An Evening of Temptations

Ond advantge of having a mother who plays violin in a fabulous symphony, is that she gets us really great tickets to some really great concerts! She scored us 4 tickets to see The Temptations with the Utah Symphony last Saturday night at Abravanel Hall in SLC. We invited our friends Van and Denise and had a blast!

We met up for dinner at "Z Tejas" at the Gateway (one of my favorite places) beforehand and then made our way over to the Hall. I always love going to Abravanel Hall, it'so beautiful and elegant and I LOVE the "Chihuly" in the lobby that was first displayed during the 2002 Winter Olympics held in SLC. It's a magnificent piece and I never get tired of seeing it.

The first half of the concert (which was really about the first quarter), the Symphony played a few show tunes...All Gershwin. It was great, but I was anxious to see the boys and had to remind myself to just relax and enjoy the WHOLE concert...I did. The music was wonderful and the Symphony sounded beautiful.

After intermission, the feeling in the air was one of anticipation and excitement. The music started to build as the Symphony played behind the announcer who milked every second to a funky version of Zarathustra (2001: A Space Odyssey), finally introducing The Temptations...it worked, people were whistling, screaming and clapping like crazy. Then, in the shadows, out walked these 5 amazingly talented guys, in the dark with only the vibrant green of their matching jackets shining through the blackness...Lights up..."Ladies and Gentlemen....THE TEMPTATIONS!!" (wild applause, screams, and whistles...)

There is only one original left in the group...Otis Williams. He looked amazing and they were all true to form as they sang the music of a past generation that sounded as timeless as when it was first recorded. Of course, they had amazing synchronized moves and were visually entertaining as well.

I couldn't help but think of my son, Tyler and his best friend Phil, who ever since they were 9 or 10, would blast the music of the Temptations from my son's room and sing along at the top of their lungs. The girls and I used to laugh and shake our heads at these two little guys as they knew EVERY word and imitated all of their moves...it was a sweet time in my life that has passed but will forever be resurrected in my heart each time I hear one of those iconic songs...

The show finally came to an end :( but that was OK. We had a wonderful evening of great food, great company, amazing music and wonderful memories. As we were exiting into the lobby, my cell rang and it was my mother who told us to come back stage. We did, and we were able to meet the group as they were mulling around the Musicians Lounge (which is as beautiful as the rest of the hall). Most of the symphony musicians had already left so it was nice to be in a more intimate setting with them. My mom introduced us and they were all so kind and genuine and took time to really talk to us. My mother told them that my dad had worked for Capitol Records and they were more star-struck than we were!! We met the members of their band and here's the Beatles connection...Brad asked their bass player (who was phenomenal, by the way) how he first got interested in playing bass guitar...he said that he LOVED Paul McCartney's style and that's what inspired him!

So for my son Tyler and his friend Phil, I had these pictures taken with Otis...just to rub it in a bit...{tee hee}The man to the far right of the picture is in the group, his name is Terry Weeks and I believe he told me he has been with the group for 15 years...It was a great evening and even better when we got to meet a 4 time Grammy winning Rock 'n Roll hall of famer!