5. My Summer With Maxwell...
It all started with the announcement of the tour. MaxwellLive99 was on!!! And this time, no cancellations or postponements!!
The very first show of MaxwellLive99 was to be held in Houston, Texas; my old stomping grounds! I had made up my mind that I wanted to be there for the first show, August 6th. And since I had once called Houston my home, I knew it would happen. Just a simple phone call to my old friend, Tamara, and it was truly on!!!
I had decided to use the first week of my vacation to really rest and relax. I had gone so far as to decide to drive to Houston from Columbus, Ohio. I'd take those extra couple days driving time to spend some quality time with me. With the full and part-time jobs I held and living with a roommate, I don't get to spend much time alone; just alone with myself and my thoughts. I thought the drive would be the perfect opportunity to do just that. But, it would seem, the Cosmos had other plans for me.
The month of July 99 was not the month for me and cars. The weekend of July 4th, I received my first ever speeding ticket. To make it even worse, I wasn't even driving my own car! I was driving a friend's all wheel drive SUV. I was sailing along smoothly until I exited the freeway with flashing lights on my tail! The very next weekend, I was rear-ended in my own car by a minivan. A minivan whose driver just wasn't paying attention. From that episode, I had to repeat physical therapy for which I had just completed a six-week treatment. As fate would have it, the treatment was not over. The rear bumper of my car was also damaged and I had to put it in the shop for repairs. But fortunately, (or so I thought) all would be up and running before the first of August and my road trip to see Maxwell would still come off as I had planned.
When will I learn that I can only make the plan, I can't plan the results?! Needless to say, the Cosmos had yet another plan in store for me. The week before I was due to leave for my road trip to Houston to see my all time favorite artist, Maxwell, I was involved in yet another accident!! This time it looked as if my trip would have to be canceled. I was driving a rental car that had been provided for me by the insurance company covering the minivan. A 1999 Buick Century, no less!! Way better than my car in that it was much newer. As a home care nurse, I was on my way to yet another assignment when I ran a red light and broad sided a Ford Ranger, pushing it over on it's side!! I was in total shock!! I had been at that same intersection many, many times; knew there was a traffic light there, but to this day, I can't tell you if the light was red or green when I went through it. (Of course, the police took the word of the eyewitnesses!!) I can only joke about this matter now because no one was seriously hurt - Thank God! I ended up in the emergency room with minor contusions and a bleeding scalp from yanked out hair. (I later found one of my locs hanging from the sun-visor!!) The others involved did not go to the hospital. Needless to say, from this point, a road trip anywhere was out of the question.
All the other arrangements had been made. Vacation time was planned; the tickets had been reserved; and the accommodations for a place to stay had all been made. It now looked as if transportation would be the only problem. I was so unsure of my driving skills by now that I was afraid to even drive across the street! Much less half way across the country!! The next day, however, I considered flying. Though I love flying, my transportation woes of late just about turned me off to planes, trains and automobiles. But... I made reservations for a flight a week before I was due to leave for Houston. The travel plans were under way once again!
Since the tour was scheduled to start on a weeknight, my girlfriend, Tamara, had to work the day I was due to arrive. I ended up catching the Metro (public bus) to her house from the airport. Luckily, Metro is one of the best transit systems in this country. Me and my bags didn't have to go far from the airport terminal - just outside the main entrance. And the bus driver of the final bus I transferred to, let me off right in front of my girlfriend's house even though the stop was down the block a ways. I arrived at Tamara's house safe and sound!
I was in Houston; everything was going as planned; and the excitement was high between Tamara and me! She's just as big a Maxwell fan as I am! We were hyped!! The day of the show, everything was flowing along nicely; hair, nails and clothes were laid out! All that was left to do was get her kids to the baby-sitter's for the night and we were off! Oh! - But it didn't happen quite like that - No, no, no! Once Tamara and I were dressed and ready, she decided to add one more touch of perfection and have her eyebrows done. I mean, we had time right? - Wrong!! We waited at the salon for a short while before we decided we had best get a move on and get those kids to the baby-sitter so we wouldn't be late. Neither of us, she a native of Houston, had ever been to the Aerial Theater. We wanted to make sure we were more than on time for the show of the century!! As we got in the car and settled into our seats making sure not to wrinkle our clothes in the least - the car wouldn't start!! Tamara and I just looked at each other. She tried again. I mean, her car was a bit of a hooptie but it wasn't a downright klunker! But for the second time, the car wouldn't start. That's when I started to pray. 'Lord, please let this car start! I didn't come all the way down here not to make it to the show or be late for that matter!!' Lo and Behold! It started!! We both smiled a sigh of relief and that wonderful car took us all the way to ...the end of the parking lot!! Do you know how hard it is to maintain your cool in Africa-hot Houston, Texas, dressed in 100% silk and the car won't start!!?? Not easy, I'm here to tell you!! Well, this time our prayers were answered in a different way. From my trusty cell phone, Tamara called a friend who came and picked us up. This was after we pushed to car back onto the parking lot with the help of two of Houston's fine gentlemen. Not only did her friend pick us up, but also she let us borrow her daughter's car. (The daughter had gone for the weekend.) Now, as nice as that sounds, her daughter's car didn't have air-conditioning and my hairdo was not conducive to the wind at 80 mph. But, I just wanted to get there! And we did, a little late, but the concert was, fortunately, on C. P. time. We didn't miss anything. And the show was worth all the trouble it took to get there. We had a ball!! Wind-blown locs and all!!!
The show as the bomb!!! Maxwell appeared on stage, after a short instrumental introduction, in a cloud of misty, white vapor. His angelic falsetto resonated throughout the venue. And DAYUM!! Did Maxwell look scrumpt-deli-icious!!! That man has been in the gym since the UHS tour in 97!!, I thought. He glided down stairs of white, swaying gloriously before the screaming crowd. In that white suit with the white cap; silky braids flowing from beneath, I personally looked for the winged-horse drawn chariot. For I knew this was my Angel come to carry me off on a cloud!!! I don't know if I can really speak for the other females in the audience that night, but if asked, I am sure each one would agree; when you are submerged within one of Maxwell's love-provoking and seductive melodies, it is as if you are the only one there and he is directing all of his love and intimacy towards you alone!!
That night after the show, broke-down ride forgotten, Tamara and I reminisced over our evening, all the fun it was and how fine Maxwell is!! If you haven't seen Maxwell live, you just haven't seen him!! We decided then and there that if at all possible, we were going to see more of this tour, starting with Sunday night, August 8th. The tickets were sold out but we were resigned to buy tickets from a scalper if we had to! But we didn't have to do that. After much prayer and consideration, it was decided that we wouldn't have to perpetrate any fraud. [I had received two confirmations for my August 6th tickets. :-) ] It ended up with us finding out that a few tickets may become available the day of the show. That was only a maybe, but what the hell!! We were going to that show! That Sunday evening, about two hours before the show, we had all but given up on seeing the second show, when some tickets did become available. Even though Tamara was short on funds and I was down to my last 50 bucks, we bought those tickets! All I needed was my airline ticket and bus fare to the airport. And I had that!
Tamara and I were all set for the second show. All that was left to do was find someone to watch the kids for a couple hours 'til we returned. Well, the baby-sitter from Friday night had gotten sick and wasn't available. Tamara's cousin, whose wife was going to the show, had taken his child to his mother's house and he wasn't available. His mother, Tamara's aunt, who was already baby-sitting, was the perfect candidate - so you'd think! Well - auntie wasn't havin' it! Tamara's youngest had whacked her on the knee with a brush on Saturday evening and her knee still hurt!!
Tamara's first choice had been her in-laws. (Tamara's husband is an over-the-road trucker, hence, he wasn't home.) That choice was the best because her mother-in-law takes the girls to daycare and we wouldn't have to pick them up that night. But her in-laws wouldn't be home until after the show started! DAYUM!!! So - again - hair, nails and clothes laid out, we waited. This time we had a rental car with air-conditioning, so transportation was the least of our problems. When would her in-laws show up, though? It was anybody's guess. Believe it or not, we circled her in-laws block about 50 times until finally, about 9:15pm, they arrived. Tamara waited a few minutes before rushing inside so we wouldn't seem so anxious to get rid of the girls - YEAH RIGHT!!!! Free at last!! Free at last!! We were on our way!!
Tamara and I laughed and joked all the way to the parking garage of the Aerial Theater. You see - she hadn't wanted her in-laws to know that she was going to see the same show she had just seen two nights before. With her husband out of town and us going to see a man described as a 'demigod of love', well, that just wouldn't look too good. But we'd made it and we were happy! That was until we discovered that Tamara had left her purse at home and all we had between us was about $1.85 and the parking was $3.00!! Oh, but that wasn't going to stop us, not after all we had been through. Luckily, most of our cash was in change. When we arrived at the tollbooth to pay for parking, the attendant looked at us questioningly as Tamara poured the change into her hands. 'Oh, yeah!! That's $3.00!', Tamara laughed breathlessly! As the tollgate rose, we sped through and zipped around the corner, laughing at the top of our lungs!! Once inside the theater, we found that we had only missed the opening act. Maxwell made his spectacular entrance for the second time in our presence!
I left Houston the next morning a very happy woman and Maxwell fan! I was a little less happy when I arrived at the airport 10 minutes after my flight was scheduled to depart. (So much for the wonderful and efficient Metro!) I had to take a later flight - 4 hours later!! But, remember that much-needed time I wanted to spend alone with my thoughts? You guessed it!! That is what I gladly did with my extra 4 hours at the Houston International Airport!
I was very fortunate to be able to see MaxwellLive99 twice more that summer. I saw him when the tour came to Columbus, Ohio. That show was much different than the two I saw in Houston. Not that Maxwell isn't a wonderful performer every time I have seen him. But, he seemed much more relaxed and sure that what he was doing was exactly what was to be done. I then saw him for the last time (that tour!) in Indianapolis. And that show was OFF THE HOOK!!! Maxwell sang a version of 'Welcome', one of my all time favorite tracks from the UHS cd, which I didn't even recognize until he sang, '...make yourself at home 'cause you're welcome!' I have to say that out of the four different shows I'd seen that summer, that one was the best! If there was a category for the best live performance of an R&B or neo-soul solo act or group in the Grammy's or the American Music Awards, not only would Maxwell be one of the top nominees, he would sweep the category hands down!!
Copyright 1999
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