Past Blast: The Tempts in B'more, 2/14/00

[Ivory Fair]

Thought you all might like to read a concert review I did a LONG time ago. The Tempts in Baltimore, February 14th, 2000. I also had some help. From the iMusic board..........

Tue Feb 15 10:32:04 PST 2000
Mel-Blu/Dbay
Where did Ivory and Judy go?

Tue Feb 15 12:00:31 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
Mel-Blu, Judy and I went to Baltimore this weekend to spend time with one another and to see the Tempts concert. I have lots to tell you all but I'm at work right now and don't have time but I promise that we'll have "story time" later on this afternoon. In the mean time, why are you posting now??? Aren't you at school? Get back to work!!!! :-D

Tue Feb 15 14:25:02 PST 2000
Fair Lady Soul
HELLO TEMPT Family....Like Ivory said # 1 we got to see each other again, which is always SPECIAL and we happen to attend a Tempts concert while we were at it. Can't forget FLS, Jr...I LOVE YOU. (((((Dragon)))) great to see ya! As always, the guys were fabulous. They were very conservative in their dress though...Blue suits with a light blue shirt. Maybe because it was Sunday...it looked like their Church suits.....but, they always look good no matter what they have on. We had front row sets, right in front of Terry. Bo was singing Promise up close and personal and looking fine....watching Harry is always a joy ...he is soooo animated. Much like Melvin in his enthusiasm. Otis was lookin' good. ............ (((((Mel-Blu)))) thanks for missing us

[Ivory Fair]

Tue Feb 15 14:56:13 PST 2000
Ivory Fair
Ok, I see Judy has give the Reader's Digest version for all of the short-attention span people, here comes the James A. Mitchner version for all of the long-attention span people. A few weeks ago, Judy found out that the Tempts were going to be performing in Baltimore, since that's where her daughter lives (hereafter referred to as "Fair Lady Soul, Jr. aka the Navy Seal,") it took Judy about half a second to decide to go. I initially said no about going, but after about thirty seconds of arm-twisting (yeah right) I decided to join her. So by Saturday morning I had packed my bags, touched up my roots and was on my way to the crabby city.

Tue Feb 15 15:20:47 PST 2000
Ivory Fair
In my bags I packed sufficient things to distract me while on the trip. I had a book entitled "The Ghosts of Mississippi," recounting the true-life story of the murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers by the low-life scumbag former neighbor of mine, Byron de la Beckwith. Of course I had my CD player and had narrowed my "trip CDs" down to "Phoenix Rising" and three custom Tempts CD's which I made entitled "Psychedelic Funk," "Eddie's Love," (a CD that I put together after the death of our Shirley that contains some of the Tempts greatest songs of losing love and sorrow,) and "Plane Music," which I made especially for this trip. This CD starts off with "Don't Look Back," which some of you may remember is the song I always listen to as the plane takes off, then goes into "Zoom," from the 1990 album as well as other songs like "Heavenly," "Cloud Nine," and "Take Me in Your Arms," (because of the "on the wings of love will stay," part) and I ended the CD with what else but "Happy Landing." Also in my bag was a lifetime supply of Dayquil, Nyquil, soar throat lozenges, Kleenex, anti-nausea medicine and Motrin because I'm still fighting that flu bug. Well, the flight itself went fine, but as soon as the pressure in the cabin began to change I experienced the most painful earaches I've ever had (and I've had some bad ones.) I guess it was because of my head cold, but the pain was almost unbearable. It felt like I had giant knives stabbing me in my ears. The pain got so bad that I STOPPED listening to the Tempts because they were getting on my nerves. Now you know THAT was serious!!!! www.geocities.com/ivory_fair/Baltimore_drawings/plane.jpg

[Ivory Fair]

Tue Feb 15 15:31:02 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
Well, eventually the plane landed in Baltimore. I called Judy Fair Lady Soul because she and FLS Jr. (the Navy Seal) were picking me up. Fortunately they had no trouble finding me because there was only one curb for both departures and arrivals (sometimes FLS gets the "Departures" curb confused with the "Arrivals" curb and we can't find each other.) I am sure they may have said hello to me, but I couldn't hear a single thing because my ears were so stopped up. "Great" I thought to myself, "I've flown up here to a concert that I'm not going to be able to hear!!!" Into the car I hopped and down the road we went. Now FLS and I thought that the perfect way to spend Saturday night would be to see a performance of one of the greatest non-Tempt tenor singers we have ever heard. A man with such raw talent and sex appeal that women have almost lost their good sense trying to hunt him down.... but the concert in Akron, OH where David Sea and the Temptations Review featuring Dennis Edwards was sold out, so we went to see TWalk perform instead! (Ha ha, TWalk, I got you back!!!!!!!!!)

Tue Feb 15 15:43:54 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
Now some of you newer posters may not know who TWalk is. He is a former poster on this board, who, in his off-hours, sings professionally. Saturday night, he had a show in a Lancaster, PA (pronounced "Laynk'ster",) bar and restaurant called the "Underground Railroad," (but don't go looking for it because it's about to close.) We made it to the place (and didn't get lost TOO many times,) saw TWalk, exchanged hugs and met his manager who is a very lovely woman named "Tiny." Pretty soon we were joined by Tiny's friends Billy, Montana and a gentleman who's name I didn't get but who I will call "the principal," because that's what he does, he's a principal. Twalk's show was 3 hours long (how anyone can sing for three hours is amazing, my hat goes off to you man) and covered the whole gamut; everything from the Tempts to Nat King Cole, to B B King, to Barbara Striesand, there was even an original TWalk song at the end. TWalk does an amazing job and if any of you have the chance to see him, I recommend it highly. I especially liked his rendition of "What A Beautiful World," which he sang in bass, tenor, baritone AND falsetto (but not at the same time of course,) My Girl (FLS and I made BIG fools of ourselves on that one,) and his original song.

[Ivory Fair]

Tue Feb 15 16:21:13 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
While TWalk sang, we made friends with Tiny, Billy, Montana and the principal (who bought us all drinks.) The restaurant served Southern fare (or what is commonly referred to in Northern states as "Soul Food,") and since a ((((((friend)))))) of mine had recently discussed his craving for sweet potato pie, I decided to try some. I didn't like it; it tasted too much like sweet potatoes and not enough like pie. Tiny and I discussed the fact that some women know how to make sweet potato pie, and some of us, well we just don't. At some point during the evening the topic of why FLS and I were so far from home came up and we told Billy that we were there to see the Tempts. THAT's when the stuff hit the fan. Billy couldn't believe that I knew anything about the Tempts (how could any girl of my age and demographic group know anything about the Tempts?) and I challenged him to name any Tempts song that I couldn't sing the lyrics of. After convincing him that my knowledge far exceeded his, he informed us all that we had tunnel vision and that in no way were the Tempts the greatest group that ever was. CAN YOU BELIEVE THE NERVE!!!!!!!! I asked him to name a group that was as good or better than the Tempts and he said that the Whispers were as good if not BETTER than the Tempts. Well, FLS and I didn't know who the Whispers were, but we are smart enough to know that NO ONE is better than or equal to the Tempts, so we decided to teach Billy a lesson by throwing our napkins at him! That's right, don't mess with us!!! We're tough!! :-D All of this commotion got the attention of Montana and the principal and they joined in to. The principal agreed with Billy that the Whispers were better than the Tempts and Montana even went so far as to say that the Tempts were just a bunch of country singers!! I informed Montana that I was from the home of country music and there wasn't anything like the Tempts in Nashville!

Tue Feb 15 16:28:16 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
Well, despite their poor taste in music (they went on to inform us that anything that came out of Philly was ALWAYS going to be better than anything that came out of Detroit,) these men were all sweet guys and after TWalk's wonderful performance, we spent a few minutes dancing with them on the little dance floor that this place had. OF COURSE they asked the DJ to play nothing but the Whispers. FLS tried to teach me how to do the Mash Potato but it wasn't happening. We had a bit of a drive that night, so we had to leave before too long. We said goodbye to our new friends and left, riding a wave of emotion after getting to hear our TWalk perform. Little did we know then that he had some more performing to do....

Tue Feb 15 16:41:06 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
Well, we slept in the next day, FLS got a headache, I still had a runny nose, (I forgot to mention that I coughed up one of my lungs somewhere in PA the night before,) but we were loving life. We got ready that afternoon, FLS and FLS Jr (the Navy Seal) got all classed-up and I got all hoochied-up, ready for the concert. We met TWalk (who was looking as dapper as ever) at the Inner Harbor and had dinner at Phillips. I don't usually enjoy seafood, but I had some delicious shrimp scampi and some fat White Russian cake (((((((((cake)))))))). Then, off to the show we went...

[Ivory Fair]

Tue Feb 15 16:53:45 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
We were expecting our seats to be on the 3rd row, but ((((((((((Judy's friend)))))))) hooked us up and we got upgraded to the front row. Then we sat there and complained that we weren't sitting in the center (we are such spoiled babies.) The first opening act was a local group called the Softones www.thesoftones.com/ and I was very impressed. They did a very good job and if any of you in that area have the chance to see them, do so (and I promise I'm not saying that because they gave FLS, FLS Jr (the Navy Seal) and I roses at the end of the show.) Then there was a LONG intermission which was followed by Bobby Womack. I didn't see much of Bobby but what I did see of him was too much (put your clothes back on Bobby.) Then there was another LONG intermission and finally the Tempts came on!!!!

Tue Feb 15 19:31:05 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
From the wings we could hear them, "Tempt me, tempt me, tempt me with your love..." and of course the crowd went crazy. It seemed like an eternity before they came out, but come out they did, dressed, as Judy said in a conservative, classic dark navy blue. Underneath their jackets were light blue shirts and they each wore a gold belt buckle that was inscribed with the words, "I love Ivory Fair," (but I might be wrong on that, ha ha.) At first we wondered if they had come directly from church, (smile) the suits were that conservative. While they were a long way from the now famous sherbeRt suits, they were a classy change to what they have worn in the past, traditional length and cut with a subtle satin trim, by the end of the show they had begun to grow on me a little bit. They all looked more rested than I even seen them (which is understandable considering they've been off the road for a while) and all looked healthy and as yummy as ever. Judy says that Harry's hair was different, but since I have a hard time looking directly at him, (freaks me out) I didn't see it. With the exception of the "Tempt Me" thing at the beginning, the order of the show was the same, (I think I can act it out in my sleep at this point.) Unfortunately, because they were so late getting started, I think they only did about two-thirds of the show (if that much.) There were no individual Tempt introductions, save Otis who introduced the rest of the group himself. He then informed us all that their new album "Ear-resistible at 40" :-( .. would be out in May (he gave an exact date, but I don't remember what it was now.) Bo did "Promise" which I was happy to hear, but I think it's getting shorter, which I wasn't happy to hear. But Terry did get to do his solo part in that song like he did on the "Motown Live" appearance recently. Almost as soon as it had begun, the show reached its conclusion and it was time for members of the audience to come up and sing "My Girl." And there before our very eyes walked out Mr. TWalk himself!!!!!!!!!.....

Tue Feb 15 19:54:45 PST 2000
207.69.168.84
Ivory Fair
Now like I said before, TWalk can throw down on a song, so I had no fear that he wouldn't do an outstanding job, I was nervous in anticipation over HOW good of a job he would do. Those of you who have seen this little bring people up on stage to sing My Girl bit know that Ron has to get everybody warmed up a little bit before they start singing and as the music started I saw it, there was our TWalk, our "Temptations Walk," up on stage DOING the Temptations Walk, it was a beautiful thing. And then he started singing My Girl, and sing it he did. He even did a better job than he did the night before, Smokey would have been proud. And as he finished, TWalk, ever the showman took the rose that was in his lapel, and threw it out into the audience.

[Ivory Fair]

Tue Feb 15 20:07:53 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
Oh, I left something out, as we walked into the building to find our seats, we were greeted by a security dude who immediately upon seeing me yelled out, "Hey! What is she doing here? She wasn't even born when the Tempts started!!!!" (I get that a lot.) FLS came to my rescue, "You don't have half of the knowledge about the Tempts that she does." He just looked at me as if to say, "Yeah, right." As we left him, he was bragging about how he had just left the Tempts, he had just spent some quality time with them. We all marveled about what a super cool dude he must be to have that privilege. ..... As we left the show, everyone who recognized TWalk congratulated him and told him what a good job he did. Some of them even told him that he should try singing professionally, "he does," we told them.... Despite it's being over so soon, the concert was "Magnanimous," and they were all in rare form. Well worth the price of admission. Not only did we get to see the Tempts, but we also got to see fellow poster ((((((jbroll)))))) as well as some other ((((((friends)))))) old and new. These shows are always much more enjoyable for me when I get to spend them with you all.

Tue Feb 15 20:20:57 PST 2000

Ivory Fair
Well, you know how it is after these things, you're always so wired you can't sleep plus you have that "don't want to get out of the bathtub" feelings as Jonel describes it. (Yes, Jonel, I do have a hard time going back to work after a show, I have a hard time doing anything, I'm all strung out.) We said goodbye to TWalk and sent him on his way, then went back home and SOMEHOW fell asleep. The next morning, Judy and I had some time to kill before my flight left so we went to Annapolis to see the sailors, I mean, to see the sights. That's one great thing about all of these little Tempts trips I'm making, I get an opportunity to see things that I might not otherwise make a trip to see. We had lunch at an Italian place and of course no Italian dinner is complete without some tiramisu. We made a point of inspecting our tiramisu before we ate it to make certain that Leon's thigh wasn't in it. :-) .... We didn't find it. :-P ... And way before either one of us wanted it to end, our trip was over. Judy dropped me off and I was in the air and she was on the road, but one thing was certain, we were both ready for our next "hit." .... The end.

[Ivory Fair]

Well .......... at least that will give all of y'all something to do tomorrow at work.

[sukkafu]

ive- i love you. you are witty funny and cute. the story was definitely well written. i don't care how new or old, anything you reviewed is worth reading.

it brought back memories since my folks live 30 min from baltimore, 30 min from lancaster, and i love annapolis and seafood!