Yesterday, Peach Blossom and I journeyed to Rapid City and took in the Ray Price concert in the evening. What an entertainer he is, and what a show he put on! Of all the country western music shows I have attended through the years, this one was the best. The concert started at 7 p.m. with Cliff Price doing the lead singing for about twenty minutes. He is an excellent singer in his own right, and soon he said, "And now is the time to introduce who you all really came to see. Here is my dad, the legendary Ray Price."
Ray came on stage and really sang his heart out. He is 81 years old, but you would never know it. He entertained for an hour, and then sang two encore songs.
The band was very professional. They were all dressed in black suits, with white shirts and long dark ties. Ray Price had on a striking blue suit
with white shirt and red scarf-type tie under his collar. There were three fiddle players, a steel guitar player, a dandy piano man, a drummer, one young man played an upright base and another played rythym guitar. Of the three fiddle players, one was a master at his craft and the other two were young ladies who were very good. I got a kick out of watching them get ready to play their parts. The girls got ready quite a bit in advance of their actual playing. The old master would just put his fiddle to his chin a split second before needing to make music. This all reminded me of ropers at a calf branding. The old really good ropers hardly swing at all. They usually swing once or twice and come up with both hind legs of a calf. The novices wear their arms out swinging before they ever make a cast.
Anyway, it was a great program listening to Ray Price sing all of his old classics. His music just makes you want to get up and start dancing, but there were too many people and no dance floor. I think the Civic Center theater holds probably 1200 to 1300 people, by my rough estimate. There were very few vacant seats, and everyone I talked to after the show just couldn't say enough good about Ray Price's singing. Another very noticeable part of the program was the fact that they never once tried to hawk any records or CDs. I don't think they even had any along for sale. This doesn't happen very often. :wink:
Ray Price's son, Cliff, singing at the opening of the show
At least the guy in front of me wasn't wearing a hat
Ray Price, singing up a storm
Ray Price is a great singer and a genteman.
Ray came on stage and really sang his heart out. He is 81 years old, but you would never know it. He entertained for an hour, and then sang two encore songs.
The band was very professional. They were all dressed in black suits, with white shirts and long dark ties. Ray Price had on a striking blue suit
with white shirt and red scarf-type tie under his collar. There were three fiddle players, a steel guitar player, a dandy piano man, a drummer, one young man played an upright base and another played rythym guitar. Of the three fiddle players, one was a master at his craft and the other two were young ladies who were very good. I got a kick out of watching them get ready to play their parts. The girls got ready quite a bit in advance of their actual playing. The old master would just put his fiddle to his chin a split second before needing to make music. This all reminded me of ropers at a calf branding. The old really good ropers hardly swing at all. They usually swing once or twice and come up with both hind legs of a calf. The novices wear their arms out swinging before they ever make a cast.
Anyway, it was a great program listening to Ray Price sing all of his old classics. His music just makes you want to get up and start dancing, but there were too many people and no dance floor. I think the Civic Center theater holds probably 1200 to 1300 people, by my rough estimate. There were very few vacant seats, and everyone I talked to after the show just couldn't say enough good about Ray Price's singing. Another very noticeable part of the program was the fact that they never once tried to hawk any records or CDs. I don't think they even had any along for sale. This doesn't happen very often. :wink:
Ray Price's son, Cliff, singing at the opening of the show
At least the guy in front of me wasn't wearing a hat
Ray Price, singing up a storm
Ray Price is a great singer and a genteman.