Report from Ann Arbor (vicarious)

Posted by Rich Miller on March 10, 2004 at 21:48:30:

I missed the shows, both Friday and Saturday - a family crisis that required an out of town trip Thursday through Tuesday. But we gave our Saturday tickets to two colleagues, one a Professor of Yiddish Literature, the other famous for a course on "How to Be Gay" that prompted the Michigan Legislature to consider passing a law saying that courses that are politically unpopular with Republicans can be censored. Both of our friends tell us that they were initially apprehensive - surrounded by over-caffeinated balding ex-hippies and flower-children who'd apparently missed both the rap revolution and the Celine Dion post-Titanic era. Here they were, about to listen to a group they'd never heard of but which was supposed to be funny and to include a countertenor. Both of our friends told us that they were bowled over from the top of the first song, stayed enthralled till the last encore, and cannot wait for Uncle Bonsai to return to Ann Arbor. One of these folks (the Yiddish lit prof) thought I might enjoy a CD and purchased a copy of Apology as a gift, though she secretly suspected that I might already have a copy so she could keep it for herself.

I hear the audience was sparse (at least on Friday, when my wife attended), but if each newbie vows to invite two friends to each successive concert, then by the eighth concert (at the current rate, this will be in May 2007) the Ark should have > 256 new recruits per initial newbie, plus the 100 aforementioned aging flower children, enough to make it economically feasible to fly from Ames directly to DTW and still come out ahead.

Sorry I missed the accordion, too.

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: I missed the shows, both Friday and Saturday - a family crisis that required an out of town trip Thursday through Tuesday. But we gave our Saturday tickets to two colleagues, one a Professor of Yiddish Literature, the other famous for a course on "How to Be Gay" that prompted the Michigan Legislature to consider passing a law saying that courses that are politically unpopular with Republicans can be censored. Both of our friends tell us that they were initially apprehensive - surrounded by over-caffeinated balding ex-hippies and flower-children who'd apparently missed both the rap revolution and the Celine Dion post-Titanic era. Here they were, about to listen to a group they'd never heard of but which was supposed to be funny and to include a countertenor. Both of our friends told us that they were bowled over from the top of the first song, stayed enthralled till the last encore, and cannot wait for Uncle Bonsai to return to Ann Arbor. One of these folks (the Yiddish lit prof) thought I might enjoy a CD and purchased a copy of Apology as a gift, though she secretly suspected that I might already have a copy so she could keep it for herself. : I hear the audience was sparse (at least on Friday, when my wife attended), but if each newbie vows to invite two friends to each successive concert, then by the eighth concert (at the current rate, this will be in May 2007) the Ark should have > 256 new recruits per initial newbie, plus the 100 aforementioned aging flower children, enough to make it economically feasible to fly from Ames directly to DTW and still come out ahead. : Sorry I missed the accordion, too.

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