Thank You Parker Millsap - You Flooded my Memory and Quenched My Soul at Delmar Hall March 3, 2022.
Delmar Hall opened in 2016 and has quickly solidified its place as the premier mid-level venue located next to The Pageant in St. Louis. The venue accommodates from 350 up to 750 music enthusiasts.
They say that God has a plan. Sadly, I didn’t get to
see the part where my wife, going on 42 years together, pre-deceases me. She
left us peacefully in her sleep one month ago with no indication of sickness. She was full of life and coming into her own as a grandmother. She
was so easy to be with and so committed to being kind to everyone she
encountered in life. My family and close friends have been so supportive. My brother Rob flew into Saint Louis from Northern California to
see John Paul White with special guest Parker Millsap at Delmar Hall in
University City.
I was losing, I was lost, cursing everything
that I come across
I was wounded, I was weak, I didn’t realize I needed a drink of your water. Your water - It floods my memory and it quenches my soul
I heard this song with a new perspective, a little sadness and it brought tears to my eyes as Rob and I watched Parker sing it with his remarkable voice and stage presence. Later the headliner, also performing as a solo act, brought a kind of dark humor to the stage. John Paul White tells the audience that he is just getting to know Parker but he wants to know him better, adding a bit of sarcasm saying that Parker is breaking the rules because the opening act is “supposed to suck.”
Rob's daughter Meg is Parker's wife. When Rob asked her if a Parker song is about her she routinely says: "They're all about me." I love that.
Rob and I ate at the Three Kings on Delmar and admired the stars on the walk of fame and visited the Chuck Berry statue and Blueberry Hill. Parker joined us after the show at the rooftop bar of the Moonrise Hotel. Being stoic and with the commitment to carry on without saying much it was a kind of perfect condolence call. Thank you Rob. Thank you Parker.
If you were eavesdropping you might have picked up a theme in the conversations but probably not: Birdwatching, Baseball, Art, Being a Philistine, Spanish Wells, Key Biscayne, Costa Rica, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Affluent, knowledgeable, Winning in golf, New Orleans, Chicago, Cleveland, Columbus, Lakewood, Meg, Joy, Camile, Sports Trivia.Chuck Berry, Ida Red.
"Ida Red" is an American traditional song of unknown origins that was made famous in the upbeat 1938 version by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys, Wills' Ida Red served as the primary inspiration for Chuck Berry's first big hit Maybellene. Below: Chuck Berry statue in U-City accross the street from Blueberry Hill.
