A Bowl Full of Blues

Joel Woiton, verified:

Oak Point Ampitheatre is a great outdoor venue. It's just rare that a big crowd ever forms at any shows there. BYOLC, bring you lawn chairs. I think you can bring coolers in too.

Mike Orren, verified:

I'll echo that it's a great venue-- maybe my favorite around these parts.

Reviewed in a sidebar here: http://www.texasgigs.com/news/2006/au...

Not sure on the coolers. I think that varies based on who, if anyone, is selling concessions.

Michael Schaefer, verified:

Per the promoter, you can bring coolers or whatever you want. I'm also working to get specific start times for each artist in case there is someone in particular you don't want to miss.

Read more here:

http://stratscorner.wordpress.com/200...

Michael Schaefer, verified:

One more thing ... Sam Myers died last year. You might want to update the graphic you have on file for Anson and the Rockets. More info here:

http://www.sweetsammyers.com/

Here's a great solo photo of Anson from my buddy Jeff on BluesViews.com:

http://www.bluesviews.com/Assets/imag...

Michael

Michael Schaefer, verified:

Was that an amazing show or what? I'd like to add a review. How do I do that? All I see is "Add an Event", "Add A Lost Pet", "Add A Story", "Add A Garage Sale", "Add A Band", "Add A Photo".

I could just put it in a comment here. But then it won't show up under "Latest Reviews" on the front page.

HELP. :)

Michael Schaefer, verified:

Ok, well, I'll give yall the short version while I work on the blog entry. In a nutshell, I was blown away last night. In 1999, I began to make an effort to start getting out again and listening to live music. And during that time, I've focused almost all of my attention on the local blues scene. And although that's only been around 9 years, I've seen some amazing shows. Last night was the best night of blues I've seen in this town. And second place doesn't even come close. I was completely floored.

Now, I must say that I have an emotional stake in what happened last night. I founded and run NorthTexasBlues, a Yahoo Group devoted to blues in our fair metroplex. And I've gotten to know a lot of the people who were on that stage last night. We've complained for years that less and less people are going out to see live blues. And last night, when I purchased my tickets at the gate, the guy told me, "ok, that's it, I'm sold out."

My jaw nearly hit the floor. I had more people coming. I freaked. Luckily, the lady next to him had a roll left and I bougt enough for my friends. I heard later that people were sneaking into the venue just to catch Anson and Bugs.

THEY SOLD OUT!!! I can't believe it. They sold more tickets last night than they did for all of 2007 combined!!!

Many of my friends were on that stage. The Bulldogs opened. I've jammed with them at the Cottage Lounge. Great guys. The blew the doors off. Next was Blue Lisa, another good friend of mine. With her were Rob Donavan and Bob Fisk on guitar. I've jammed with all of them multiple times. And there they were, on stage in front of a couple thousand people. It was an emotional night for me. I felt so happy for those guys. And the crowd was digging every bit of it. Unbelievable.

Well, this isn't getting any shorter. So I'll save the rest for later. The worst part of the night for me was my wife coming down to the stage to find me and looking like she was about to die. She had walking pneumonia but decided to tough it out for me ... for my birthday. I feel like a total jerk today. Both her and my two kids were freezing by the end of the night. The blankets and jackets couldn't keep them warm. I got a pretty good scare there. I got them home and got everyone warmed up. But for a bit of the ride home I thought we were stopping at the hospital. What's the quote? Caution is the better side of valor? Something like that.

The good news is that the antibiotics are doing the trick this morning and everyone is doing well.

Great show Plano. I take back all those things I've said about you. ;)

Michael Schaefer, verified:

Here is my official review of the show. It's a little late. But I had some blogging issues to workout.

Here ya go:

http://stratscorner.blogspot.com/2008...