Stone Mountain Arts Center

July 3, 2009

Brownfield,ME

Review By: Cole

My original plan really wasn’t to attend the shows in Maine. But, Patty seems to bring out the “impulse buyer” in me, and before I knew it, I was emailing Richard to tell him I’d just bought the tickets and booked my room and was coming up for the shows. I don’t really think when it comes to going to see her—I just do it. I knew I wanted to go--- and the thought of having some time with Richard & Patti (dubbed my 2nd parents or surrogate parents) sounded really great, so it seemed like an overall winner of an idea. We made the plans to fly into Portland, I’d meet Richard & Patti, get a rental car and we’d drive over to the Inn that we were staying at.

Now, I’d love to start off by saying I had an amazing flight and landed in Portland bubbly and happy. But, luck was not on my side at the beginning of the trip. I had a hellacious check –in with Delta/Northwest, and two crappy flights. I left Nashville very early in the AM and arrived in Portland at 12:30 with a pounding headache and just waited on Richard & Patti—and once they arrived the rest of the afternoon seemed to go off much better!

We stayed at a little Inn that had an affiliation with the venue she was playing at on Friday. Their deal included a ticket to the show with Premier Seating. The town she was playing is quite tiny, so there weren’t really that many options for lodging to choose from, so if we got good seats by staying at the Inn, that seemed worth it. It was a cute little place. The entire town did not have cell phone coverage, which was quite a challenge for someone like me whose hands are pretty much glued to their Blackberry. Patti thought the Inn was really great but Richard and I were yearning for a real chain hotel in a city somewhere.

We were warned ahead of time not to use Mapquest or something like that to get to the venue or Inn. They aren’t kidding, these places are seriously off multiple back roads, and there isn’t really much of a sign for the Stone Mountain Arts Center. A small tiny piece of wood with “SMAC” and an arrow was the sign for the venue, leading the way. Given that, though, the venue wasn’t what you would have expected AT ALL. It was VERY neat and beautiful. We envisioned the sound was going to be spectacular, and the view was amazing--- there were a couple long windows behind where Patty would be, with a view of the Mountains surrounding the venue. The owner is quite the fan and was absolutely dying to get Patty there--- we heard after the show that Patty would like to come back twice a year.

There were only a few flaws I could find with this place. I’m not usually a fan of places that don’t allow Photography. I never see a reason for a place to rule out NO FLASH photography. I am perfectly fine without using a flash. It usually isn’t a big deal to a lot of people, but… Photography major here, my camera is how I see everything.

They seated us at the second table, so we did have great seats. The place is so small that really any seat in the house would have been great. I don’t usually like to fly long distances for less than stellar seats though, so I was quite pleased with where they place the Inn guests. The tickets for the show was $85, and the seats are general admission. If you eat dinner with the venue, you have the better seats.

Patty came out to great applause, and with a surprise opener- “You Can Feel Bad”. I LOVE this for an opener. I couldn’t quite get into “Blame” as an opener. I’ve been accustomed to it being her ending “sing along” for so long and didn’t like her opening with her biggest hit. “Feel Bad” was an excellent choice, and got the crowd into the show from the get go. It wasn’t a “polite” crowd—it was a Patty crowd. We assumed it would be, for people that paid $85 to get in the door, and they didn’t prove us wrong.

They launched into “On Down the Line” next, and then she chatted with the crowd. She asked them if she had the town correct--- as she said “Hello Brownsfield, ME”. They corrected her to tell her it was Brownfield, which amused her and said she just added an S, but was close! After quick chatter, she told her story of winning Vocal Collab with George Jones, and launched into “You Don’t Seem to Miss Me”, followed by “Nothin’ But the Wheel”. I’m pretty sure you could hear a pin drop when she opened her mouth to launch into “Wheel”. I hear her do this, and I’m just completely puzzled by how some of the people on radio today get ON the radio and she doesn’t. I’m just completely baffled how one can hear this voice and not instantly be captivated. I just don’t get it, I suppose I never will.

It’s always hard to follow that one up, but she did so with “Lovin’ All Night” and “If My Heart Had Windows”. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not overly nuts about “Lovin’ All Night”, but live, I really think it adds a little more energy to the show. And, “Windows” has really grown to be one of my faves in the set—and I LOVE that it really gives Marcia Ramirez a chance to shine on the keys in her show. We whined and whined when Patty took the keys out of the show in 2005, so I’ll be sure to plug the keys every chance I get since she’s worked them back into the show : )

Patty said a few times during the show that she was full of it, and wound up, which was quite the truth! She had fun with a couple sitting down in the front row- the guy seemed quite smitten with her, so I’m sure he didn’t mind at ALL! Patty told everyone she was just a harmless flirt.

Multiple times during the show, Richard or I would make a comment about how “on it” she was. She was absolutely spectacular--- she was on fire, and everyone just completely ate her up the entire time she was on stage. She never once missed a note, and there were multiple people that said they literally gasped during her performance. True story—she’s just that good. She doesn’t give herself enough CREDIT for being that good, but she is.

A quick note into the band this time around - the usual suspects this year: Marcia Ramirez, Deanie Richardson, Martin Parker, Tom Britt, Pete Finney, Garry Murray. Jimmy Johnson was not there as his mother is very, very ill at the time. Patty wished her well and said they were keeping Jimmy in their prayers and missed him. Filling in for him was Matt McKenzie-- another one that will probably sound familiar to PL fans, as he used to tour with her. A group full of tremendous talent---no exaggeration.

Once she launched into “Sleepless Nights” set, it seems to be when everyone just gets really into the show--- anyone that WASN’T into it before certainly is by now. The SN set was the usual:

Why Baby Why
Crazy Arms
Sleepless Nights
Color of the Blues
That’s All It Took

I don’t know what it is about “Crazy Arms” live that just blows every other version of this song out of the water. It’s phenomenal. (I always find that I start running out of adjectives to describe Patty when I start working on a review.) It’s been my favorite of the SN set ever since she worked it into the show. But, the CLOSING of “That’s All it Took” just absolutely amazes me every time. She holds that last line, and just blows every one away.

Now first let me just say… I am originally a Florida girl. I like summer and sunshine, 95 degree weather where I can wear flip flops all the time and swimming in my outdoor pool on Christmas Day. Tennessee has required me to get accustomed to quite a different kind of winter. I don’t ENJOY 20 degree winters and complain constantly, but I get a reprieve in the summer. Maine is a liiiiittle bit different. 50 degree nights is crazy in the summer—that’s like winter to me! So, I packed a long a couple sweatshirts with me in preparation for chilly nights. (This amused a lot of the people near me at the show Friday. Apparently they thought it was nice??) Needless to say, I absolutely froze and put my sweatshirt on during the show on Friday night, which just so happened to be my EMORY sweatshirt. (Insert note here, Emory really IS a University in Atlanta, Ga.)

So, with that said--Tom Britt came out with his stool to get set up to do ‘My Old Friend the Blues’, and Patty began telling the story of wanting to cut the song years ago, but Emory wouldn’t let her. Bringing up Emory usually gets a big cheer out from us (no one can deny he’s a musical genius), which caught her attention this time, and she immediately stopped what she was saying to announce that she saw my Emory sweatshirt. I never really know what’s going to come out of Patty’s mouth, so I don’t really know whether to laugh or be nervous when she starts saying something to me, but she was really wound up, and I had to laugh. Richard mentioned how I didn’t go to Emory, which Tom asked if Patty heard. She replied “Well I KNOW she didn’t go to Emory! I know she’s an Emory fan!”, and with the hands on the hips, she said “Don’t you forget that’s my man, though!”, which cracked everyone up. She looked back over at me and said, "Thank you for being here Nicole- how many shows does this make?'... I replied "199" and she grinned and said "199, wow I owe you one don't I?" And with that, she started "My Old Friend the Blues", which completely slayed me. I am SO glad this song is still in the set list--- and I never want to see it leave.

And, as if she hadn't wowed us enough - she followed that up with "Here I Am", which was complete perfection. (Hey, I used a different word this time!) The guy next to me had talked to me a little bit before the show because he was amused that I was cold-- and had mentioned he had never seen her before. When she was doing HIA, I happened to glance over and he had his hand on his chin, and was just leaning in-- totally and completely captivated.

I missed the beginning of Tom's intro to "Halfway Down" since I needed to get up during the show, which was a bummer. But by the time I got back to my seat, the song was nearly over and she was going to launch into what is by far my favorite of the tour so far--- "You Don't Even Know Who I Am." I wish I knew what it was about this song that just gets me every single time she does it. But it usually leaves me teary and in complete awe. Marcia and Garry provide amazing background vocals to it.

She closed the show with 2 songs that were number one singles--- and I really dug that she did them back to back. "Lonely too Long" and "Blame it On Your Heart". She brought back the "sing a long" to Blame-- and explained once again if you didn't know the words to make up your own. And when she shouted her 'Say What?', the guy that she had been bantering with somewhat during the show did just that! She was thoroughly entertained! After a standing O, and coming back to thunderous applause for her encore, she paused to tell him what a great job he did, and asked his name. (Which I cannot remember!!!) He gave her his first name, and she prompted "Do you have a last name??" to which he replied "Supernot". Patty looked at him incredulously and said "Supernot? As in Superman, but Supernot?" He confirmed it, and Patty grinned.

The encore was still 'Cold Cold Heart', which brought complete silence to the crowd during-- and everyone to their feet afterwards. It was sad to see the show come to an end, it really was one of the best she's done!

She did thank the owner as well as the crew during the show--- they took great care of her and the crew/band. The venue was sold out, so I don't think they'll have any problems booking her to come back for those two shows that she would like to come back and do each year!

We chatted outside and had the pleasure of getting to meet up with Steve from the boards--- it's always so nice to finally get to put faces with the names and getting to meet up with everyone. We hung out for a little while after the show, made our plans to meet up the following day at the venue in Freeport and decided to head back to the Inn and get some sleep. (Which means the review is coming to an end, though the weekend wasnt!) Somehow my headache disappeared during the show and returned afterwards. Just sayin.....isn't that a sign of some sort??