An Engaging Evening with Willy

On Saturday November 15th in the year 2003 GF* and I left our home to drive 140 miles to a cool coffee bar named Jammin' Java located in Vienna Virginia (just outside of Washington D.C.) to see one of our favorite artists, Willy Porter, perform. As we neared Vienna, GF told me that her stomach was starting to feel "oogie" (upset) and that we should stop and buy a lottery ticket. Curious, I prodded her and she explained that when her stomach feels this way something good is going to happen. If she only knew...

About a month before, I had sent an email to Willy asking for his help with my plan for the evening. I hadn't received a response so I edited and took it with me so that if I did not get to actually talk to Willy before the show, perhaps I would be able to pass him the note through his soundman. Here’s what the note said (and hence, my plan):

Willy,

I discovered your music during your first tour with Jethro Tull in the Fall of 2001. I have since seen you perform on three other occasions. I introduced my girlfriend, *****, to you initially through the lyrics of Sowelu, and she has subsequently seen you 5 times. We both own all the studio recordings and Highwire and a good number of live shows from the Live Music Archive (thanks to Chris Webb). To say we are fans is an understatement.

Anyway… We have tickets to see you at Jammin' Java in Vienna, VA on November 15th, and also The Point in Bryn Mawr, PA on the evening of November 16th. I want to propose marriage to my girlfriend and I would like to do it at one of your shows, with your help. Exactly what I have in mind I don't know - I'll leave that to you if you are agreeable. Her favorite song is Watercolor, so perhaps a simple dedication to her would do. Alternatively, a mention in Happy Accident would be beyond awesome. Again, I don't want to dictate anything about how you do your show. And if you don't think this would be a cool thing to do at the show, then so be it. We'll still be fans!

I will come to both shows prepared (with the ring). Please feel free to reach me at the address below if you need any more info, or to accept or decline. Many thanks for this and for all the great music!

Sincerely,

We got there early and took our seats. As luck would have it, Willy had some people helping at his CD table and I asked them if they could pass a note back to Willy. They did and shortly after sending the note back and while I was getting coffee, Willy came up front through the crowd (pretty much un-noticed) and I got to talk to him. I said, "I'm the guy who sent back the note about proposing to my girlfriend." and he smiled real big and said, "Sure man, I'll help you out - your girlfriend's name is *****, right?" I responded that it was and thanked him for his help. I went back to my seat absolutely on a cloud. This was going to work!!

To top it all off, behind us and to more toward the middle of the seating area was a guy with a microphone on a stand, a preamp, and minidisc recorder all set to go. Somebody was going to tape the show! I talked to him (Ben), told him what I was planning, and begged him for a copy of the show. He promised that he would eventually post it on the Live Music Archive. (Ben is still MIA, Chris Webb however was also there that night and his recording is posted here.)

So... Here we were. Willy had promised me he was going to help. I had even confirmed that in person - nothing to worry about. And there was a guy taping. Life was perfect.

Someone was supposed to open for Willy, but shortly after 8:00 the door by the stage opened and out came Willy with his guitar. No opening act!! Whooo hooo! Here we go - game on! Willy started his show with a few love themed songs. After 3 or 4 songs, he noticed the big "J" sign hanging behind him on the stage (It's actually two J's - the venues logo) and said, "We’re here in support of J ... More on that later." Unfortunately he never did explain what he meant, but I can't help but think he was referring to my GF (Whose name begins with a ‘J’). Later he announced that he would do two sets and he proceeded to work Happy Accident (The improv song) into the first set. The audience suggested Cheese, Theme Sweaters and Dogs. The song evolved to contain quite a few references to "poo" and I was secretly hoping that he was NOT going to work in a reference to GF and I. Fortunately, he didn't and a few songs later, the first set ended. It was a really good set, but I'm not sure I heard it all. I had been on the edge of my seat and I was too nervous to enjoy the show.

All through the show I had been watching Willy as he set up the guitar for each song. Just about every one of his songs is played in non-standard tunings and with one or more capos. But, Watercolor, the song I had asked him to play for GF, is played in standard open tuning without any capos. Every time he took the capos off and tuned standard I was on the edge of my seat. Midway through the second set, Willy started to play a Richard Cohen cover song, "Everybody Knows" and after a long intro describing how he found this song, he started to play it only to forget the opening lyrics. He made fun of himself for forgetting with made up lyrics until he finally remembered and started to sing it for real. Then after the opening verse, he just stopped and said it wasn't working. He said he felt like he was trying to "phone that one in" and that he wasn't feeling it and there was no sense in doing it because it's all about the music. (Very profound and proof positive as to why he is such an exceptional artist.) He then went into "You Stay Here" and haunting and deeply felt song as if to prove to himself that he was feeling it. After that, he said that he still had a couple of songs to do. Then he said that he had "My friend Shawn sent me an email and he asked that I play this tune tonight for his sweetie...” GF turned to me and asked me, "Was that you?" and I just smiled. When Willy started playing "Watercolor" GF knew for sure that it was me and she got a little teary. He played the song through and when it was apparent that he was done and wasn't going to say anything else it was time. I went down on one knee, opened the ring box, looked her in the eye and suddenly realized that despite all my planning and meticulous forethought, I hadn’t prepared exactly how I was going to ask! Somehow I heard myself say, "Will you be my wife?" and she stared at me totally shocked for a few seconds until finally creaking out a muted "Yes" before her eyes overflowed with tears up and she started crying in earnest. After she put on the ring and we hugged again, I finally sat back in my seat relieved. The girl sitting next to me poked me in the ribs and asked, "Did you just propose to her?" I said “yes” and explained that the song Willy had just played was for GF, by my request, and then SHE started crying. She reached around me and hugged GF and suddenly this girl and her friend were both crying and happy for us. She told me that she thought the whole place needed to know what had just happened and promptly set about trying to find a way to tell everyone. By this time, Willy had finished his last song ("Everybody Knows" again, this time all the way through) of his set. Willy left the stage and the girl next to me jumped up and ran to the back of the stage area trying to catch Willy. He came back for the encore before she caught him and launched into another song. The girl sat down, but was still squirming in her seat, just dying to tell everybody. Finally, after the first encore song and after the applause wound down I yelled "Hey Willy!" He looked up and out to the audience and I said "She said yes." The girl next to me then jumped out of her seat and proceeded to explain to everyone that I had proposed to GF during "Watercolor" and that we were now engaged. Someone made us stand up and everyone applauded. Willy, being Willy of course, then went into a long funny story about his engagement and wedding day before wishing us well. He ended the show by played "Roses in the Rain", a song that he had written and planned to play at his own reception, but ultimately didn't.

Everyone congratulated us on the way out. GF asked me if all of that was real as we left and I assured her that it was. We didn't have any trouble staying awake while driving the two and a half hours on the way home.

Here’s the audio proof. I cut & pasted and leveled the sound with the crudest of tools before I converted it to my least favorite audio format so I apologize in advance for the quality. It’s 1100 KB too, so if you are on dialup it may take a minute or two...

*Normally, in my stories, GF stands for Gorgeous Fiancé – in this story she was merely Girl Friend until the obvious point.