Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A G-string problem on stage
Oh boy. Of course the "G string" in this case is part of a musical instrument. But given Morsch's love of underpants, he's going to play this predictable pun for all it's worth.
A handful of songs into her set Friday night, country music star Kathy Mattea informed the Sellersville Theater crowd that she had broken her G-string.
Morsch had previously published one of his famous "interviews" with Mattea, but it was too dry and tasteless to even be mentioned here. So this is obviously an attempt by Morsch to squeeze a little more precious material out of his encounter with a very minor celebrity.
Hey, whatever happened to this being a "humor" column?
My first thought was that I had missed some onstage gymnastics by Ms. Mattea that would have caused such a wardrobe malfunction.
Let's explore all the problems with the concept of this post, shall we?
1.) I guessed the "joke" that seems to form the premise of this entire article based on the title alone.
2.) Older folks (who probably comprise 99% of Morsch's audience) might not know that a G-string is an article of clothing and will miss the "joke" entirely.
3.) Younger folks probably never read this thing at all.
Therefore... who could possibly find this amusing?
Of course, Mattea had broken the G-string on her guitar. I knew that. Really.
Ho ho.
During an interview to preview the show, Mattea had told me that it was her responsibility to make “people feel like they’ve been sitting in somebody’s living room and that they’ve been lost in these songs all evening.”
This has become a sad pattern for the towering icon of hilarity known as Michael Morsch: recycle old material, prefaced by a joke in the opening paragraph to maintain the "humor column" facade. Can he really be happy with producing stuff like this?
By the way, the quote from Mattea above is lifted from his already-published interview. Morsch was obviously one of those kids who re-used school essays year to year.
And that’s exactly what the audience got from Kathy Mattea in her return to Sellersville. The Grammy Award-winning singer was warm and engaging during the show, and friendly and kind to those who waited in line to meet her after the show.
Morsch says basically this same thing about every celebrity he meets. "Gee, they were friendly to people after the show!" Does he know that, as a journalist, there is no law that requires him to find a nice thing to say about everyone and everything?
I’ve been to dozens of shows over the years at ST94, but Mattea is very well suited for this venue, and it for her. It’s not that the other performers and entertainers I’ve seen there haven’t been suited for the ST94, it’s just I can’t remember a more comfortable and natural feel to a show.
Once again MM proves my point. I really enjoy watching him stumble all over himself trying to compliment everyone.
Maybe it’s because ST94 is my favorite local venue. Maybe it’s because Kathy Mattea’s music speaks to me on a different level. Maybe it was just the right artist in the right place on the right night.
I'm actually surprised he didn't try to slip in a nice thing about every other venue he's ever attended. "ST94 is my favorite venue... not that the others are bad! But I like ST94 better, although I also like all the others equally as much!"
Whatever the case, it strengthened by belief that the fine arts, music in particular, can be an important and vital part of life and that we should support it at the local level.
"...strengthened BY belief"? Nice editing, editor.
All of a sudden he's a cultural crusader? Maybe he should write his congressman. Also, why waste two paragraphs trying to decide why you enjoyed a concert when your answer is, essentially, "Whatever"?
And I went home feeling like I was sitting in someone’s living room getting lost in those songs all evening.
Well I'll be damned - isn't that just what Ms. Mattea said? She accomplished her goal! Positively heartwarming. That wraps everything up so neatly.
Labels: Kathy Mattea, Mike Morsch, Montgomery Newspapers, Outta Leftfield, Sellersville Theater 1894
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