(01JAN2009) I ask my coworkers if they want to go to the concert tonight at the MWR. They ask me who’s playing.
“I don’t know,” I say, “Some guy with a cowboy hat and a guitar.”
I’ve seen the fliers posted for about a week, but never bother to read the performer’s name. Or maybe I read it and forgot it, as I’d never heard of Jarrod Birmingham. The concert was originally scheduled for 30DEC, which I’d have missed in lieu of a meeting I attend Tuesday nights. I never hear why it’s rescheduled, but am glad it was, for I have no pressing duties Thursday nights.
Izzy tells me he’ll meet me there, but will be late, so I head up to the MWR clamshell by myself just before the show starts at 2000. Probably due to the rescheduling, the crowd is sparse. I sit up front and have most of the row to myself until Izzy sidles up beside me about 20 minutes in.
Mr. Birmingham turns out to be a loose, fun performer. He’s on stage with another guitar player and a fiddler, and they open with a cover of Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, which I enjoy. Many of the songs are covers, actually, but he introduces by means of stories several of his original songs.
The sound system is very poor in the MWR Clamshell, and the second guitar is much too loud; I strain to hear the lyrics, often just choosing to sit back and enjoy the music. Izzy and I chat
amiably, both enjoying the break from the routine – which is always welcome.
About an hour in, Mr. Birmingham asks one of the MWR staff if he has a time limit. Nobody answers him, so he just goes right along, telling stories, playing guitar, and singing. Two soldiers get up and line-dance in front of the stage for a song, which makes for an odd sight, just the two of them. It’s a fun atmosphere, though, and altogether it’s a great set.
Near the end of the set, they play The Devil Went Down to Georgia to showcase the fiddler, and afterward Mr. Birmingham mentions that his partner is in fact trained as a classical violinist, at which point Beethoven bursts forth – beautifully – and the crowd laughs and applauds.
Throughout the set, Mr. Birmingham expresses his appreciation for the military and what we’re sacrificing to be here – it’s a common theme when performers come out here, but is nonetheless taken to heart. A few of his originals speak to that message as well, including one he wrote while flying on a C-130 the previous year.
The concert goes almost two hours, very long by standards we’re used to, and he sticks around to chat and take pictures afterward, though Izzy and I don’t linger. It was a really fun evening out of the hooch.
We’re satisfied.
MWR = Morale, Welfare & Recreation
amiably, both enjoying the break from the routine – which is always welcome.
