Marcia Ball at the State Theatre

It’s 1:16AM, and I just got home from a concert at the The State Theatre in downtown Falls Church, VA with Marcia Ball . Before I comment on Her Tallness, I’d like to mention the opening act, a band from Baltimore, MD called Resevoir Saints. While not up to Marcia’s band’s talent level, they were quite enjoyable, and have written some pretty sharp original music.

Marcia is, as always, amazing. Her energy, piano and singing talent, are unbelievable, and she played for 2:45 without a break, bringing on stage a number of additional people who happened to be in town when she was. Unlike many artists I’ve seen, she gives everyone on stage their due, crediting them for their solos and performances, rather than hogging all the “lime light” herself.

One thing that was fun was the fact that there was a lot of people dancing down front, and having an all-together great time. Marcia is definately a high-energy “fun” woman, whose intensity rubs off on you, whether you want it or not. This makes for an absolute blast of a time. If you can manage to catch her in your city, you should! Someone described her as a re-incarnation of Jerry Lee Lewis, but I think she’s even more talented, and can really bang out the tunes.

The only negative I can cite is the sound reinforcement system was simply cranked entirely too loud. Before anyone makes the comment about me “obviously getting old,” my friend James commented similarly. It was so loud that there were times where my ears overloaded and I couldn’t really discern Marcia’s voice over the rest of it. If anyone from the theatre reads this, please turn the SPL down to something more managable.