It’s not every day you get to see a Country music legend perform, let alone hang out with one, but last Monday I got to do just that.
Luck was clearly on my side last week and by sheer coincidence, my parents knew Emmylou Harris’s sound engineer, a great guy by the name of Les (who they’d met in Nashville months prior) and this meant one thing for me – a free backstage pass to her concert!
I arrived at the Canberra Theatre Centre early, around 5pm, keen to catch the sound check and see if Emmylou had any outrageous requests on her rider (No good, just green tea and fruit). It was fun to watch the Country starlet; no make up and dressed down, still stunning and elegant as ever, change the set list time and time gain, the rest of the band trying to keep up with her, frantically jotting down notes on the set list for the night’s show. After sound check I caught Emmylou as she headed back to her dressing room. We chatted about her time in Australia, what she thought of Canberra (only positive remarks!) and how she’d gone to the ‘pictures’ the night before. Unfortunately, before I could get a photo with her she was ushered off to dinner. The photo would have to wait.
Three hours later and it was show time. Looking around the bar area of the Canberra Theatre, I’d literally never seen so many seniors in my life, or so many cowboy hats for that matter. To be honest, I felt a little out of place in my black skinnies and shirt. But there was no time to worry about that, Ben Abrahamas was taking the stage and the crowd made their way, if not a little lethargically, to their seats. Hailing from Melbourne, the young singer/songwriter serenaded the crowd with soft acoustic songs, often choosing to sing acapella, letting his voice do the rest. This guy was seriously talented, and while initially I questioned the pairing of the two acts, it seemed to work perfectly. His songs sat well with the audience, who seemed to enjoy his set as much as I did. Backstage in the greenroom, Ben told me of his pursuit following music as a career, and how he’s pent years trying to perfect an album, that at the moment, still isn’t at the point where he’s ready to release it, but is on the verge of completion.
After the interval, I made my way to side of stage to get a better view of the show. Luckily, just before walking on, Emmylou remembered I was after a photo, and patiently waited for me to figure out how to work the flash on my phone and snapped a quick picture. Success.
Then it was Emmylou’s turn to perform.
As she walked on stage the room lit up and the crowd let her know they were there to see her. For the next 90 minutes, the 65 year old, 12‐time Grammy award winning musician from Alabama showed the crowd that she’s still got it. Performing crowd favourites (well, every song seemed to be a crowd favourite) such as Home Sweet Home, Orphan, Michelangelo and Shores, the crowd lapped up every minute. I even popped my head around to see if any of the oldies had nodded off mid‐set, I didn’t see one.
The performance was great. Emmylou held the crowd for the full set, only returning back stage once to fill up her tea, before being called out for an Encore. A gracious performer, Emmylou finished with a song that she claimed to be the “saddest song she’s ever heard”. It was a perfect end to the night. Emmylou and her band played great to the packed house, the crowd loved every minute of it and I was happy, I got my photo.
