The images above are of a great old theater with fabulous acoustics, in a great location (downtown Knoxville), at a great concert Oct. 7th.  Keith Jagger (no relation to Mick, he’s my T.A.) and I made the drive down to hear a wonderful acoustic concert which involved half Richard Marx songs and half Matt Scannell songs (of Vertical Horizon).  It was truly great, and the repartee between the two guys and with the audience was equally fun, although the girl who knew Marx’ Tennessee wife and went to high school with her was a bit annoying.  If your image of Richard Marx is a guy with a mullet in the late 70s and a big voice singing power ballads to make girls swoon, this concert revealed a different side of the man, who is in fact an excellent record producer as well.  He still has the great voice, and the harmonies between himself and Matt were wonderful.  I love the Vertical Horizon tunes anyway, and they were even better acoustic, as were most of Marx’ songs like ‘Hazard’ which translated very well to acoustic renderings.   The duo has two albums now with catchy titles—– Duo, Live,  and then just Duo.  I got the live one and it is an instant replay of the concert plus a bit a more. You can find these on Marx’s website, among other places.    These guys genuinely like each other, and love each other’s music.   I am kind of partial to Matt who comes from just down the road in Mass. from my wife  (he’s from Worcester Mass.).  

If you go to this concert be prepared to have blast and laugh and sing along.  It was well worth the 3 hour ride just to see the incredible Bijou theater, the oldest continuously operating hall  (600 seats) in Tenn. where everyone from John Philipp Sousa to Tony Bennett to you name it have played (see the sign above).  This theater and this concert qualifies as a hidden gem