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2001-10-20 - Late late at night.
Tonight, I got to see Vance Gilbert perform at the 12 Corners Coffee House. I think the 12 Corners Coffee House is one of the real hidden gems in all of Rochester. Vance, one of the few african-american folk singers has this uncanny ability to touch you in deep in the belly of your soul, while, in the meantime, making your sides split apart with laughter.I got there a few minutes after 7 PM, while listening to the Sabres game against Montreal that night. I heard enough to know that Montreal goalie Jeff Hackett had been injured and removed from the game 18 seconds into the first period. I also recalled in the back of my mind that RIT was playing a game against Winfried-Laurier that night. RIT would go on to win 11-0, but that too was in the far back of my mind. I was going to see Vance :-) After getting my ticket, my friend Becca shows up, and I discover my friends Maggie, Sarah and later, Angie already inside waiting in line to get into the sanctuary of the 12 Corners Unitarian Church, where the concert was being held. It's a loveley room, well, loveley if you like RIT's architecture with exposed cinder block and concrete. I expected horrible acoustics, but was totally surprised by the extreme quality of the sound in the room. You could drop a pin in the room, and I'm sure you could hear it bouncing around the room. My friend Angie told me later that it is one of the most beautifully acoustic rooms in all of Rochester. The opener was Colleen Sexton, sister of the much reviewed Martin Sexton of Syracuse. Very good set, a little short for what I would have liked to hear from her. She played a few songs that I just don't recall, infused with touches of blues and jazz. Complete with a great acoustic cover of 'I Will Survive'. I would love to see her again sometime in concert. Vance... mmmm... Vance Gilbert has this amazing stage voice, and amazing stage presence. He makes me laugh my ass off. He can go from sad to silly in the blink of an eye. His on stage candor, and his ability to build a repore with the audience makes him extremeley approchable. He went off mic often during the concert to fill the room with his unamplified voice. "The only difference between you [the primarily white audience] and me [the african-american man] is that I can hide my waistline with a guitar when I work." He did this one more time with an encore song at the end of his set, a simple song-prayer that he wrote. It's people like Vance that make me remember why I love music.
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