Sweet Harry Boy...

So last night's Harry Connick, Jr. concert was....amazing. I know that's a highly overused word, but it's true.

I need to give my props to Meghan C-B, who gave me tickets. She ushered me in and introduced me to a staffer named Drew, "Who will take care of you guys." About ten minutes later, he walks up to me and Candy in our seats and says, "Meghan says to get you guys as drunk as you can without falling over the railing," hands me four free drink coupons and tells us to come see him if we need more. At the end of the concert, Drew was standing behind me with a Harry Connick Jr coffee mug and tells me that Meghan wanted to make sure I got it. She's so great. =)

Harry mainly sang songs from his new album NOLA. MSN music had it available to listen to for free last week, and you bet your booty that I listened...and listened...and listened. He wrote a song about his first visit to New Orleans after the hurricanes that gave me goosebumps. There's a line in it that says, "Damn...I was so scared that I held the hand of a crazy man standing next to me....Damn...he wasn't crazy and I wasn't scared...at that moment we were brothers sharing."

Lucien Barbarin was there, and it was so much fun. Three words describe Lucien...oh...my...gosh. Unbelievably talented and has an incredibly sexy, raspy voice. Check out his website. He and Harry had a BLAST out there together. Harry was dancing all over the stage, and at one point during a saxophone solo, Harry and Lucien were whispering...all of a sudden both of them jumped with their backs to the audience and started doing a tap/booty dance. I DIED laughing. I turned to Candy and said, "he could stand there and do nothing but look pretty and everyone in the house would go WILD!" It was so much fun. I thought my Detroit concert was the best thing, ever, but this one was greater. He gave so much of himself, personally in this one. He said that was part of the reason he wrote this album.

At one point he was playing on an old upright piano, and telling us about the pianist he used to jump in and play with back in his house when he was a kid. He talked about this one woman whose name I can't remember, and said she pretty much hated him. She wouldn't scoot over on the piano seat for him to sit down, and only let him play on about 15 keys at the top of the piano. Then he says, "You know those throat lozenges, Sucrets? She used to eat those, and wad up the wrappers and throw them at my head." I laughed and laughed and laughed. Can you imagine some woman putting up with a young boy because of his father, and throwing wrappers at his head while he played piano? Too funny.

During his encore, he made us laugh until we cried because he decided to bring out his newest band member. He starts playing slow, romantic music and making up a song that basically went a little something like this, "I love you, Jeff.....Jeff, you're amazing....Jeff, you're the man for me!!!!" He was singing this while his backstage crew was trying to find Jeff. He actually stopped at one point and burst out laughing and said, "I don't know why I'm doing this - I never have before...he's been with us two weeks and I want him to have recognition...he's the one band member who looks less like a jazz musician than I do...he took a break from working as the father of the incredibles in the incredibles on ice tour and he's probably going to quit, now, that I've embarrassed him like this." All around fun and such a great time.

Before he left the stage, he blew a kiss into the audience. It was totally all for me for my birthday. =)

I said it before, and I'll say it again. I.....heart....Harry....Connick....Jr.

Deep sigh - another great memory on the books. Thanks, Candy, for sharing it with me!!