I hadn't realized that the University of Hartford was quite far from town (well, far to walk, anyways), so in some ways, I was glad that my friend Agnes had brought
her friend Clarice along (I guess that makes her a Grand-Friend-To-The-Undertow, no?). Clarice lives in the US and she gave us a ride to the Lincoln Theater.
There were some t-shirts (only the woman's v-cut t-shirt left) and signed posters for sale at the entrance to the auditorium, in aid of the Connecticut Special Olympics.
We settled down in our seats, and by sheer coincidence, we were right next to Dave Hammar and his son, Christopher, both of whom were armed with cameras, big and small. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to talk until after the show. But how great to finally meet up with a Towie (and an uber-Towie at that!)!
Suzanne wore a snug-fitting floral top with black pants, long black jacket, and cute pink sneakers. The set list followed the previous night's performance at Amagansett quite closely, except there was no "Harbor Song", and there were two encores (yay!) instead of one. Compared to Amagansett, Suzanne and the band seemed more tired here. Suzanne mentioned how she fell asleep backstage in the afternoon (very uncharacteristic of her), and dreamt that she was in Philadelphia. She also sheepishly apologized to the crowd for the comment she made at Amagansett, about how Connecticut doesn't really count. Doesn't matter, the crowd loved her and every minute of the show - three standing ovations, and loud cheering throughout the night.
It seemed as if everyone had fun on stage, particularly Mike, who came out with a feathered mask (and the now infamous trumpet!) during "Solitaire".
After the concert, I was so nervous I contemplated running away, rather than risk mucking up the whole meeting with Suzanne. My friends, of course, would hear nothing of that, so I was summarily sent to see Glynn. Luckily, Dave was also there, and I finally had a chance to talk to him. He had just flown in from Baltimore. We waited a while for Glynn to settle the sound systems, then he brought all of us backstage.
Suzanne came down a flight of stairs from where her dressing room was, and I think I must have turned to jello at that moment. She first saw Dave and Chris, and greeted them, "Hey guys! Wow, you are all festooned with cameras!". Then she turned around and saw us, and probably wondered who we were. I admit, I was gawking and stood rooted to the spot. Agnes rescued the situation by first introducing herself, and I followed suit, repeating in my head, "Don't say anything stupid..don't say anything stupid.." (which I did, of course).
Suzanne has lovely small soft hands, and she's simply beautiful.
Clarice (the GFTTU) was a lot more outgoing than I was, and asked many questions. It's hard to believe that she had never heard any of Suzanne's songs before that night.
We also had a chance to speak with the rest of the band members - Glynn, Doug, Billy, Mike, and Doug's lovely wife Rykiel (sp?). They are all incredibly warm and generous people; angels, all of them. Glynn and Mike mentioned that a Southeast Asian tour in the future might not be an impossibility (they have done tours in Japan and Australia, after all). Now, how cool would that be?
Three weeks after the concerts, and I'm still walking on air. Thanks so much, Suzanne, for giving us your time, and for all that you are. Rest well!
best thoughts,
suporn