CLASSY

Warning: this blog entry might make you jealous...

So, the school where my friend MB works has been planning a special benefit concert at the Symphony Hall to raise money for a Habitat for Humanity build. They even roped some of the students' parents into performing, too. Kind of like a talent show, but starring grown-ups. Grown-ups named Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

So MB had been telling me about this concert for a while and I knew it would cost a ton of money but would be really cool. A once in a lifetime special concert.

So imagine my glee when she calls me yesterday and offers me a pair of tickets. Yay! I made some calls, picked up the tickets, and met my wicked hot date at the Schermerhorn, which by the way, is beautiful.

The show was great. The first half was just the Symphony, and knowing that they weren't playing to a typical Symphony Hall crowd, played recognizable classics such as "Hoedown," "Dance of the Hours" and a Berlin Medley. As wonderful as the music was, the conductor was my favorite part. My date said he looked a character from a Pixar movie, while I was seeing Georges Hautecourt from the Aristocats. He had the funniest Dutch accent and white hair and was a very animated conductor. Quite a character!

After the intermission, Faith came out to do her set. She sang "Lost," "Breathe," a beautiful song called "Paris" ("I love this song, it's one of my favorites that I've ever recorded, and I have no idea what it means"), the Janis version of "Piece of my Heart," an Aretha Franklin medley and more. Then Tim joined her to sing "I Need You" which was my favorite part of the night. The Symphony played very softly and we really got to hear their voices. Tim's set was a lot more exciting than Faith's. He was much more energetic and seemed happier to be there. He sang "If You're Reading This," "Watch the Wind Blow By," "Please Remember Me" ("This next song I love, one of my favorites I've ever recorded, but I don't do it a lot 'cause it's hard as hell to sing, I'll be honest with ya"), "Tiny Dancer," "Live Like You Were Dying" and a few others. Then Faith joined him again and they closed the evening with "It's Your Love." It was fantastic. All in all it was a great show, very intimate. I liked that they got to sing some of their favorite but lesser-known songs, like "Paris" and "Please Remember Me."

Then, the wonderful evening continued on the next block over with my very first trip to the The Palm. This was just as much of a treat as the concert. We saw Tim and Faith, Trisha Yearwood, Amy Grant, Vince Gill and many more famous people... in caricature form, drawn on the wall, I mean. And the only thing better than the food? The company, of course.

It was quite an evening. A concert at the Symphony... dinner at the Palm... a great date. If I'm not careful, I just may have to change my name to Fancy!