Some Day

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The tickets to the Birchmere for a November 5th show were purchased in back in September, mainly because I knew it would make her happy. On some level though, it seemed like it might be a good exercise in self-preservation to find someone who might help allay lingering misgivings about the coming administration.

We sat at the edge of stage left and watched a 67 year old woman calmly and completely command a full house. Joan Baez simply walked to the mic and started singing We Shall Overcome, a capella. Her voice is not as strong as it once was, but it's every bit as powerful. After a couple of songs, she said, "I'm a little scratchy, 'cause I was screaming so much last night."

She told a story of how she and her 3-man band were watching the election results on a TV in a local hotel that was decorated all Jungle Room. After the race had been called, they ran into the streets, screaming and yelling, only to find Alexandria to be a not-so-happening town. So they hailed a cab and headed up to The White House, where they partied all night in an impromtu street festival. Joan was still wearing her hotel robe.


-Washington Post photo by
Kathleen Parker, the conservative
columnist who called for Sarah
Palin to step-down as the
vice-presidential nominee.


The title track to the new album is a Tom Waits song called Day After Tomorrow. It's about a guy who will soon be heading home. The album is produced by Steve Earle. Clearly, this chick isn't fucking around. At the Birchmere, she sang new stuff, favorite stuff, and the very first song she ever wrote, Sweet Sir Galahad. She said she hadn't felt like this since 1963. Coming from the woman who stood right beside Dr. Martin Luther King and sang We Shall Overcome on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial 45 years ago, that's quite a shining endorsement.

~~~