Geography Of Light were sprinkled among old favorites and a couple of songs I had never heard.  One of the new songs is a sing-along, and she got the crowd participating right away thanks to her warm stage presence and a melody and lyrics that were easily remembered.  The second new song she had literally just finished writing on the trip to Michigan, and when she bravely opted to try it out as her encore, she needed the assistance of notes to remember all the words.  That didn't take away from its delight and humor in the slightest, though, as she sang about fairs and festivals that take place in her home state of Indiana each summer. 

I feel such joy when listening to Carrie's music and am so touched and inspired by her glorious lyrics that I could write a paragraph about every song on the set list, but I'll only mention a few.  She's opened every show I've seen in the last year or so, this one included, with the humble and beautiful Leaves Don't Drop.  Don't Push Send remains hysterical no matter how many times I hear it.  The crowd often loves to sing along to this where prompted, and this night was no exception.  The poignant There Is A Tree was inspired by a dream Carrie had where the spirit of God passed by her home so closely that when she woke, the windows were fogged with the breath of it. The performance of it this night was particularly lovely.  If pressed to pick one favorite moment from this show, though, it would have to be the song I'll Go, Too.  The others I've mentioned are all songs from the new CD, but this is an older one, and was the song that hooked me on Carrie's music when I was first introduced to it.  She doesn't perform it live frequently these days, so hearing it at all was a treat, but besides that, it's a song she wrote about her dad, and my dad there with me listening to it made it all the more special.  It was definitely a spectacular night of music.

The other memorable piece of the evening besides the recreation hall atmosphere and the terrific music was the great crowd.  Despite the less than ideal weather conditions, lots of people came out and filled the recreation hall.  They seemed to really respond to the newer songs Carrie performed, and we later learned she had done a small private showcase of songs the night before as part of the teaching aspect of the festival, and that several in the crowd had come to this public concert having heard Carrie's music the night before for the first time.  People were warm and friendly, spirits were high, and the entire evening was very enjoyable and seemed to go by too quickly.

Because of travel time and not leaving for Petoskey until afternoon, we didn't leave ourselves time for much while we were there besides finding our hotel and freshening up, having dinner, and attending the show, but I enjoyed what I saw of the Petoskey and Bay View areas.  We had dinner at a local place called The Side Door Saloon recommended by a member of our hotel desk staff, and it was a fun atmosphere, good food, and great service.

We headed for Traverse City late morning the next day.  Despite the day dawning cloudy and a little cool, it was a beautiful drive along US-31 from one place to the next, and I enjoyed the occasional glimpses of the lake between patches of woods, as well as the picturesque acres of fruit trees, outside our windows along the way. 

After we'd arrived in Traverse City and had lunch, we went in search of a place I'd heard about at work only a few days before -- Moomers Homemade Ice Cream.  This ice cream shop, located on a family dairy farm on the outskirts of Traverse City, had recently been named the place with America's Best Scoops by Good Morning America, and we decided it would be a fun place to visit.  It was.  The people there were very nice, and the ice cream was sinfully delicious.  We also drove through the heart of downtown Traverse City traveling from lunch to the ice cream shop, and it was crowded with shops, people, and activity, and was a neat sight to see.

This night's concert was held in the InsideOut Gallery.  The gallery appeared to have two rooms, one displaying eclectic artwork of all kinds and several mediums, and the other with a small bar serving drinks where the music would take place.  We arrived early, so I spent some time admiring the art and chatting with people who work there.  Once again people were friendly, and it was definitely the kind of place I would visit more often if I lived closer. 

Before the music began, we seated ourselves on a long couch with a side view of the stage.  I loved having a different audience perspective than usual while still being near the stage, and the couch turned out to be really comfortable.  Another longtime Carrie fan sat with us, and I loved having the chance to get to know another person who enjoys this music as much as I do.  I've often said my music travels are made as much by the people that become part of them as by the music itself, and this night furthered that belief.

This concert was also a one long set night, this time with 13 songs and 2 encores.  Many of the songs were the same as the night before, but we loved hearing them again, so it didn't matter.  Plus, every concert atmosphere is different because of the different venues and different crowds, etc., so it didn't feel at all like a repeat of the previous night despite the familiarity of much of the set list. 

This crowd also joined in well on the new sing-along song and Don't Push Send.  Unlike the previous crowd who had seemed more familiar with Carrie's newer material, though, this crowd clearly had some longtime fans of the older songs, as songs like Betty's Diner, The Gathering Of Spirits, and Bare To The Bone got strong audience reactions.  Carrie also has a relatively new unrecorded song that recites animal groupings (a gaggle of geese, a swarm of bees, a herd of deer, etc.) and is delightfully cute and creative, and it was her first encore this night.  If pressed to pick a favorite moment from this show, this time it would be the song Silver, which Carrie herself describes as "a song about loving somebody for a long time."  This concert happened to fall on my parents' 41st wedding anniversary, and to get to spend their special day with them and hear this warmly appropriate song sung made the whole experience extra special.

The next day was filled with travel and the catching up that always comes after being away, but the trip was completely worth it for all of us.   I was first introduced to Carrie’s music by a colleague over 3.5 years ago, and when I agreed to accompany her to a concert that night, I had no idea how much I would love the music or what an impact it would have on my life.  I often describe Carrie's music as being deeply spiritual without being overtly religious.  Those of you familiar with Carrie's music will likely know what I mean.  I encourage those of you who aren't to visit her website or her MySpace page and have a listen.  I dare say you won't be disappointed, and you may even want to make your way to Ann Arbor when she returns to Michigan this coming November.

www.carrienewcomer.com

www.myspace.com/carrienewcomer

 
As always, thanks for reading!