My Five for Fighting Texas Adventure, Day Two: Enoch's Stomp

I had a fairly good sleep considering my bed was equipped with those annoying half pillows. I'm used to sleeping with a king-sized pillow, so to make do with something half that size...literally...is a huge difference!  After breakfast at the Waffle House, my Texas friend Tonja and I visited the Gregg County Historical Museum in Longview.  With time to kill, we decided to check out Enoch's Stomp Vineyard and Winery before the big Five for Fighting show there in the evening. 

Not having ever done a wine tasting, Tonja and I decided to try it out.  After perusing the wine tasting flight list, we opted to do the sweet wines. The first wine we tasted we ended up liking the best...a Blanc DuBois Sweet. The two other white wines were also pretty good, but neither of us liked the two red ones.  I guess we have similar tastes!  Even though I'm not much of a wine drinker, I was so impressed with what I tasted, I bought a bottle of the Blanc DuBois.  While we were there, I had the opportunity to chat briefly with Jon Kral...John Ondrasik's brother-in-law...and co-owner of the winery.  I complimented him on his beautiful winery and told him I traveled all the way from Washington state for the concert.  Jon replied that he used to live in Olympia, and was familiar with my current home in Bellingham.

I haven't yet mentioned the weather in east Texas...hot and HUMID!  I'm just not used to mid-90s and high humidity!  Thank goodness for air conditioning in buildings AND my car!  After our wine tasting experience, Tonja and I returned to our respective hotels to rest and prepare for the upcoming event.  When we returned to the winery that evening, we were surprised to find valet parking for all, which was nice.  Right after we checked in at the registration table, who should appear but John's wife Carla and his parents!  Carla greeted me with a hug, and I asked her not to tell John I was there, wanting to surprise him.  We dined on very tasty hot appetizers and mini desserts.  When I decided to see what was available for sale at the merchandise booth, I was delighted to find it staffed by John's daughter Olivia.  While conversing with her, I bought a T-shirt that I'll add to my collection.

The big event started with an introduction by John's sister Shelley before John and his string quartet took the stage. Athough I've gone to many, many Five for Fighting concerts, only once did I ever hear the songs with a string accompaniment.  It was pretty awesome!

One signature characteristic of a Five for Fighting show is John's stories, and he certainly didn't disappoint this time around.  John's telling of his week at The Ashram is a classic and one that I never tire of hearing.  Here's the set list for the night:

World
The Riddle
The Devil In The Wishing Well
Superman
Two Lights
Note To An Unknown Soldier
Ocean
If God Made You
White Picket Fence
(Quartet Jam)
Chances
I Don't Want Your Love
What If
Symphony Lane
I Just Love You
100 Years
Encore: American Pie (cover), Hope

I can't say enough good things about John's string quartet. Such a talented foursome! With Peter Sachon on cello, Katie Kresik on 1st violin, Melissa Tong on 2nd violin and Chris Cardona on viola, John's songs sounded so much more special. John's singing and playing, and the strings backing him up complimented each other beautifully. Midway through the concert as John switched to guitar, Katie joined him for the song If God Made You...one of the high points of the night!

It was nice to hear a few songs played live that I've never seen John perform before, White Picket Fence in particular.  That's my favorite song from his Message for Albert album.  For his hit song 100 Years, he called up his wife Carla to join him on stage, which I think embarrassed her.  It was a sweet moment, though!

After the show, I chatted with Carla while waiting for the meet and greet line to see John to taper off.  When the queue whittled down to just a couple of people, Tonja and I joined the tail end, with me trying to stay out of John's line of sight.  Then, the big moment arrived.  Tonja moved to the side and John finally spotted me!  Boy, was he surprised!  Both Tonja and I got hugs, and John asked how I was doing...it HAD been three years since I last saw him!  John offered us free T-shirts, but both of us had already bought ours.  It was a kind gesture, though...John is so amazing!  He DID sign a small concert poster of the night's show that I "stole" off one of the restroom doors.  Of course, we couldn't say goodbye without a photo with John.  Carla used Tonja's phone to take the pic.

Needless to say, both Tonja and I had a great time in each other's company, at the concert and Enoch's Stomp, and of course, meeting John and his family.  It is an evening and day that I'll remember for a long time.  Before leaving Texas, I would be spending a day in Dallas doing a little historical sightseeing. Nothing that will top this day, but some acts are hard to follow!