Melissa Etheridge (& Brian Delaney) Play The Sheldon

After work on Thursday night (28 June), I headed to the Sheldon Concert Hall & Art Galleries (http://www.thesheldon.org/) in midtown St. Louis' Grand Center Arts District (http://www.grandcenter.org/). I was there to see Melissa Etheridge (https://melissaetheridge.com/) perform in concert, with my brother Brian (http://www.bddrums.com/) playing on drums.

After parking in the garage across the street and dashing through the rain, I arrived inside the Sheldon, where Brian told my my ticket was waiting at the Will Call desk. They had my ticket and backstage pass, then the Will Call person told me to head to the merchandise table, located in the adjacent art gallery. I did and both Brian and my Mom were there. We chatted for a bit before Mom and I walked over to the lobby, where we waited until the auditorium opened up 30 minutes before showtime.

Inside the auditorium, we found our seats, located in the center section in the sixth row from the stage. Mom and I waited in our seats until the show began just after 8 pm. The hall was virtually packed and they cheered as Etheridge, Brian, and the two other musicians on stage started the set. It was a terrific program, with Etheridge playing her hits which go back over 30 years, and a few other songs. When she introduced Brian as being from St. Louis, the crowd (including Mom and I) cheered loudly.

After the main set, the band came back onstage for a brief encore. This included Etheridge joining Brian on drums for a tune. The main set and encore lasted just over two and one half hours. Mom and I, joined by our friends Jim and Pat Cook, went backstage, where we chatted with Brian for awhile. We then left the building, and Brian got on the tour bus for their next stop: Cincinnati.

Overall, a great night. So proud of my brother.

Later.

Volunteer Sunday, Movie Tonight, and Brian in Town

I had a busy day of volunteering last Sunday (24 June). First, I was in downtown St. Louis with about 100 other Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) employees in marching in the St. Louis PrideFest Parade (https://pridestl.org/). After waiting in the staging area for about two hours, we stepped off onto Market Street for the 12-block long parade. We had a truck from Enterprise Truck Rental (https://www.enterprisetrucks.com/truckrental/en_US.html#_ga=2.97405727.1020205400.1530151678-1638779697.1529286224) and three convertibles from Enterprise Car Sales (https://www.enterprisecarsales.com/) with us in the parade. There was a great crowd there, and we got a great response from the crowd. (Perhaps, this response to us was helped by the candy we were throwing out to the crowd.) I was very pleased and happy to march again (my third Pride Fest Parade) to show my support--and Enterprise's--for Lesbian Bisexual Gay Transgendered Queer (LBGTQ) people, including those I know and have come across in life. I am proud to be a straight ally for LBGTQ rights.

Right after the parade ended, I got into my car--parked at St. Louis Union Station (http://www.stlouisunionstation.com/)--and drove to the Kirkwood Community Center (http://www.kirkwoodmo.org/content/City-Departments/1856/community-center.aspx). There, I was a volunteer at Festa Junina, a Brazilian folk festival presented by Viva Brasil STL (https://www.vivabrasilstl.org/). After checking in, I served as a floating volunteer, mostly clearing dining tables. Festa Junina was very nice; this festival included Brazilian food, children's games, a silent auction, and Brazilian music played by a disk jockey (DJ). They also had Quadrillha (a Brazilian form of square dancing), for children and then for adults, plus a demonstration of Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts) by a local group, Capoeira Luanda St. Louis (http://www.capoeirastl.org/). I then helped to clean up and pack up after the festival. Overall, a long but satisfying afternoon.

Back at work Monday morning, it was busy, but we got it done. During my lunch break, I contacted customer service at CREDO Mobile (https://www.credomobile.com/) regarding my replacement mobile phone. After about 40 minutes on the phone, they were able to fix the problem with my phone not getting service. The SIM card for this phone was not set to my phone number. CREDO Mobile fixed the problem at their end and my phone is working good now.

Off work today, I went downtown to help Mom find the hotel where my brother Brian (http://www.bddrums.com/) stayed the night. He arrived the night before with Melissa Etheridge (https://melissaetheridge.com/), for whom Brian plays drums. Brian spent the day at home with Mom and I. That included watching some FIFA World Cup (https://www.fifa.com/worldcup/) matches on TV. (Vamos Brasil!) Etheridge performs tomorrow night at the Sheldon Concert Hall (http://www.thesheldon.org/). Looking forward to that. More on the concert in my next post.

Tonight, I went to the Saint Louis Science Center (https://www.slsc.org/) to join with other Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) members in watching a screening of "Aircraft Carrier: Guardian of the Seas" (https://www.slsc.org/omnimax/aircraft-carrier/) on the center's OMNIMAX theater. It was a terrific documentary of modern aircraft carrier operations, filmed during a RIMPAC (Rim of the Pacific) exercise.

Later