During the break between the two (sold-out!) shows that comprised this very special evening of music, a fellow attendee noted that the hauntingly beautiful intro with which Michael had opened "Arm Yourself" (Van Morrison's "I'll Be Your Lover, Too") was featured prominently in a 2002 film called Moonlight Mile (which he highly recommended).  As a result, when I ran across this very title while flipping through the cable channels only days later, I naturally felt compelled to check it out.  And, by the time the ending credits rolled I realized there was much more than a common song to connect this bit of on-screen art with the art that is Michael's music.

That said, I have no idea whether Michael has ever seen this film...nor whether the filmmaker has ever heard Michael's work.  Be that as it may, I believe its themes as put forth through specific lines could as easily have been penned to describe his music as they were to depict the situations and characters contained within the film. ("F-- the perfume; give me the warts.", "He knew me about 60%"..."yeah, but it's the last 40% that matters", "the truth is hard"...)

For indeed, the portraits Michael paints in song -- and lives onstage, bring to life characters in their entirety -- warts included,  pulling his audiences (often quite abruptly) face to face with the hardest aspects of truth.  And, in so doing, he proves himself courageous enough to show not merely that last all-important 40% of these characters, but invariably reveals -- and offers to all -- 100% of himself.

What makes this particularly appropriate in relation to Moonlight Mile is the fact that, for the characters in this film,  it is the courage of one person determined to face the darkness (they all in some way share) that leads each of the others into confrontation with his or her own personal "black holes".   And, ultimately, it is the example set by this one person's truth that allows them all to -- in their unique and separate ways -- be set free, and begin journeying at last toward a hopeful and beautiful light.

Hmm...sound familiar?

Michael McDermott
at
The Point
Bryn Mawr, PA
9-18-04

While still seated in the shadows at the start of the 7PM performance,  Michael began playing a rather extended and very familiar (instrumental) intro...

 ("My Country 'Tis of Thee")

...to a less familiar song..."The American In Me"...

           "Sometimes I take
                 and sometimes I give...

             I won't forget,
                  but I might forgive..."

...after which came the Van Morrison song snippet mentioned at the top of this page...

       "I'll be your man...

         I'll understand...

         I'll be your man...

         And I'll be your lover, too...

         Yes, I will...

         You'll be my queen...

          I'll  be your king...

          And I will be your lover, too..."
   

...leading into the opening strains of "Arm Yourself"...

                   Babe, I'd almost
                       forgotten how good
                             you could feel..."

Next Michael noted to the crowd, "it's a real honor -- not being gratuitous -- that you are here tonight with me", before sharing the tale of being signed by a record label early in his career...much to his amazement.  "I always figured I'd be discovered after I was dead!"  Those in attendance on this evening, however, would surely attest that the performance of "A Wall I Must Climb" which followed served as ample evidence as to just how truly alive -- and growing -- are both Michael himself and the ever current expressions of even his oldest created works...

    "Things were moving so fast,

      I couldn't comprehend it..."

As so commonly occurs at McDermott shows, this "oldie" was juxtaposed beside a composition penned only "about a week" ago.  And, once more offering a bit of insight into the artist, if not necessarily the song itself, Michael suddenly confessed, "I don't know about you...but my whole life...every time I step out of the door, it's like walking into a minefield..."  Hmm, perhaps that does explain the song after all -- or at least,  the particular dismay of finding it's such a "Long Long Long Way To Heaven"...

"I'm wandering and I still can't find,
These things I need to leave behind..."

Speaking of matters far from heaven...next came a tale of Hell on Earth, prior to which Michael noted, "I was talking with someone the other day about Jesus leading by example...and I pray for the kids of Palestine and Israel...that the circle of hate will stop with them..."  Further explaining that "Hellfire In The Holyland" is, in fact, an imagined view of what Jesus would now find upon returning to his homeland, he went on to passionately clarify both the horror of this situation and pleas for its resolution in harmonious song...

      "Pride's relentless
                    stronghold...

        Is banished by
                     my Father's
                                   door..."
             

And, while we're on topics containing Biblical references and/or contexts, I can't resist digressing for a moment here to address a little, uh...style note, shall I say.  If you've checked out the other McD show review pages on artistinsane.com, you've surely noticed that the above photos illustrate a rather shocking bit of injustice(?) practiced upon Michael's formerly voluminous locks...which have arguably constituted something of a trademark for him since the earliest days of his career...

...well, okay, maybe not quite that far back...but then, perhaps the above photo says it all as to why he started growing these (I'm kidding!!!). 

As for the Michael we've all long known, however, the hair has pretty much always been, well...there...

...and here...

...and, oh heck...kind of everywhere.   With that in mind, one can't help thinking of a certain Old Testament character and the truly tragic loss of power that accompanied the shearing of his mane...

Fortunately, this entire evening of music proved Michael has suffered no such ill effects, and his talent clearly remains with him at its most full and beautiful strength.

Still...those bobbing black tresses having been a part of so many live McD show memories... well, you can't blame fans of the former look for being "Just A Little Blue" about the change...

   "I close my eyes, and
                                 call your name...

     I open them, but
                                it's still the same...

     I don't see you," hair -- uh, I mean, here...
                                   (okay, I'll stop, I promise!)

And on that note, I guess there's only "One Way To Go" from here...

                                      "A voice from above,
                                                  it answered with love...

                                       But are you ready
                                                                      to hear?"

Next Michael thanked radio station WXPN for their support in recent months, which proclamation signaled the opening strains of his hugely popular single, "Everything I Got"...

    "I'm wand'ring round
                 the graveyards of
                                     my mind...

       Searching for something true..."

...after which the applause of the appreciative crowd seemed as though it might never end.  When it finally began to subside, however, Michael announced that he would next perform a song not on any record...one about which he said, "I'm not suggesting I'm prophetic in any way, but sometimes you write songs before you're there.  You finish it, it sounds good, but you don't really know what you're talking about.  This is one of those."  And, a great one it is: "Never Going Down Again"...

"Some words can come like healing...
Some words can cut like glass..."

Correctly concluding that an encore would be demanded, in the interest of time, Michael announced that rather than leave the stage, wait a minute and return, he'd just move to a seat at the piano and we could merely all pretend that the conventions had been observed.  And, without further ado, he then embarked on the lovely "When It Comes To You"...

                            "Into the nighttime skies
                                                        I'll cast...

                               A prayer of hope that
                                                        this will last..."

...before ending the show by setting off toward "A Closer Walk With Thee"...

"I was blind but now I see,
I was bound but now I'm free"...

But, as you know if you've read the review of this event in the October issue of the McDermott Newsletter, another -- wholly unique -- show followed.  Yes, it featured some of the same songs, including the opening tunes, "Arm Yourself" (which featured the traditional "In My Time of Dying" intro this time around), "Hellfire In The Holyland" and "When It Comes To You".  

Here, however, the setlist began to differ, in accordance with the very different mood of this second performance, as both a more relaxed Michael and a more relaxed audience coaxed out of him a humorous story surrounding the romantic and faith-filled, "Hold Back A River"...a story which prompted a small fit of laughter and a bit of sarcastic lyrical improvisation as he reached the line, "You seem just a little crazy sometimes."  But then, given he's the one who'd left with her doorman a song about a final surrender offering ALL his love to a girl he'd barely met, well, I'd say that matter might be argued as subject to interpretation...or is it only me to whom the word "stalker" comes to mind???

(Oops...I don't think he liked that comment!)

Becoming serious once more, Michael next shared another of the songs common to both of this night's sets, "One Way To Go".   And, while I'm jesting a fair amount here in the interest of making mere words and photos (so inadequate in describing music) a bit more entertaining on this page, I think everyone familiar with my oft-expressed appreciation of Michael's work realizes how seriously I actually view his art, and how much value I believe it has to those who wish to let it touch their lives in a positive way.  For example, a few days after this show, Michael posted an entry in his online journal about a friend's sharing of "One Way To Go" at an AA meeting and how helpful this friend had found it in facing his struggle -- thereby proving the healing power of music, and the rewards of indeed courageously offering to others one's own "hard truth".

     "You get high from 
                       all your falling...

       You get down when 
                       you're not high...

        You can't hear
                        the voices calling...

         Imploring you to try..."

At the conclusion of this song, some renewed audience banter lightened the mood once more, before the music again brought Michael back to a place of inner struggle...more specifically a determination to be freed from "The Hand of the Hunter"...

                         "Spilling like wine,
                                       the healing was landing...

                            Our only bastion
                                      was our understanding..."

Next, Michael favored the audience with another performance of "Everything I Got"...which was again greeted by the same enthusiastic reception given it by the 7PM crowd...but then, how else to properly acknowledge such a heart-rending outpouring of emotion and intensity...

     "You've given everything...

        I've given everything...

        We've given everything..."

...an outpouring that speaks for itself as to why one might indeed find he quite simply "Can't Sleep Tonight"...

                            "I act like a boy
                                        when I should be a man...

                             I can't sleep tonight...

                              How is it anyone can?"

Once more thanking WXPN and The Point for making this amazing night possible, Michael also expressed how humbled he was by everyone's attendance...after which he again shared that anthem of faith and determined will, "Never Going Down Again"...

   "Been a long time
                working my way
                                back here...

     It's been a hell 
                   of a storm...

      Now I'm coming on clear."

Perhaps sensing the set might all too soon be winding down, immediately following this song the audience began shouting insistent requests, including a plea for the sound of "Bells"...

                             "Ringing out for me...

                               Ringing out for you...

                               And all these things
                                   that we've been through..."
                                             
                                          

...and the wistful "Baby I"...

            "Who know what
                                this life
                                      will bring?"

Then, strapping on his guitar...

... and announcing he would do but one more song, Michael himself made the choice of what that one would be...the wonderful surprise of Cyndi Lauper's haunting "Time After Time"...

                                "Flashback...warm nights...

                                  Almost left behind...

                                  Suitcase of memories...

                                   Time after..." 

And, indeed, on that note Michael left the stage for the second time this night...only to return with a few more memories to add to the evening's already bulging "suitcase"...

Taking his seat at the piano one more time, he invited the audience to join him on a journey "Around The World"...

     "I know that I have met
                         some prophets...

       And I've befriended the
                         very lowest of the low..."

...before noting "It's getting closer to Sunday every minute!"...and bidding all a final adieu as he once more left the stage to journey alone in the direction of a  "Closer Walk With Thee"...

Of course, he did delay that walk for a few moments, during which he re-appeared to sign CD's and spend a bit of time with fans and friends...

...speaking of which, you might want to take a good look at that last photo...after Michael learns of all my -- uh -- "cutting" commentary on his hair, you might never catch him standing quite that close to me again! 

(I'll keep you posted on that matter...)

In the meantime...

As always,

Thank You Michael!!!

And, again,

Please Come Back Soon!!!