DC ROCK CLUB
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Sunday, September 13, 2009

A date with Kate

Pure Prairie League @ "The Kate," Old Saybrook, CT - Friday, Sept. 11, 2009

I accidentally lured my mom onto Facebook recently. Facebook said I could send pics to people not on Facebook (my mom), and so I did, but this seemed to have been a trick. The next thing I knew, my mom was posting on my wall. This late adaptation got me thinking that as DCRockClub.com struggles to fight the summer lazys, we should reach out to a new demographic. All the nostalgia rock has been a cash cow for our senior rockers struggling to pay for their prescription drugs, so why not provide their concert goers with a heads up now and again?

Back home, they've recently turned the old town hall-turned-movie theater into the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, aka, The Kate. In case you didn't know - and why would you? - Katharine Hepburn was one of the few "local" celebrities for those of us growing up in the Connecticut River Valley. Her house was nearby a golf course that I played a couple of times. I never hit her house with a golf ball, but others tried.

So the first show at The Kate was scheduled for this past Friday night, and my dear mother plunked down her social security money to see 1970s country-rockers, Pure Prairie League. The rest of what you read is based on reports from my mom (our new senior seniors correspondent) and her scribe/husband. Pure Prairie League are on their 40th Anniversary tour, and fought off the hard rains en route to make it to Old Saybrook from Portland, Maine.

"They were great! The music was really good. Donnie Clark is a fantastic guitar picker." The show started "late" at about 8:15pm and ended sometime around 10:30. A long set if you ask me. Good thing The Kate is a seated theater with "very comfortable chairs with cushioned seats." There are only 250 of them in The Kate, and it so happened that my mom's was next to that of the chair of building committee (one of the main dudes that got this place up and running). Given the inaugural nature of the show, there were lots of folks in attendance who had spent years working to make the center possible. This fellow was nice enough to fetch my mom the set list after the show. Here it is:

Cost of Doing Business
Kansas City Southern
If You Could Say What I’m Thinkin
Getting Over You
Love U Tonight
Don’t go Confessin Your Love
Call Me/Tell Me
I’ll Fix Your Flat tire Merle
2 Lane Hiway
I Sure Do Miss You Now ( a 9/11 dedication)
Kentucky Moonshine
Amie
Early Morning Riser
Tears
6’ O’Snow
Harmony Song
Jazzman
Willin
Picken

My mom said she recognized 2 of the songs, and I'm guessing "I’ll Fix Your Flat tire Merle" wasn't one of them.

More info about The Kate that our AARP readership might like to know:
"Acoustics were very good, not ear shattering. Ample parking, behind the theater for handicapped with easy access to the building. Ample parking on the street and surrounding parking lots. The side entrance at ground level also leads to a large foyer where the bar is located. Drinks were reasonably priced at $5.00 for beer and wine, large selection of beers and red and white wines, also champagne ($ ?).There is an elevator from this level to the concert hall. The restrooms are located on the lower level."

5 comments:

Ann Nyberg said...

As a member of the board of trustees of The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center and Theater, we are so glad that your Mom had a wonderful time at the officials opening of The Kate!
Your mom's review was very kind and we thank her a bunch.
I would love permission to post this on The Kate's blog . Thank you so much, and we hope you'll come up with your Mom and see a show soon.
Here's the web site.
http://www.katharinehepburntheater.org

Ann Nyberg, Trustee, KHCAC

Potsy said...

Hi Ann, please do link to The Kate's blog as you like. I see the Kate blog has some pics from the concert posted as well.

Ann Nyberg said...

Thanks so much, Potsy.

Unknown said...

I wonder what Potsy's mom would rate the show on the Bristol scale.

Jumbo Slice said...

"our new senior seniors correspondent" - excellent. It's good to know what our opinion of music will be like in 20 to 30 years.

Considering our back issues I think Jimbomski and I would enjoy the comfortable seating at The Kate the most.