My first meet and greet with Sir Elton John occurred in 2013 at a concert venue in Dayton, Ohio (Thank you, Jonny Klingler for the unforgettable invite). Rocking since the late 60s and elevated to stardom in 1970, Elton's plethora of albums/songs are truly iconic. After so many years with so many hits, his tours commenmorate the anniversary's of those albums/hits. Back in 2013, he was celebrating 40 years after the release of Good Bye Yellow Brick Road (GBYBR) album that includes the title hit, Saturday's Alright for Fighting, Daniel, and Candle in the Wind. In 2017, he announced his retirement with a 3-year world tour (really 5 years due to the pandemic's disruption) with the resonating theme of Good Bye Yellow Brick Road (also the final encore song). Fortunately, I have seen this legacy tour four times (twice pre-pandemic and another two after). I was fascinated that the concert itself significantly changed after the pandemic, so it was like a whole new concert series. This month marks the golden anniversary of the Good Bye Yellow Brick Road album and the conclusion of Elton's tour. So what the heck does this have to do with me...?
Well, this past week was the bittersweet final farewell tour of the band: 2-Point Enhancement. Yup, the prison band that I played in is no more, which was reminiscent that all good things must come to an end. On Friday, we had brief concert for Warden Bayless and the graduating class from the drug/alcohol program, which covered three original songs and two other songs like Give Me One Reason to Be Here. About 200 guys packed the auditorium for it - the largest concert attendance yet! This concert marked the best we sounded and vibed together. Honestly, it would have been a performance that people would have paid money (maybe a few bucks) to see. The dynamic lead vocalist, Jeffery Miller, and one of the most impressive guitar players that I have seen, Greene Bean, have graduated college! These two founding members of the band will be transitioning back to their freedom, so 2-Point Enhancement has been disbanded.
Part of our final farewell tour, concluded with a larger song set (12 songs) on Sunday. Again, we had an impressive show. The experience of being in a band with six incredibly talented men has helped make my prison journey be quite positive. Impressed with Friday's concert, Warden Bayless invited us to a special performance on Monday. She recorded our original song, Felony, and will be sharing the video on the internal DoJ website to highlight (and brag) about the "best prison band" that she has deemed to be in the federal prison system (ha, I guess I could put that on my LinkedIn). Since the song has been video recorded, I am hoping to be able to have a copy of it loaded, so you'll be able to watch and hear this incredible song...so stayed tuned.
Hopefully with the emerging talent in Morgantown, we will be able to another band opportunity, which I will definitely keep this updated with those details. I hope you all have a wonderful week and please continue to be mindful of any little miracles in your life 🙂