Mike Viola Sings for Radha

During the Mike Viola concert that we saw in Jupiter on Saturday night, Viola asked Radha what her name was.  After about a minute of getting her name straight, he improvised a song about her which turned out to be both catchy and pretty funny.  Somebody taped it and the next day it appeared on Youtube-  "Oooo, I almost forgot her/ Oooo, I almost forgot her/ Oooo, I almost forgot her/ That girl, that girl, Radha."  (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPlvN4t0dK0)

On the way there we almost crashed the rental van.  The traffic stopped in front of us and Keshi didn't notice as he was looking in the rear view mirror.  "Keshi!" I yelled and he slammed on the brakes.  The van swayed from side to side but the anti-lock brakes worked very well.  The way back was dangerous too, as we got caught in a serious storm on I-75 somewhere around Wildwood.  The lightning was frequent, intense and spectacular.  The downpour was as heavy as I've seen it in years.  Keshi just drove right through it.  I may have stopped if I was driving but it was really late and would have delayed us even more.  We got home after 4 a.m. as it was.  Of course, it's better to get home later than not get home at all.  There was no hail or exceedingly heavy winds, so fortunately we all got home in one piece, or in six individual pieces, that is.

It was a fun outing with Keshi, Mark, Kavi, Radha, Vrn and I.  We all had fun and pretty good chemistry.  Keshi and I taking turns playing songs on the car stereo, Radha and Vrn laughing in the middle (especially Vrn), Kavi continually trying to hear what was being said in front of him and Mark looking like a young Roy Orbison in the far back with his serious face and dark sunglasses.  Shyam was going to go but decided at the last minute to stay home.  After we left, he drew the Ten of Swords about our trip and called a few times to see if we were all right.  

Mike Viola and the girl he was playing with, Kelly Jones, signed autographs after the show and were very appreciative that we came all the way down there.  Viola patted Keshi on the back as he walked off for intermission and then shook his hand after the show.  My brother was in some sort of ecstasy.  We had front row seats and really enjoyed the performance by one of the most talented but unheralded swinger-songwriters out there.  Not that he's short of accolades.  He has written with Adam Schlesinger's Fountains of Wayne and formed the critically-acclaimed power-pop groups The Candy Butchers and The Major Labels.  He also performed the song "That Thing You Do" for Tom Hanks movie of the same name in 1996, which was nominated for both an Oscar and Golden Globe award.  In 2007, he wrote and performed the soundtrack for the movie Walk Hard- The Dewey Long Story.  He also produced and co-wrote Kelly Jones's new CD "She-Bang," who performed along side him at the show.  His new solo CD is called Lurch and I highly recommend it.  Personally, my favorite song by him is a song he performed under the moniker of the Candy Butchers called "She's Knows What to Do With Michael."  

Mike and Kelly had great chemistry and the show was so good I would consider seeing them again if I get the chance.  I want to see some concerts during my travels this summer.  I don't know if Dhrits, my traveling partner will be into it, so I may have to slip away from him sometimes.