Getting our religious groove on

This weekend was all about religion as most soulfully and heartfully expressed through music -- from an unexpected Christian bill in Virginia at which Robert Randolph was the opening (and only listenable act) to the soul-baring belting of Dana Fuchs around the corner from where I work. As 'ark often says and I concur, that's one church I can get into.

It was 'ark's premise for me to train down to Virginia after work Thursday at 3 a.m. and then we'd go on to Virginia Beach for the Robert Randolph show, at which he had third-row seats. So off we went. We arrived just as the set was beginning and wound up seated three rows back from center stage, right in his sights.

So out came the RR head on a stick that as creator Steve said I "really worked for" at the Jones Beach Eric Clapton show, shaking and pounding on my Yankees cozee fist through the entire version of "Motherless Children" without missing a beat. And no joke, three seconds after I had it up, RR was flashing his trademark ear-to-ear toothy grin. Is that a record for fastest reaction to head on a stick?



As 'ark hasn't yet loaded photos from the show, here is an example of head-on-as-stick with EC wearing RR's detachable doo-rag.

It was a rousing set, and even as an opener, RR was able to get the crowd somewhat energized. Sampling "When the Saints Go Marching In," certainly helped out in that regard, although Park certainly didn't need it to be revitalized.

And this is pretty close to our view:


In previous tours, RR would wear a different football jersey every night, so I had my Giants' Eli Manning jersey in tow just for that purpose. And although it was too hot for one, I dutifully wore it to jam for the whole set. It was a short set though, with three more acts having to come on and the religious contingent needing to be in bed by 8:30, it was understandable.

After going off for grub, we didn't exactly hurry back and when the next of the three acts -- either Jars of Clay, Switchfoot or Third Day -- started to play, we were very unspiritualized. Expecting it to get worse instead of better, and preferring to get ourselves home at a reasonable time instead of people-watching with heavy-handed background music, we departed. (We did get home in time to see my alma mater South Florida jump out to a big lead in the fourth quarter, only to lose it and then win with a final-second field goal.)

And then the second part of the journey. Back on the train to NYC to see the inimitable Ms. Fuchs. For those of you who don't know her, she once starred in "Love, Janis" and then Fab Four-inspired "Across the Universe," culminating in the mesmerization of thousands of hard-to-impress Beatles fans at their annual convention last year. But saying that sells her short, because her own lyrics are dry, witty and soulful and she belts every one last one of them out for you.

I swear I could watch her every day and as each show comes to a close, I'm already thinking about the next one. Here's why:

I couldn't understand why an audience who saw Dana perform "Misery" during April's show at the same venue would vote for that when given the choice between that and "Bad Seed," which we didn't get ... but they did, and no "Bad Seed." But "Misery" is no hardship ... well it is as Dana's atypical love song, but it is still amazing.

Dana also took us to her personal church via "Bible Baby" and a fabulous cover of Randy Newman's "God's Song," the latter of which apparently had landed her in hot water during previous shows.



I snagged another setlist post-show, that's becoming a bit of an obsession ... and it was signed by her longtime guitarist Jon Diamond -- who reached a couple feet in the air to write on it on a speaker in the air -- and later Dana herself.



Then we waited for Dana and I wasn't expecting her to remember me much beyond me being on her "hair totem pole" (for those who haven't seen it)...

But then she came out and there was like a five-second "ohhhhhhhh Paige" and an apology for not getting her acoustic CD out to me. She added that her manager had recently been let go and they were focusing on a new studio album instead of that acoustic release. She added that bits of the bio I did on her were used during their recent European tour! That was an unexpected treat. I introduced her to Mark, she thanked me for bringing out another convert and a friendly photog took our picture together.

What can I say, another fab-o Park weekend. We definitely got some religion ... and I'm not talking about all the cursing I did after making it through the whirlwind weekend, only to sprain my knee back in my own bathroom!



Up next: 'ark's first trip to Radio City Music Hall will be my second show with the recently reunited Squeeze. Hope the knee's up to it.