Charlotte, North Carolina, home of the Carolina Panthers and the former Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte was also the site of Vienna’s last performance at The Evening Muse, a performance space and restaurant similar to The Point in Bryn Mawr, PA and the Six String Cafe in Cary, NC. Vienna had a full schedule during the day, doing not one but two radio shows and a television show before her evening performance. I stayed at the home of the Lights throughout the day, catching up on my taxes and some business work.
On the drive to Charlotte from Carrboro, which took around 3 hours, the Lights and I ate at a Cap’n Stevens Steak and Seafood Restaurant. In the South, they have a curious affinity for eating fried cornmeal, which they call hush puppies. They’re called that because people are too busy to talk while eating them! I first tasted a hush puppy at the Western Sizzlin’ a few days ago, but these hush puppies weren’t in the form of a ball, they were shaped like onion rings!
There were four performers on tap for the evening, Alysson Light, Vienna Teng, the Naked Blues, and John Dungan, and they all gave great performances. I especially enjoyed John’s performance to conclude the evening. He and his singing companions worked the crowd into a frenzy, whooping and hollering all the way to the end.
We met up with Vienna’s friend from elementary and high school, Connie Ing. It’s very good to see people who have stayed friends from way back when. I still keep in touch with a couple of people from elementary school, including Roderic, whom I met when in Kindergarten!
Next stop: The Tori Amos Tribute Concert in Carrboro, North Carolina.
tow.com 