THE EGOPANTIS VIEW
Whoever said there's nothing new under the sun has not been booking live music for 75 years.
There was that time in 1989 when two members of our family each thought the other had solidified booking a New Year's Eve band. At 7:30PM we discovered neither had.
There was the balmy evening in May 2010 when no amount of persuasion could unseat the legendary Mick Taylor (Rolling Stones guitarist from 1969 - 74), from our Taproom.
"I quite prefer it here," said Mick, pint in hand and seated under the watchful gaze of the Egopantis. "It's rather charming."
When we finally did get him to the stage, he performed one short set before walking off, & signing his name on the exit door, never to be seen again.
After that night, he cancelled the rest of his US tour. As far as we know, Bull Run was his last ever performance in the USA.
And who can forget the hot August night in 2011 when Blues rocker Guitar Shorty waded into the audience, our spotlight following. Unexpectedly, he continued downstairs, wandering through various rooms in our sprawling establishment, all while playing.
Shorty ended up outside, somewhat confused about how to re-enter. He tried a side load-in door, before finding the back entrance and arrived at the top of the stairway again, just as the spotlight found him. His entire journey was captured with the loading door incident at about the 20 minute mark HERE.
There was the evening at first frightening and then magical, when a sudden storm burst took our electrical power out. Guitarist Alan Goodrich was performing in our Tavern.
As staff ran frantically from kitchen to dining room with lanterns to complete service for the roomful of patrons, Alan quietly pulled his stool to the middle of the room.
He continued to play an acoustic set, calming everyone by candlelight.
And then there was last Thursday which we will add to the canon.
KT Tunstall had a sold out show. The restaurant was fully reserved. Your Innkeepers were getting ready for the busy night when the phone rang.
"Um, the Lottery Winners are here?" said Natalie on our concert crew.
The air was still. The statement that was a question hung there.
After two years of juggling & rescheduling shows multiple times, it seemed entirely possible we screwed up. But certainly we'd remember if we had promoted a Lottery?
"It's a band," she continued. "That's their name. They said they are the opening act?"
It turns out the band called Lottery Winners came all the way from Manchester, England. Someone on their end made an error and unbeknownst to us or KT Tunstall, booked
Bull Run as part of their first ever tour in the USA. In the long run, it worked out.
KT Tunstall graciously agreed to have them open for her. We fed them well and enjoyed their company. Their brief set slayed the sold out room.
And the Egopantis smiled.
