A Night of Firsts!

Sue, Carol and I have the Best of Broadway Theater tickets. We get together several times a year for that, which is always fun. Last week, Carol suggested we try something new. She said Ben Folds was coming to town and was performing with The Spokane Symphony. I was embarrassed to admit that I did not know who Ben Folds is and even more so to say I had never been to our see our Symphony perform. I've always heard great things about them but have never been.

I'm also getting pretty protective of my Sunday nights. (I like to use the "getting ready the work week excuse" but as long as I'm being completely honest, the slightly pathetic truth is....my addiction to "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers and Sisters". Don't judge...things could be much worse!) Carol was so excited about Ben Folds, I thought ....what the heck! Why not try something new!

Sue suggested Catacombs for dinner. Carol asked what I thought. Again, embarrassed to say I had never been there. Goodness, yes - I have lived here since 1979. I think this is what some might call an "epiphany". It just might be time to make some changes. :)

I am so happy that I decided to "step out of my box" last night. I had a great evening. It turns out that Carol treated me to the show and Sue treated me to dinner. (Did I mention it was my birthday last week?) Catacombs is a wonderful little Pub that is set in what used to be the boiler room of an old hotel and it now serves German, Viennese and Italian food. I had the most delicious lasagna. I couldn't wait to have my leftovers for lunch today. The atmosphere was very cozy.

After dinner, we crossed the street to the Martin Woldson Theater at the Fox. This theater was renovated and reopened in November, 2007. The art deco is beyond words to describe. The theater is listed on National Register of Historic Places.

I was having so much fun and experiencing all these new things, and the main event hadn't even started yet. Was it really a Sunday night?

The Spokane Symphony played first. The conductor, Eckart Preu, is very humble yet entertaining. He has a nice conversational manner with the audience. The Symphony was as wonderful as I have heard they are. I am looking forward to many more opportunities to go.

After intermission, Ben Folds joined the Symphony. He is quite a character. He walked out in very casual pants, tennis shoes, and a striped polo shirt. The audience was filled with young adults who were absolutely in love with his music. It was a blast to share the night with them. When he came out, he played a short song and then said, "So, I really like my band." (Since he was talking about the 70 piece orchestra behind him, that set the tone for the night.)

I'm not sure there are many Symphony performances where it feels almost appropriate for the audience to yell and scream as if they were at a rock concert. He also created an intimate feeling with the audience. If someone yelled something out, he created a song about it. There were many times when he stopped and chatted with us. With all of the comedy and stories that he included, none of it compared to his talent as a singer, composer and pianist. I am definitely putting his CD's on my must buy list. I will definitely go again if he graces Spokane with another performance!