TWO YEARS AGO TODAY – Taylor Hicks at Six Flags, GA

“See – I’m With You” by Robin4T

You might think the thunderstorm that brought an abrupt end to this concert after only 8 ½ songs surely ruined the evening for the fans. But as someone who survived that soaking, I don’t think so. Looking back, I actually treasure the whole crazy memory and can’t really think about it without laughing out loud.

Of course I do realize that being present for this playful, unexpected rendition of Somehow has a great deal to do with my happy memory of the evening. Somehow had long been my favorite of Taylor’s early originals, but I had not seen him perform it live before. It was the 8th song of the set and the rain had just begun to fall. Although the stage had a covering that kept the band relatively dry (until things got brutal), the audience was completely unprotected. And nobody was prepared for rain, as we were in the midst of the worst draught in decades and there was no rain in the forecast. But rain it did. And Taylor’s spontaneous and light-hearted response to that whole circumstance was among the most genuinely charming displays I’ve ever witnessed.

So it was worth having a wet camera. And it was worth being soaked to the skin in a white linen blouse and fearing lightning would strike me and having everything in my purse soaked and having my watch stop from being wet. It was even worth having people look at me like I was a freak when I stopped for gas a few miles down the road (where there had been NO rain) and got out to pump gas, dripping all over the pavement and looking as if I had just gone swimming in my clothes. Yep. It was worth all of that.

video by Robin4T