The concert was at The Cincinnati Gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roy_Orbison.jpg). and I attended with my brother Paul and Ken an Army Buddy who lived in Cincinnati. The Gardens is huge and Roy performed on a stage at the far end with the ‘Van-a-Rama’ event using the rest of the space. They did NOT shut down the auto show when Roy performed and less than 50 of the more the 1000+ people would attend Roy’s performance. The rest continued shopping the many vendor displaying custom van and auto parts. A photo I took of Roy walking on stage (it appears in the book "Dark Star") shows the empty seats. And although it was Roy's 40th Birthday that night it was never announced.
This was the 1st time I saw Roy live and I was surprised that he sounded better than his records. I got close enough to know for sure this sound was coming from him and was not a recording. He seemed to deliver each song effortlessly - one after another with little to no talking. It didn’t seem that this great voice was coming out of Roy because he didn't move and didn't seem to exert the needed effort, he just stood there at the mike.
Immediately after the 1st show, I went to Roy’s dressing room and his brother Sam let me in to visit with Roy for 15 minutes. When I saw him, he sat exhausted on a stool , drinking a coke from a paper cup and smoking a cigarette sized cigar. I was obviously nervous but Roy put me at ease, was polite and made me feel our conversation was important – taking time to thoughtfully answer my inquiries. I asked which was his favorite Roy Orbison song and he told me “In Dreams” because it had the best of both his singing and song writing.
I asked to have my photo with him and he had Terry Widlake, his bass player take it. He gave me his autograph and personalized it, “To David Shoenfelt - From Roy Orbison”. After talking briefly to a few other fans, he left to give a radio interview and I went back to the auditorium where later on Roy gave his 2nd performance during which he added “Evergreen” at the request of a fan in the audience.
United States
France
The concert was at The Cincinnati Gardens (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roy_Orbison.jpg). and I attended with my brother Paul and Ken an Army Buddy who lived in Cincinnati. The Gardens is huge and Roy performed on a stage at the far end with the ‘Van-a-Rama’ event using the rest of the space. They did NOT shut down the auto show when Roy performed and less than 50 of the more the 1000+ people would attend Roy’s performance. The rest continued shopping the many vendor displaying custom van and auto parts. A photo I took of Roy walking on stage (it appears in the book "Dark Star") shows the empty seats. And although it was Roy's 40th Birthday that night it was never announced.
This was the 1st time I saw Roy live and I was surprised that he sounded better than his records. I got close enough to know for sure this sound was coming from him and was not a recording. He seemed to deliver each song effortlessly - one after another with little to no talking. It didn’t seem that this great voice was coming out of Roy because he didn't move and didn't seem to exert the needed effort, he just stood there at the mike.
Immediately after the 1st show, I went to Roy’s dressing room and his brother Sam let me in to visit with Roy for 15 minutes. When I saw him, he sat exhausted on a stool , drinking a coke from a paper cup and smoking a cigarette sized cigar. I was obviously nervous but Roy put me at ease, was polite and made me feel our conversation was important – taking time to thoughtfully answer my inquiries. I asked which was his favorite Roy Orbison song and he told me “In Dreams” because it had the best of both his singing and song writing.
I asked to have my photo with him and he had Terry Widlake, his bass player take it. He gave me his autograph and personalized it, “To David Shoenfelt - From Roy Orbison”. After talking briefly to a few other fans, he left to give a radio interview and I went back to the auditorium where later on Roy gave his 2nd performance during which he added “Evergreen” at the request of a fan in the audience.