It's been a while since the Switchback boys have been to Memphis so my husband Rich and I decided it was time for a road trip up I55 to St. Louis to see the show at the Focal Point. The Cardinals were in town too so we made it a long weekend.
St. Louis has a fantastic public transportation system that makes it easy to get to and from the stadium. After the game Friday we were waiting on the Metro platform for our train and started talking to some young adults that were also waiting. When we told them we were in town from Memphis they asked if we had come just for the Cardinals game. We told them that we had also come for a Switchback concert. One girl's face lit up and she said that she had heard them and really liked them. It turns out that she had recently moved from Columbus, OH and had seen them more than once at the Hey Hey Club there. She would have loved to have come to the show but unfortunately had to work the next night. That was pretty awesome, to run into someone random from another city who knew and liked Switchback.
Saturday we took in some St. Louis activities and then met Brian and Marty and Helmut and Sarah Koch for lunch. I had met Helmut and Sarah at the Haybarn Rendezvous (the Rondy) several years ago. It's a WayGood family thing. It was fun to have time to visit, talk about old times, and catch up on what is happening now. Marty and Rich are big Civil War buffs so the three of us went to an exhibit about the Civil War in Missouri for a quick visit before going back to get ready for the show that night.
The Focal Point is a wonderful venue, a small facility run by dedicated volunteers who love and care about music and work hard to present it in a setting worthy of the music.The adjacent cafe, The Maya, has both food and beverages, including what has been voted the best margarita in St. Louis! Switchback put on an incredible show as always, mixing in old favorites with new songs. The second set was open to audience requests. It was a show full of laughter and fun, with From The Road stories and stories about the backgrounds of some of the songs. Of course, the music was superb, from Marty's always mesmerizing a capella rendition of "Danny Boy" to the haunting strains of "Right Then" to the signature rocking tune "Ain't Goin' Back."
Having driven five hours from Memphis to this show, it was quite a coincidence to find ourselves sitting next to a couple who was originally from the same vicinity of Memphis and knew the area where the shack is that inspired the song "The Has Been That Never Was." When the boys first saw the shack and took their pictures of it, it was beaten up, abandoned, and partially covered by invasive kudzu vines. Rich had never actually seen it so we stopped on the way home. It is now so overgrown that unless you know where it is and are looking intensely for it you will never see it. More about that and pictures, both original and recent, another time.
There is something about Switchback music that calls to you like a siren's horn, bringing you in and keeping you in its spell. You can't get enough of it and find yourself needing that Switchback fix every so often, and that's what brought us to St. Louis last weekend.
Last night we went to a concert here in Memphis and more than once Rich turned to me and said, "Switchback is a lot better than they are!" And they are!
Jayn Lando
