"The Heart Is A Little Left of Center!"

NOEL PAUL STOOKY CONCERT at the Tennessee Williams Theater, FKCC, Stock Island

As has been the case for the last month or so, our Friday began at 1000 hours on the Bocce court. Our game wan't up to snuff today. Perhaps it was because we were too excited about today's activities, which included a trip to the Tropic Theater in Key West, dinner at an as yet unselected restaurant, and the highlight for the would surely be the Noel Paul Stooky concert at the Tennessee Williams Theater.

After Bocce, we headed out over the seven mile bridge and had picnic lunch on the far side of the bridge. Traffic wasn't bad and we enjoyed an easy run to Key West. We parked by the old Coast Guard Station and walked a few blocks to the theater. We chose to see "Rabbit Hole," starring Nicole Kidman. The movie was very sad, but extremely well done. 

Before leaving Key West, Anna Marie had to stop at the Ben Franklin store to purchase some basket making supplies. She hopes to be able to find some time to meet Libby (Tarwathie) who has lots of experience.

We decided to have dinner at Bobalu's in Big Coppit Key. The restaurant has an excellent reputation for home cookin.' I ordered a cup of Conch Chowder and Mussels Florentine and Anna Marie chose the fried Grouper and Tilapia basket with fries. The food was outstanding and we were both delighted with our selections. In fact Anna Marie wanted to sample the homemade Key Lime Pie! it was outta this world! The meringue was particularly thick and the key lime filling was appropriately tart. Although Bobalu's is a bit short on ambience and is. Missing the flair of an island tiki hut, it is an establishment that provides excellent quality fare at fair prices.

Noel Paul Stooky

After our meal, we enjoyed a cup of coffee and soda at the local Burger King before heading to the theater which is on the campus of the Florida Keys Community College, located on Stock Island, just outside of Key West. 

While not a sell out, the concert was well attended. We found the theater to be very comfortable and our front row, center stage seats gave lent a very intimate feel to Noel's performance.

Noel Paul Stooky

His performance included many tunes that will be on his soon to be released (11/11/11) album. He did mix in a couple of songs from his days with the "trio." between songs, the topic of politics came up. Paul is clearly pained by the rhetoric of today's politicians. He thinks a culture where Americans will demand consensus building from their politicians. He clearly recognizes that his audience may have representatives from the right wing. He worked not to offend them while peppering his set list with protest songs, songs encouraging environmental protection, and humanity.

2nd Set List

The audience seemed very moved by the performance. I found it to be inspiring, motivating and thought provoking. Clearly a folk music home run!

The highlight of the night was the sing-a-long to Blowin' In The Wind which was very moving. In fact, my neighbor actually cried while singing the song. Paul's guitar arrangement was equally outstanding and included some chord progressions that I never head performed with this song.

Noel Paul Stooky

The other highlight came during the encore performance when Paul thanked the audience for their years of support. He thanked the audience for making it possible to send his three daughters to college and offered that he hoped they would perform deeds in their lives that evidenced their appreciation to his fans as well. He suggested that it was great to live in a country where individuals have the opportunity to be successful. This set the stage for his rendition of "America the Beautiful." It was another outstanding guitar arrangement with chord progressions one doesn't associate with this song.

Noel Paul Stooky

All in all, we enjoyed a banner day here in the Florida Keys!