In Which Some Days Are Incredibly Special

Okay, so last Wednesday something really cool happened at work. Michael Franti stopped by to sing on our little dog and pony show. THE Michael Franti... beloved barefooted, Rasta-headed, yoga-loving purveyor of peace, love and sunshine was in our studios!!

Shut UP!!

I know, right? An actual huge name in music brought his ridiculously upbeat songs to our hovel.

It was fabulous! He could not have been more lovely or kind. Not one prima donna bone in his exceedingly tall frame. From the minute he stepped off the limo shuttle, he warmly embraced everyone in his path, literally and figuratively.

Our Wednesday regular, Christine of Whirl Magazine, is a ginormous fan of Franti's and managed to snag an interview at the last-minute. She's kind of my hero now.

We dedicated two long segments to him and his small posse.



His guitarist, Jay, was so delightful to watch perform. He never stopped smiling and be-bopping in his seat. Seriously. Look at him. The happiest guy in the room. His positive energy was contagious. Clearly his job makes him giddy.

Or he was high.

I kid. I'm kidding. I'm a kidder.

We all were floating.

That evening Franti and company played to a packed house on the north shore. I was joined by three newbies to the church of Michael. If you recall (and I know all two of you do because I AM the center of your universe, right), I had the pleasure of being part of his Cosmic Congregation last year.

our band of merry revelers

From the minute his shoeless feet hit the stage, he had the crowd jumping, waving their arms and singing back to him. We were putty in his loving hands at the first note of the opening number.



Once again, he fearlessly wove through the crowd not once, but three times.

feeling the love from the crowd

During his playful tune, Shake It!, Franti invited everyone to come up on stage to shake their groove thang. When the dust cleared, this little tyke wasn't ready to go, so they strapped on Michael's big ole gee-tar and let him join in.

Go, Little Man, Go

Smiling J, shredding like a rock star

the coolest man in the room

another trip through his adoring fans

how long will these two talk about this night, huh?

Oldsters next to us
even though it doesn't look like it, they were boogieing

"raise your hands in the air"

me, a wee bit too excited about that free coffee
a Woo and a Hoo

Hola, Hola y'all



And Seriously, who can resist giant, yellow balloons? So fun!! His shows are just one huge party where no one fights... or throws up in your toilet. Aaaa, but there was ganga. Oh yes there was, but again young people do not share. What the eff is up with that?!?



For Hey, Hey, Hey Franti scoots backstage while the band is playing and magically pops up amongst the audience to everyone's delight. I LOVE this song! It's impossible to sit still while the message seeps in...

I say Hey Hey Hey 
No matter how life is today
There's just one thing I got to say
Don't let another moment slip away


A mantra to live by, for sure.



Dude! He stood right next to our table! I was bummed to have missed him standing next to me because I chose to dance on the stairs, but then I remembered that I actually got to hug and talk to him that morning, so... I'm good.

Note: Keeping the covers streak alive, the band did their take on Bob Marley's classic Could this be Love. Is there a more fitting song for Franti to cover? I think not. 

As is tradition at a Spearhead concert, Franti calls to stage all the children and people over 60 from the audience. He made the comment that this was the first time they had that many older people on stage. For once our aging population in Allegheny County paid off. Our oldsters kick ass, Yo! Ha Ha!

young and old tearing up the stage

check out the posture on the girl in tie-dye
can you say annoyed?

representin' the hippie elders

this 82 year old stepped up with her purse and cane
she's all about awesome
I aspire to be her at 82

When they finally said their farewells to the adoring crowd, the positive vibe was reverberating off the walls. I didn't see one person who wasn't sporting an ear-to-ear grin, except for the cranky pre-teen behind our table who spent the entire evening forcing a pout save for one moment of weakness when he dropped his snear to high-five my friend after their brush with musical greatness. That family has a looooooong couple of years there, boy howdy. The rest of us walked away filled with shear, unadulterated joy, spirit sufficiently uplifted.

They won't be back through America in a while, but from September 29-October 5, Spearhead is headlining the Rombello cruise along with my fantasy husband and musical love, Rhett Miller. There are a number of other notables performing on the cruise to Cozumel as well.

If only I was independently wealthy...

The unflappble optimism of Michael Franti and Spearhead AND Rhett Miller on the same ship for five days!! How fun is that boat ride going to be?

"But I Know, I Know, I Know I'm Not Alone..."
or spending an energetic evening with yoga loving Michael Franti

Last Saturday my work buddy, Sue and I travelled to the Carnegie Library in Homestead to be drenched in the shiny, happy positive energy of Michael Franti and Spearhead.

And, Dude! They sold alcohol! At the library. No shit. We got lit amongst the literature.

Brrrrrrrrrilliant!

Best. Bibliotecca. EVA!!

Randy Andy smiling approvingly at the lushes
amongst his literary legacy

The only draw back to this venue is the acoustics, which is kind of an important thing being a music hall. I don't know if we were in a dead spot, or the mix was wack, but every time he spoke in the mic it sounded like Charlie Brown's teacher talking. "Wa Wa Wa Wa Wa"

I'm not kidding. I admit I have trouble understanding chatter at bigger concerts in general, but everyone in our section was having the same issue so it wasn't just me and my impaired hearing. We all just shrugged our shoulders and Woo Hooed along with the crowd, completely ignorant to what we were cheering on. Could have been a simple "Hello Pittsburgh!" or "those deaf chicks in the balcony are buying!!" It all sounded the same to us. Unintelligible.

The coolest man in the room

I fell in love with Franti's work after hearing his 2006 release, Yell Fire! and have been wanting to see him in concert ever since. His music and message is buoyant, upbeat and completely infectious. Even when he strays from his signature songs of love, peace and harmony into the political realm, he still manages to be positive in his admonitions. "El Presidente, you behave!"

He is uber cool and his optimism is ridiculously catchy. I absolutely cannot sit still during one of his songs. It's embarrassing. I awkwardly bound around the room with complete abandon. Good thing there's usually no one around to witness the horror of my Elaine Benis dance movements. The humiliation is worth it, because there is nothing like a big ole dose of happy feet to make you forget your sorrows.

a sea of white folk bouncing to the beat

Anywho, the theater is smaller holding probably around 250 people, but the stage is large enough to accommodate all the band members and their equipment while still leaving ample space for Michael to jump and dance around. Which he did... for two hours, only slowing down midway for a slower three song set.

Right out of the gate, as soon as Franti stepped on stage, the energy hit the roof propelling the audience to it's feet. He was non-stop pogo jumping, tribal dancing and belting out the good Ju Ju, effortlessly wrapping the crowd around his finger. He has incredible energy for a 40+ humanoid. He hardly broke a sweat and wasn't the least bit winded. Amazing. Must be all the yoga he practices.

The evening was spectacular, uplifting, energizing. The masses clapped and danced along with every offering from the stage. We were putty in his gentle hands.

One cat in the balcony was so into it, he just had to remove his shirt, terrifying...er, I mean treating us all to his pasty-white, beer belly in full glory.

Seriously. Why.

I ask you, why is it only white guys with big guts, farmers' tans and pants barely hanging on under there mid section are the ones who go shirtless? Why don't any of the gorgeous six-pack ab, tanned Adonises ever go au naturale? So not fair!

But I digress...

At one point he picked some people to join him on stage during "Shake It" to .. um, shake it with him.

a full-on dance par-tay

Shake it! Sh-sh-sh shake it!

He fearlessly cruised through the crowd during his bouncy "Hey Hey Hey"

fearlessly up close and personal 

ending up on our balcony to sing Happy Birthday to the girl in the hat before motoring on, successfully avoiding contact with the aforementioned pasty-white, sweaty, shirtless dude.

Is that a groovy gee-tar, or what?

 

Happy Birthday to her

Finally, he called everyone under 16 and over 60 to the stage for the big finale of his huge hit "Say Hey, (I Love You)".

"And I know one thing. I love you. Baby girl."

I didn't take any videos this night because of the whole Charlie Brown teacher sound factor, but here's a video of the finale from this summer's Bonnaroo Music Festival.



Besides being a purveyor of peace, love and positive vibes, Franti is a humanitarian. Ten years ago he performed in a third world country where most of the people living there never owned a pair of shoes. As a sign of solidarity he decided to go barefoot for three solid days. Ten years later he still doesn't wear shoes. To mark his anniversary, he created the Soles4Souls charity to collect money as well as actual shoes to send to those children around the globe who have none. He spoke with a family from Pittsburgh who are doing their part.



Just a little thing he does to give back. There's a lot of good karma floating around him. We could all take a lesson. We're all in this thing called life together. Like Michael says, "I know I know I know I'm not alone..." You can find out more on his website here.

If you're in need of a serious lift in your spirits, go buy his CDs here.  And be prepared to be moved, with or without your shoes.