Elton John Visits Alaska

I’ve been listening to Sir Elton for over 30 years now, and he’s been acceptable but no big deal. However, last night I saw this musician in action, as he did his first (of two) shows in Anchorage. The large arena where he played to a sold-out audience, is hardly noted for its acoustics, so I wasn’t expecting much, when I accepted the invitation of friends to join them in the first row. Well, I was wrong . . . this was a great show as he played to the masses, and he really knew how to work the crowd of all ages. Some near us were decked out in boas, and funny eyeglasses, etc. to join the feel of this quirky guy, and he started off with “Your Song”. He finished non-stop almost 3 hours later with “Crocodile Rock”, the crowd of all ages (ahem!) were mesmerized. So now I’ve taken in by the ultimate international entertainer.

As a bonus, he did strut around the stage, wearing his “Music Magic” ornate coat, throwing kisses to the audience and waves, and at one point even signed autographs for several people who raced to the stage after what I thought was the end of the evening. It wasn’t. He added “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and “Benny and the Jets” and it seemed like he just couldn’t stop playing. Kudos to the lighting techies, as the light show behind the stage, about 40 ft. high also added a lot to this one-man show.

I don’t know about him, but today, I’m still exhausted as I felt I was working right along with him. If you get a chance, spend your life savings and go see him when he comes to your town.

Alaska Musings

Alaska Wedding on Ice

Following up my recent blog on the Ice “Museum” which is a hotel at Chena Hot Springs, I felt I just had to post this neat picture (oops, it’s lost) in the morning paper of a couple getting married there. Here’s part of the article:

“What would happen if Barbie came to life and got married? Oh, and she lived in Alaska and wanted a unique wedding. And she liked the idea of being a princess.
Her big day would look just like Anchorage residents Mechelle Sharp and Shawn Boquist’s wedding April 26 at Chena Hot Springs Resort.
“I’m the girl playing with Barbie all her life,” said Mechelle, who still has 300 of them tucked away in a trunk.
‘I’m just really grateful that there is an ice castle in Alaska.’ “
Outside of all that, this was a weekend to focus on the ‘kids’. My piano students played some neat music for the residents of the Pioneer Home on Saturday for the Strawberry Festival, an annual event sponsored by the Pioneers of Alaska. . . Women’s Igloo #4 . . . and the Children’s School of Dance gave a great performance of the “Wizard of Oz” at West High school, with over a hundred kiddies on stage together, and no one ran into each other. I am amazed over the number of 4 – 7 yr olds. who participated, wearing great costumes, and of course, there are always a few who don’t ‘join the group’ and wander off, but they were ably grabbed by some teen age girls who herded them back to the ‘chorus line’. It was such fun to watch, and brought a tear to my eye as I was laughing at the same time. Kudos to the teachers/director.

Outside activities of the weekend included a women’s triathalon that drew a number of the younger set of ably fit gals, and the newspaper gave good coverage of this event. This is really a running city, and in the winter, a cross-country skiing draw for national and international competitors. Until next time, keep planning your trip to big A! You’ll love it here.

Anchorage Action

The Arts Community continues to enjoy visiting artists, and this week we had a visit from Arturo Sandoval, and his 5 piece band. I used the term “quick visit” because he arrived at 4:15 p.m. at the Anchorage Airport and played at 7:30 p.m. That’s cutting it pretty close, don’t you think? He did a big, loud performance for 3 hours, and they flew out on the ‘red-eye’. I personally feel this is an insult to our great city. They could at least have spent the night and seen something of Alaska, since he said it was his first visit here.

Now, we have Elton John booked the the Sullivan Arena next week. The sound system is lacking in this ’sports’ arena, but obviously, the sellout crowd didn’t mind, and it forced a second concert the same night. Well, I’m not going to either, but it’s nice that we have booked a big name, altho’ a big of a has-been.

The summer market has opened, and there are umpteen booth this year. Not only for the tourists — there are local shoppers for local artesans who exhibit only in the summer. This grew from a tiny unoccupied corner that was a place for the farmers in the valley to market their crops, to a huge white tented parking lot that was the last remaining parking lot downtown. It’s best to ride your bike there, because downtown has become a quagmire of building activity, closed streets, one-way streets for the few that remain open. But it’s worth the hassle to visit the tourist-row, and good restaurants.
However, with all the hub-bub going on, the many shopping malls have not lured a 2nd outlet for Nordstroms and JC Penney’s, which remain first-class. Some inventive shops now call the adjacent blocks, SONO District (South of Nordies) and NoNo ( North of Nordies). Pretty clever, I’d say.
By the way, an update on my last post. Since I wrote about our IFL football team, Anchorage Wild, the coach has been fired, and re-hired, and the former team doctor just bought the whole team. They’re playing pretty well on their half-size astro-turf field, and drawing a good crowd for their few home games. Now if the coming baseball season will continue the pace of winter sports, all will be well in big A!