Photo by Samuel Sianipar on Unsplash
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis heard the Madison symphony and pianist Benjamin Grosvenor Sunday in the big room of the Overture Center through the courtesy of good friend Tom Humphry.
They are not regular concert goers, at least not under the stylized symphony circumstances, and the keeper wondered why at times when it seemed the crowd should applaud, it didn’t.
The keeper recalled a Doc Watson concert in the north-woods back in the rock-concert era when Doc’s son Merle was still with him, and some fool threw firecrackers up onto the stage, prompting Doc, who was blind, to stop the music and plead for no more fireworks.
There was no such disorder at Sunday’s concert.
A piano was wheeled out and Ben played the hell out of it, and the conductor waved his little stick and the string players moved as one; and at one point with their bows at rest, the keeper thought they could be taken for people gathered around a fishing pond. He did not mention this to Phyllis.
Much appreciation is sent to Tom and others for hosting Phyllis and the keeper. Phyllis was cool with all of it, but the keeper obviously needs to get out more.
