Many years ago, when Michael Jordan came out of retirement, my best friend from high school, Dave, and I had a day of three Michaels. We watched Jordan’s game and then drove to Asheville to see Michael Hedges and Michael Manring perform at the now-defunct Be Here Now.
Hedges and Manring opened the set together, but then they took turns playing solo.
At one point, Manring comes on stage with two bass guitars hanging from his shoulders and a third in his hand. “The third one’s a hologram,” Hedges laughed as he left the stage.
Manring explained that the laws of physics and his chiropractor made it impossible to hold and play all three himself, so he asked for a volunteer. No hands. I tentatively raise mine. Before I know it, I’m on the stage. It looked something like this.
Someone in the audience took a picture and sent it to me, but it’s long lost. Not so with the memory.
This, however, is his most lovely tune:
The Girl began doing it in Poland, as we were standing outside the church, waiting to go in for her baptismal Mass. Everyone was fretting about this and that — Will the Girl be able to sit that long? Will she remain calm when taken to the altar? Will the loud singing upset her? — when L calmly walked over to the tripod and began taking pictures of everyone.
