Farner Show's Us~Summer Kind Of Wonderful In Port Huron

July 17th, Friday FARNER SHOW IS; SUMMER KIND OF WONDERFUL~PORT HURON

Guest Blogger; Cruizinsuezin;

Ah Summer concerts...And another great trip to see my favorite musing-musician, soulful singin', guitar slingin', Shaman-showman, Fit as a finely tuned fiddle...the man Ringo Star calls: "Mr. Grand Funk Railroad himself"...Mark Farner!"

Seriously, the crowd goes wild and I am in the front rearing and whinnying like a filly of fifteen again! And since it's the third time around for fifteen, I'm much better at it and enjoying it so much more! Yeah, Mark can make ya feel like that.

But the getting there is always worth the effort and fun too. So I'll start with the multi-tasking I did during the two hour cruise up to Port Huron... I let the time spent driving benefit my concert psych-up ritual. Remember those? I day-dreamed about how my friends and I used to always do concert psych-ups in the 70's man. We'd listen to the artist for days before the concert. We'd play ALL their albums the day of the show. We'd save all the best uh, stuff for this show then,We'd let the build up explode once we'd get in the great groove that only Grand Funk Railroad got us in to. The Funk band would be gettin' down with us as one big communing party as we'd all inhale "that funky stuff" and blew it their way...togetha Forever!

So, with these fond memories to tickle my fancy, I slid "On Time" [Funk's first] into the player and let the music move me as I traveled at 70 Miles Per Hour forward with the 70's retrospection in the rear view mirror. Psychedelia, and music that can never be reproduced in the same righteous spirit. Sadly to me, the innocence before media manipulation is history. The daze of days gone by. Back when peace was our collective agenda...it lives here in the magic sound that Messenger has...What depth of lyrics...What a great voice... And, then the melancholic mist lifted and I realized I'm about to make it to the meet & greet through Mark's "Closer To Home" Fan club! You guessed it...That thought drove my foot to hit 80 MPH as I'm thinkin': "I gotta get there [On Time]" Next thing I know I'm meeting Mark's kind concert concierge "Liz" who hands me a cool "40 Years Funkin'" patch and a VIP ticket! What happens next is not for the squeamish, I know it's not bear baiting season yet but, next was a "howdy do" bear hug from Mark himself! I was still in "shock and awe" when a camera flash went off... Shocked that he'd do that and, "awe it was worth the two hour drive for that! "

Mark Farner concerts are many things if your there to receive.The music has so many timeless and new ideas. It creates this time portal and I adore dancing through it. I always end up grinning like I'm crazy about classic rock 'n roll but, if you sit on your gluteus maximus and watch Mark on the venue's LED screen..it is, and shall always be, your choice which set of cheeks are sore a little later! Let's make a pact to always show this charismatic artist the ut most respect by getting up and shakin' what God gave us while we still can! I wasn't sure I should mention this and the thought that I almost didn't kinda bothers me...Hope you "get it" and I hope I get it right... Mark in announcing he's a Christian from the stage, told us one day he asked, something like this: "God should I cuss?" and the answer was: "I don't give a shit" It was really funny! Thank God for humor, that's where we got it!

At this show and the many I've been to in the past, the guitar playing was seemingly effortless. The Funk tunes flourish with that Parker guitar in Farner's strong hands. It's something I'm so used to I might forget to appreciate it. This night the vocals were behind me and the guitar is most of what I heard....Three guitar lessons and forty-five year's experience flowing through those fingers! And "We The People" are the benefactors of this Grand Funk-straight shootin' guitar'd government. And why does he do it? For the People..for the passion...It's The Same Ol' Feelin' from the Rock Patriot.

Songs that soul soothing voice graced us with are in no particular order here as I tend to live in the moment at these things, blissed out, singing along, ....Oh, I can't relay how Fun these shows are but, here's a few jams that lit me up with that "perma-grin" I like to wear on the weekends; Are You Ready, Aimless Lady, Creepin', The Railroad, Sin's A Good Man's Brother, Badtime, We're An American Band, Some Kinda Wonderful, Locomotion, Same Ol' Feelin', Closer To Home!

It was beautiful man...the voice of Grand Funk Railroad, with the same dynamics the past power trio possessed. When the songs were recorded with the original GFR as a three piece, Mark performs them with just the bass, guitar and drums! True to the sound...True to the way we want to hear it...Loud, proud and powerful...melodic, patriotic and hard rockin'! Any promoters that put Mark on their stage and his great entourage in the side lights will never be sorry...Nicest professionals you'll ever love meeting...For Summer Festivals...Mark Farner is the group we've been waiting to see...Only the original is Summer Kind Of Wonderful