Alison Krauss‘ South Bend stop on her current tour was supposed to be at the Morris Theatre. That was changed, however, when a piece of the ceiling inside the Morris fell to the floor days earlier and the venue was closed for repairs. Her show (like Ringo Starr‘s before her) was moved to South Bend’s Century Center.
My wife and I arrived there with our tickets for “main floor left center” seats in row W, seats 12 and 13. What we found in the ad hoc seating area was chaos. All “main floor” seats were set up in the far rear stage left corner of the room. Five different docents each told us different information on where our seats were located. We were told to sit in the “mezzanine” seats at one point, and then told all “main floor” seats were across the room and to sit wherever we could find a seat. The “main floor” seats were listed by row, however (written in pencil that was hard to see, no less), and row W stopped at seat #10. Seats 12 and 13 didn’t exist. I asked if more chairs were available and was told they had enough seats for all tickets sold. This turned out to be more misinformation, because as more and more people showed up with no idea where to sit, docents started bringing out more chairs. One row of seats moved all their seats to the left by two spots either by suggestion of a docent or just for the hell of it. People were still confused about where to sit within seven minutes of the start of Ms. Krauss’ set.
Ms. Krauss did put on a fine show, so all was well once she took the stage. She and her band, which featured members of Union Station and the Cox Family Singers, performed a lot of spiritual hymns, bluegrass classics, and some of her more popular love songs.
Starting with a cover of Roger Miller‘s “River in the Rain,” Ms. Krauss’ amazing voice immediately filled the room. Her cover of Willie Nelson‘s “I Never Cared for You” was heartbreaking, and “Ghost in This House” was perfect now that pumpkin spice is all the rage and Halloween decorations are going up again.
Her cover of Little Milton‘s “Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson” was a blast and the traditional “Down to the River to Pray” was inspiring. The cover of the Carter Family‘s “Keep on the Sunny Side” was a fun highlight, and the closer of “It Is Well with My Soul” was divine.
Go see her if you can. Goofy seating is worth the headache for the lovely song craft you’ll hear.
Keep your mind open.
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