aww struck

tonight, i attended another At the Concert Hall taping -- this time, it was a salute to motown, with a half-dozen artists all performing covers of motown classics. the show itself was amazing, and (save for an unusual misfire of a number by crooner matt dusk) everyone onstage turned it OUT, aided by a super-stellar backing band -- who, i believe, were referred to as "j.k. and the continentals," but i can't find any info on them anywhere!

colin james rocked, suzie mcneil decided audience participation was in order, justin hines offered up some sentimentality, justin nozuka (whom, admittedly, i'd never heard of before today) threw himself into his song and divine brown proved once again that she can blow the roof off any joint in which she's dropped. her rendition of the jackson five's "ABC" may be the best ATCH/LATRH performance i've ever seen. it was that good.

and, further to that, something really wonderful happened as she worked every last ounce of that song: i accidentally witnessed someone else witnessing magic.

the seating for these tapings is, as mentioned in previous entries, sort of semi-circular around a round stage. i was sitting in the front row tonight, on one side of the stage, and across the way from me, in the front row on the opposite side, were two little girls (maybe nine or ten years old) and a little boy (who was perhaps seven, and very obviously bored out of his mind).

when divine brown launched into "ABC" and the stage exploded in light and music, the audience came alive. and, about halfway through the song, as brown strutted to the other side of the stage to direct her attention to that half of the crowd, i glanced over at the kids in the front row.

the boy really couldn't have cared less about the proceedings, which was kind of adorable, but one of the little girls was simply in AWE of the person she was watching onstage. her eyes were huge, and she had the biggest smile on her face as she clapped along. it looked like this was the most magnificent thing she had ever seen in her whole life, and her excitement and delight radiated right out of her. this nine-year-old girl was positively BEAMING, and didn't take her eyes off divine for a second for the duration of the number. it was pretty sweet and totally awesome.

in fact, that little moment was so beautiful to see that i literally got a lump in my throat. and, despite a night of tremendous talent and beyond-wicked music, that's the moment that stands out as the night's best for me.

note: folks in canada can check the show out for themselves when it airs on Bravo! on tues. nov. 10th at 10pm.