On my return, I brought Robert his order of take out to ensure the evening's flight was fully fueled.
The line outside the door was already several yards long and then the doors opened.
People flooded in.
I set up my portable chair in my usual spot in front of the first row of pews, right of center.
I'd prefer to be closer to the center, but then the footrest on my chair would block a vital path needed by other campers.
A few moments to meet and greet with familiar faces, catching up on each other's lives.
Gatherings are full events!
John Diliberto performed MC duties.
Golly, I'd pay good money to have such a wonderful speaking voice!
Silver tones is too cliched of an expression.
Golden or platinum are still too cliche and merely approach reality asymptotically at best.
Then Robert fired up a sequence on the MOTM modular.
Engines full throttle, we have lift off.
The first set consisted of new material played on synths (the keyboards, rack modules, and MOTM) and the slide guitar.
As usual, Robert's processing and looping drove the raw sound sources to other galaxies, dragging along an enthusiastic and receptive crowd.
Here words fail me as they fail all but the most eloquent.
Robert's rhythms are sexy and the sounds superb.
Not so glurpy this time, more oozy and fun.
Like a kid playing in a mud puddle, I wanted to get dirty and squish the music through my fingers.
I watched every movement and must point out that, unlike many synth-playing spacemusicians, Robert actually PLAYS keys.
It was also a gas to watch Robert use a nut driver to simultaneously pitch and stimulate the high string on his slide guitar.
During the short intermission, I had the opportunity to talk to more friends and acquaintences.
John returned to signal the start of the second set.
Robert started off with Animus from Propogation.
This is perhaps my most favorite track from my most favorite Rich CD.
In addition to all the gear used in set one, Robert added his various wooden flutes.
I love watching a person play music (when I'm not playing music myself).
There was the usual comment made later about performing to MIDI backing tracks.
I'd like to point out that the key portion in that sentence is the word PERFORMING, not the words MIDI backing tracks.
Without growing 20 more pairs of hands or hiring a lot of musicians and holding months of rehearsals, there is no other way to bring some of Robert's material to a concert setting.
I can only direct the attention of critics to sublime moments of the concert such as when Robert sat at the slide guitar, playing harmonics, looping rhythms, and soloing above it all.
The light of Robert's music lit the entire audience.
A standing O brought Robert back for a quick encore and the show was over.
Chuck, Art and Jeff pulled off another great event.
Then I wandered off with some friends to stretch out the evening at a nearby watering hole.
I plan to see Robert again at the Space for Music Festival in Nashville in April.
A little more than 80 miles away from my eastern Pennsylvania home.
But it's still an easier drive than Alfa Centauri, which I attended last week in the Netherlands.
