I am so lucky. For the second time in four months I was able to see Jason Michael Carroll in concert. Both times in Maryland, now my new home. The first was on the Raisin’ the Bar Tour with Bucky Covington, where I saw them at Rams Head Live in Baltimore. This time round it was just him and his band.
The concert took place at the Cancun Cantina, a big nightclub in the town of Hanover. I was aware that JMC was going to perform there, but thought I probably wouldn’t make it. At the last minute my husband agreed to come with me.
The club was only 15 minutes away, but we were already late. At 9:30 we were circling this gigantic building. Jason was supposed to hit the stage at 10. Neither of us had ever been to the Cantina, and ended up parking quite far away. As my husband and I started walking toward the entrance, a spiffy little shuttle bus pulled up and opened its doors. We looked at each other slightly surprised and stepped up and in. My goodness I thought, this place must be packed. Yes it was!
After we were dropped off, the driver (way nice old guy ) told us to have a fun time and we thanked him. Loud country music hit us right away. After paying the modest/well worth it 10 bucks, we see a young cowgirl standing behind a water trough of iced down beer. Next we entered the main bar and dance floor. Small tables surround the floor with an elevated stage area, a seating area directly opposite the stage.
The dance floor was filled with couples doing the two step. There were lots of cowboy hats and boots. Finally a real live country bar, I’ve been waiting for this, yes for two and half years. There I was in the middle of it all. Happy is the only word that can describe me at that moment. My quest for another form of entertainment, the kind that affects one, that has already bared ones soul to several genres of rock and roll, has taking another step forward.
I was happy to be a part of the revelry. After several months of adjusting to the move form New England, this turned out to be a stress reliever. My husband Eric and I moved about the club looking for a good place to plant ourselves, one with a decent view of the stage. We moved to and fro and finally we were leaning against a wall to the right of the stage.
The local country music radio station WPOI introduced JMC and everyone went toward the stage, including myself, knowing Eric would not join in, he prefers to watch from a short distance in a relaxed and cerebral manner. Unfortunately I didn’t have my concert buddies, my daughters Caroline and Rachael. But I went anyway.
Jason started the set off with “I Can Sleep When I’m Dead” a current single that at the time of this writing was ranked 28th on the R&R chart. The band was right on and so was JMC. He continue to perform most of the songs from his current CD release, “Waiting in the Country”. He and the band also performed two songs that they had recently recorded for a CD that will be released in the future. The crowd was dancing and jumping, and having a good ole country time.
Jason was a little different this time. First of all he played a little longer, and of course he was the headliner. It made a difference. He seemed more personable with the audience, telling stories and having fun with his band mates. At one point after singing Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love”, he said he loved 80’s rocked songs, but everything he sang sounded country. This was a sweet little admission, showing a little bit of himself. Comments like always bring the audience closer, making the artist seem real. Not only was the music good, whole experience was good. Truly I don’t know how much longer we the concert goers will be able to see him in small venues, I’m just very glad I had the opportunity twice.
