Rock Star Parking, or Does Bono’s Prius Ever Get Towed?

Posting from Philipsburg, MT
Listening to: Martin Sexton, Black Sheep

Last night I went to the historic Wilma Theatre in Missoula for a Martin Sexton concert. Actually, I mainly went for the opener, Chris Trapper, and to scope the place out for my ongoing plan to get Matt Nathanson to add at least one Montana stop to his next headlining tour. The Wilma would be perfect for Matt. I know this because it was perfect last night for both Chris Trapper and Martin Sexton.

To start, I got rock star parking! The public lot behind The Wilma seems to be free after 5 pm on weekdays and also on weekends. Doors were supposed to open at 7 pm so I was well beyond the pay parking period. I drove around the lot and parked here:

When I was in Chicago in November, I had to park on the street because my sister’s apartment building does not have any guest parking. The first night I had to park a fair walk away, but after that I managed to come and go at the right times such that I always got to park right in front of her building. My sister brilliantly dubbed that “Rock Star Parking.” This wasn’t right in front of the theater, but given that I am parked next to an SUV hauling a trailer, and the license plates are from Massachusetts, and both of the artists of the evening hail from Massachusetts, I think it is a pretty safe bet that I am parked next to the “tour bus” for Martin Sexton or Chris Trapper or possibly both if they are carpooling. If that’s not Rock Star Parking, I don’t know what is.

Anyway, it was just a short walk from there up the stairs to street level and the doors to The Wilma. It was a lovely 65 degrees or so outside with no precipitation which made for an okay time standing in line even though the doors opened somewhat after 7 pm. Here is the lovely and historic Wilma herself.

A couple of folks wanting to see a movie sorted themselves out of the concert line and went indoors. Some folks in front of me walked down the street and got what appeared to be burritos to go from the Mexican place a few doors down. I wondered how they were going to finish them before we got inside. Then the line started moving.

One of the great surprises about the evening was that The Wilma treats concertgoers as customers and not as criminals. I gave one friendly person my ticket and got my hand stamped by another. That was all. No evil eye from pissed-off security people. No searching my purse or clothing. No molesting my person. I just went inside.

There I found a beautiful old theater albeit a bit in need of repair. It reminded me a bit of the Fox in Tucson except not as freshly fixed-up. (Perhaps this is what the Fox will look like a few years from now as I hear from my friend A. in Tucson that it has gone broke.) There are rows and rows of movie theater style seats with a reasonably large empty dance space up front. There is also a balcony in the back overhanging the last few rows that looked like it was also open, but I didn’t go up to check. There were two bars and a snack stand (they also show movies there), and I also saw the folks with their unfinished burritos eating them openly so I’m thinking maybe it’s okay to bring outside food in. That would be cool. I was wishing I had brought a bottle of water.

I took the aisle seat in the third row on the right side of the left section behind a woman sitting by herself. She turned around and struck up a conversation with me which kept going as her friends congregated in our section. She was a Martin Sexton fan and told me what a great time I was going to have since it was my first time hearing him at all, let alone live. Her “partner” (I assume this is gay code for spouse wherever gay marriage is not legally sanctioned) was also a Chris Trapper fan which is who I was there to see so we also chatted about that.

I have to give Martin Sexton credit for having very nice fans. In addition to being really nice before the show (I heard many other “Is this your first Martin Sexton show? You’re going to love it!” conversations around the hall), they were all really wonderful during Chris Trapper’s opening set. People were not talking and ignoring the show. They were very respectful and responsive to his audience banter and music. Except for his set being too short and not getting to hear my favorite Chris Trapper tune, Jukebox Lights, it was just about perfect. The song Starlight By Her Side pretty much made up for that one missing link. I don’t have any video from the show, but here’s another performance of it.
Chris Trapper, Starlight by Her Side

Here’s another of my favorites. It’s the official video since I can’t find a decent quality live recording. He expressed his utter hatred of his high school experience and his delight in penning this number and performing it when he was invited to play at his high school reunion. He claimed that every word in it is true. I don’t doubt him.
Chris Trapper, Wish I Was Cool

After Chris Trapper was a bit of intermission before Martin Sexton went on. Shortly before he came out, they flashed the lights and my now full little neighborhood emptied out as people filled the dance area in front of the stage. The place was not sold out, but it was reasonably full and the entire dance area was full with the overflow piling up in the aisles a little bit. Meanwhile, lots of folks in the back were enjoying the show from their seats.

I stayed where I was even though I couldn’t see much. I mean, it’s a concert so I’m really there for the music and I already got to see who I came for. In fact, I saw half of Chris Trapper’s set sitting on the floor a few feet away from him along with two other girls who had moved forward before me. I was glad I stayed where I was for Martin Sexton because the people-watching was great. For example, I have never before seen a couple dry-humping to This Little Light of Mine.

The music was also excellent. Instead of a concert, it was almost a really, really long medley. He didn’t seem to stop very often, and even when he spoke to the audience he often was singing when he did so. Even though he was just one guy with a guitar, his vocal abilities were so incredible that he often sounded like a multi-instrument combo. His yodeling sort of thing is incredible. Again, I have no recordings from this show, but here are a few of my favorite numbers.

Martin Sexton, Can’t Stop Thinking About You

Martin Sexton, Thank You, Failure

As I listened to this last night, I thought nobody should ever sing the national anthem again except this man.
Martin Sexton, Star Spangled Banner/Freedom of the Road

The description in the notes of this one on YouTube is eerily in sync with how I felt last night. It was almost like going to church without the trappings of religion. Very sacramental. And we didn’t even have Amazing Grace last night.
Martin Sexton, Black Sheep/Amazing Grace

I went a little overboard with the Sexton videos, I know. But he deserves it. I will probably post more in the near future because there is something I heard multiple times last night that none of these videos quite illustrates.