Re: Nigel Kennedy

[katefans@world.std.com (Chris'n'Vickie of Kansas City)]

Andreas (hi! tried to e-mail you, it bounced) writes:

> Nigel Kennedy  is in Stockholm, at least tonight, and he will play in the
> Berwald Hall tonight together with John Lenehan on piano. The concert
> will be aired on Swedish radio, P2, 1930-2125 EST.

> Yeah! that's all from Sweden at the moment!

Oh gee, you are wonderful! Thanks for that transcript Andreas. 
I met Nigel Kennedy a few months ago. It was before we had access to
post to the net (though we were reading it) which is why you didn't
hear about it then.
 
He had performed Friday and Saturday night with the Kansas City Symphony
and I didn't know anything about it until late Saturday night. After doing
my show we went to get something to eat. While there I started reading
Saturday's paper and read that he would be performing at 8:00 pm Saturday
evening. Since it was then 1:00 am I was really bummed. I couldn't believe
that Nigel Kennedy had been in town and I had missed it. Woe. The article
continued inside the paper and when I turned the page I was overjoyed to
find that it went on to say that his last performance with the Symphony
would be Sunday at 2:00pm. ------------------- YAY! --------------------

I took off work to go see the concert. The Lyric Theater, the KCS's "home",
couldn't be used because part of the roof had fallen in so the concert
was moved to the Music Hall. Because of the move, they were not actually
selling ticket. They were asking patrons to give whatever they wanted.
I asked what the minimum was and was told that there was no minimum. So I
could have gotten in for free or for $1.00 but I was so happy about the
whole thing that I gave them $20.00! It was great too because the move
made seating general admission! I was able to sit in 3rd row center!
Nigel was only scheduled for one piece--the Walden piece. He performed
right before the intermission. He was excellent! He was fascinating to
watch because he does not stand still and play. He hops and jumps and
twists and bends over and every single note is reflected in his body
language and his facial expressions. I'd never seen anyone play the way
he played! When the piece was over he received a rousing standing ovation
and was called back to the stage many times. I was pleased because when he
first came out on stage I don't think the audience really knew what to make
of him. He was wearing this baggy suit with "things" pinned all over it.
I don't know what they were. His hair was spiky and he really looked as
if he'd be more at home in grungy clothes, playing in some grungy punk
rock band. As soon as he started playing though, everyone in the hall was
absolutely mesmerized! 
Once intermission started I got up the courage to go backstage. No one
stopped me and I went right to his dressing room. He was standing at the
door, signing autographs for other people. I hung back and when everyone
else was gone I stepped forward. He smiled and asked me how I liked the
show. I told him it was wonderful at the same time I was pulling the
extended 12" mix of "Experiment IV" out of a sack. As soon as he saw it 
his eyes lit up, he broke into a wide grin and he exclaimed "Honey, come
look! It's a Bush Baby!!" A woman sitting on the couch in the room got
up and came over to look and admire. She was beautiful and very interesting
looking but I turned my back attention to Nigel when he started talking
about Kate. He has a *VERY* thick cockney accent and it was extremely hard
to understand him. I honestly can't tell you much of what he said. I caught
"beautiful", "lovely", " wonderful to work with", "fun", and when I pulled
out some demo cassette copies of the album he said that he didn't have it
yet! I couldn't beleve it, he hadn't heard The Sensual World? Oh, he'd heard
it, at "Kate's place" he just didn't have a copy of the album. He asked me
what I thought of the album. Of course, I told him I loved it and that I
especially loved his work on "The Fog". I said that I have a radio show and
he broke in quickly to ask if I played Kate. Well, absolutely!! "Good!" he
said. "It's so nice to meet a Bush Baby!" That was cool, he must have called
me a Bush Baby 4 or 5 times! People were lining up behind me to talk to him
and get his autograph so I couldn't stay any longer. I said bye to him and
the woman with him and walked off, a big smile on my face! I stopped in the
stairwell to sit down and put things in order. After putting the EIV 12" back
in the plastic sleeve I tried to read what he wrote on the back. Impossible!
He either writes in a foreign language or else he's taken writing lessons
from a doctor, because it is absolutely illegible! I almost went back to ask
him but thought that would be a bit rude. So I have a personal message from
Nigel Kennedy but I have no idea what it is! 
That would be the end of it, except that a few days later I was talking to
Andy (IED) on the phone and he was reading me bits from the Australian
fanzine Dreamtime. I had told him all about meeting Nigel and he thought I'd
be interested in this bit: "Nigel Kennedy and Brix, formerly of The Fall
and currently heading Adult Net are an item" (That's terrible paraphrasing,
sorry)
--------------------------   !   --------------------------------------

AAARRRRGGGGGG!!!!!!! OH NO!!!!! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!

That beautiful woman was BRIX????!!!!! Ah Jesus! Here I was, TWO FEET away
from Brix and I didn't know it! She did look familiar, but I really only
had eyes for Nigel. I felt sick for days, really. If only I'd known, it
would have been so great to be able to say "Hi Brix, I play your music on
my radio show" and get her autograph and talk to her while everyone else
was talking to Nigel after he'd signed my stuff. I've never heard anything
by The Fall, but I really like quite a bit (not all) of Adult Net's music.
She's probably relegated to the "girlfriend-in-the-background" role whenever
she travels with Nigel. I think it would have been fairly cool for her to
have someone recognize her for herself. Maybe not, but I have a feeling that
we could have had a nice talk. Also, I heard Nigel say that they had gone to
a "Symphony-type" party the night before. He said it in a way that made me
think that it was just a *bit* boring. I fantasize about inviting them (or
at least Brix) to the studio to be a guest during my show Saturday night.
That would have been so great! Oh well, it'll probably be years before either
one of them come back to Kansas City. I just HATE missed opportunities!

I can't complain, I did get to see Nigel perform. I did get to meet him.
I did get to hear about Kate and I did get to hear him call me a "Bush Baby!"
and I got to meet Brix, even if I didn't know it was her! All in all, it
was a wonderful Sunday afternoon!

Vickie (one of Vickie'n'Chris)
katefans@world.std.com