Bacon Bros

I am taking a full weekend off (no Saturday morning overtime this week) and my weekend nearly ended early. If I had not been more aware of my surroundings, I may very well have been run over by the Bacon Brothers on Friday afternoon. (Actually, nothing of the kind came close to happening, but the Fox News style sentence in my paragraph got your attention, didn’t it?)

The back story: Anne Marie and I made plans months ago to see the Bacon Brothers in concert at the Keswick Theater in Glenside. We both arranged to quit work early on a beautiful, breezy Friday afternoon, and found a vacant parking spot, which is very hard to come by whenever the Keswick has a show. We made our way to Keswick Avenue via a very narrow alley between the theater and a beauty salon. Anne Marie gravitated towards the beauty salon side, while I walked towards the theater just to make sure the show was still on for the night. No signs in the door saying show cancelled, so I started walking back in Anne Marie’s direction.  

At that moment, a small van was making its turn into the alley; Anne Marie warned me to watch out, but I had already stopped to watch the van. Actually the driver was taking longer than I thought it necessary to negotiate a tricky, but not that tricky of a turn. I thought it was more unusual when I saw that the van had New York plates. This behavior did not fit in with my stereotypical view of New York drivers. After all, aren’t they supposed to drive around like gang-busters, public safety be damned?

So much for my stereotypical worldview!

Anne Marie and I soon realized that the van occupants were not typical New Yorkers, but native Philadelphians! The van turned into the alley and I immediately recognized Kevin Bacon sitting in the passenger seat; Anne Marie later confirmed to me that his older brother Michael was driving. My wife waved them into the alley and the brothers drove around to the back of the theater. To her credit, Anne Marie refrained from screaming like a fangirl when she saw Kevin, and fortunately she also refrained from throwing her lingerie at him. This is a moot point since AM last year admitted to an entire Baltimore restaurant that she hasn’t worn a bra since 1977. I can only imagine that some of those patrons are still traumatized to this day over her announcement, but I digress…

We proceeded to KT’s across the street where we had a wonderful, budget busting meal of appetizers and soups. The house opened shortly after 7p, and we found our seats near the front. Fortunately, our seats were at the end of the row. I took the aisle seat because, after all, I am a man with a middle-aged bladder.  Nuff said!

The show was as wonderful as the previous Bacon Brothers performances we have seen. The group has toured professionally since 1995, even though they have been playing music together off and on since they were youngsters growing up in Center City. They have released a half-dozen or so albums of music which they call forosoco, or a blend of (fo)lk, (ro)ck, (so)ul, and (co)untry. Their own genre is catchy, contagiousn and wonderfully entertaining. 

 

They rocked out on Paris, tasted some country on Get a Little and Only a Good Woman, and indulged in some funk-style rap with an audience interactive song, Tape It Up.

Older brother Michael played guitar for most of the evening, with a few songs spent on the cello. Kevin jumped from guitar to bongos (!), to various other percussion tools to tambourine. And, oh yes, he danced and gyrated to the delight of the females in the audience. Yes, I am envious of the energy he possesses and exhibits, more galling knowing that he is only a year older than moi. Go figure!

And oh yes, I should say this about Michael: he’s a very careful driver.

I hope the brothers return to their hometown soon for another wonderful evening!

(Thank you for reading. Remember Kent State on today, the 43rd anniversary, but don’t put too much into the government conspiracy thinking, lest you grab your gun, fit yourself with Glenn Beck tin-foil hats, and run to the hills. Those hills are getting more crowded by the day!)