Martha Reeves

Two weekends ago brought Martha and the Vandellas to Pittsburgh for the PCA's annual house party fund-raiser. I'll just hit a few pertinent points:

How disorganized can an event be? Consider such a question answered... hundreds if not 1000+ people paying large to find a single bar manned by two overwhelmed dudes, their shirts stained with blood and whiskey, trying to find one last sliver of gin so as not to face my wrath. A friend who came to meet us there walked around the entrance holding $30 cash aloft, desperately seeking someone to take it off his hands - he was eventually forced to "sneak" in without paying, for want of someone to pay. There was no contingency for rain - who knew it'd rain in Pittsburgh in September? - and after Martha finished, the 200-odd remaining ticket-buyers were told to go back to the PCA building where she'd be signing autographs: It was closed and locked.

But sweet Martha Reeves and her alleged sisters (are they really all Reeves? You tell me) sounded glorious, despite some touch and go moments with the pick-up band and the PA. (The only thing thin on that stage was the sound...) Finest moments: Kris and I demanding "One Way Out," and Martha singing it accapella, just like at the Wigan Casino anniversary so many years ago... The ladies recreating their back-up parts from Marvin's "Hitch-Hike" - no music, no lead, just pitch- and rhythm-perfect backing vox... doing the funky chicken with a Vandella... Was it all worth it? Hell yeah.

Final unrelated note: if you're going to Cleveland for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings on Sunday, lemme know!