A Steely Dan tribute band (tribute band - a strange concept, really) put on an enjoyable show at Plano's Oak Point Amphitheater. This is a great venue: stepped grass terraces held by stone retaining walls and with handsome entry buildings, the stone stage backed by a view of trees along a creek. A really nice place to bring a picnic and listen to music - someone needs to put on Shakespeare here.
The crowd was thin - due to threatening-looking weather - but the folks who were there had a great time, clapping, calling out requests, and dancing on the grass. I had fun people-watching. There were a pair of twelve-year-old girls dancing and racing and leaping up and down the grass terraces like gazelles; a young boy who danced with a cool, fast, egg-beater motion (regardless of what the music was doing); one untiring lady who danced every dance like it was Jazzercise TM; a whole family who danced holding hands; a pair of I-swear Ruben's nymphs walking barefoot through the grass or lounging gracefully on a blanket; and couples who danced wildly, acting out the songs, or quietly, romantic walzes...
And through it all, the wind blew through us all. Trees tossed, their leaves shivering between dark and light green. Signs and picnic blankets flapped. Lawn chairs, left empty, blew over. And the lighting grid swayed and swung above the performers, who eyed it uneasily. The last set ended early - before the lights could decide to join them onstage - and they weren't listening to requests of "Encore!" either.
Meanwhile, in Wichita, Kansas, the same storm was twirling into tornadoes that ripped through the south part of the city, causing real damage to aviation plants and Air Force base... and, inevitably, to a trailer park.
Tornado - public domain photo
I'm not sure why anyone lives in a trailer park in tornado country. (Finances, yes, I get that, but really?) I'm very glad the only people I know there have basements. After Dallas' recent brush with tornadoes, I'm wishing I had one.
