See the picture to the left? Looks like a lollaplooza moment? Did designer Norman Foster envision this scene at the Winspear? More about that later.
Gone are the days that Fort Worth had the reputation for outdoing Dallas in the party-hearty department. It was made official Saturday night at, of all places, the Winspear Opera House. Since it opened it has been the scene of Moby-Dick and other operatic productions that wouldn’t ruffle the most proper feathers. Even the R-rated Billy Crystal show and a couple of Broadway shows featuring an abundance of skin were all done in a proper fashion that designers Foster and Partners would have approved.
But the second of the three-part North Texas Super Bowl concert series took the Winspear to a whole new world of music and audiences. There were just hints of things to come at the pre-concert reception. VIP’s got cozy in the Nancy Hamon Hall. Perhaps a little too cozy with the likes of Lori and Jerry Jones Jr., Holly and Doug Brooks, Randall Graham and Barbara and Don Daseke hobnobbing with Mickey (pictured) and Bill Lively while Lucy Wrubel cranked up the music. By show time, it was getting a tad bit warm with guests having to squeeze through the packed room.
Unlike the Fort Worth VIP reception where Joe Buck and Troy Aikman greeted each guest upon arrival and posed for pictures, there were no greeters except the check-in staff. And unlike the Fort Worth event, the legendary bold facers were MIA. One female asked another in passing, “Where are Roger and Troy?” It seems that they along with Jerry Jones and other V(ery)VIP’s were at an ultra private meet-and-greet with Sting himself. But it wasn’t like Sting hung out with them and compared notes on the best place to get Mexican food after the concert. Nope, he arrived, had his photos taken with the guests and left to rest up for a raucous concert.
Actually, the folks in the lobby were pretty rubber-neck worthy. As the guests from all the various receptions flowed into the lobby, it became the common ground for all to mix and mingle before entering the Margaret McDermott Hall for concert take off. Babe Laufenberg was checking in with Brad Sham (pictured right with Babe) . . . Just a few feet away Jerry Jones was Mr. Popularity. He’s in countdown mode for next February’s Super Bowl. . . Fort Worth Star-Telegram cutie Bud Kennedy (pictured) was just a pretty face escorting his wife, who is working on the Slant 45 video with Daryl “Moose” Johnston. . . Despite having been part of the cooking triumvirate for the TACA Culinary Master Class at the Mansion earlier in the day, Kent Rathbun was up for the evening’s festivities. . . . Holly Davis and Rhonda Chambers Sargent (pictured left with Holly) gal-palled while hunky husbands Stubbs Davis and Kit Sargent held their own in the gorgeous department. Somewhere there is a Dorian Gray portrait of the four them. . . . Ana Carty (pictured) was sans husband Don, who was out of town on business, but she brought along her 16 year-old son. . . Vickie (pictured) and George Bayoud were receiving congratulations on having just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.
Topics of the evening ranged from the Byron Nelson activities of the day, news about the HP student who had been hospitalized the night before to the mammoth tent at Lee Park where a very impressive wedding was taking place.
Then it was time to take seats for the concert. The warm up featured Troy with Daryl subbing in for Joe Buck. While Troy updated the crowd about the status of the third and final performance of the series, he could only give a few clues on the big-name performer:
- Has sold 40 million albums
- Has won lots of Grammys
- Will make the announcement him/herself in three weeks.
Troy also advised the SRO crowd that all recording and photography were contractually prohibited during the concert. Guess everyone missed that part because smartphone salutes hailed Sting throughout the night.
After announcing that disclaimer, Troy and Daryl entertained the crowd with videos and small talk with Roger, Drew Pearson (pictured) and Tony Dorsett. The boys were troopers, but it just wasn’t the same without Joe.
Finally, Roger introduced Sting and his three-piece band, and guests settled back for an hour-and-a-half of Sting singing with a mixed bag of reactions from the audience. Some were very Dallas properly applauding at the appropriate spots; others stood waving their arms longingly at Sting to the beat of the music. No turkey arms among those gals.
Not among the arm wavers was pretty Miss Katie Fay with her glitter makeup and green hair. The youngest member of the audience came dressed for Sting-arama, but alas, she couldn’t make it all the way through the concert and fell asleep with her head resting on the armrest of her chair. After all it was past her bedtime.
Don’t know if Katie slept through this episode, but toward the end of the show, it happened. Veteran Winspear attendees saw something that hadn’t happened before. From the audience, a flood of women from the audience including Renee Rouleau and Lucy Wrubel poured up on the stage (pictured*). The rest of the audience rose to their feet either to see in amazement the Skokos stage being overrun with friends and associates or to vicariously join in the moment. Sting didn’t seem to mind one iota as the gals danced and surrounded him like Michael. Guitarist Dominic Miller seemed amused with a smirk on his adorable face as the ladies swarmed surrounded the main man. One gal in green moved from the far side of the stage to almost up close and personal with the Brit.
Just as quickly as it started, it was over and the ladies were shown the stairs to return to their seats while Sting and his entourage exited to the side. A sturdy looking chap blocked any of the damsels from following the musicians and reminded them with his body language that their seats were “that away.”
Luckily, Sting knew how to milk the moment and returned for a few more songs. No, there were no more stampedes on the stage and the orchestra seating did not become a mosh pit. Can you see Bill Lively, Gene Jones, Hal Brierley and Marianne Staubach crowd surfing Sting through the hall?
Let’s face it. Saturday night was a heck of a lot of fun resulting in Dallas definitely having more “sting” than the “faith” of Fort Worth. Now who will take on the challenge of being #3 of the concert series for the September 10th event in Cowboys Stadium? We’ll keep you posted.
* Troy, this picture was shot and approved for release by the North Texas Super Bowl XLV. MySweetCharity heard you and we play by the rules.
Sally says
Such a good write-up…bet you have quite a following with Sweet Charity.
Keep it up.
Sally