Upon hearing that I was to see four shows, one correspondent stated something like I was going wild with the shows. My response was that it will be four shows in twenty years, or more. So today was the closeout out my show marathon. I saw the Japanese fiddler Shoji Tabuchi and the Frankie Avalon/Brenda Lee shows. The wrap up:

Shoji claims to have fallen in love with country/western music when Roy Acuff toured in Japan when he was but a young boy. At the time he was taking classical music lessons. Long story short, he ended up coming to the US and taking lessons from Acuff, becoming a fairly proficient fiddler. But he is no where near a Roy Acuff. He now rives here with his famiry, but he needs to porish his Engrish ranguage skirrs a rittre more.

However his show was entertaining because of the variety of his dancers and support singers in Hollywood costumes supporting magical laser light and fireworks displays. He stated that they all had BA or MA degrees in music, and must be able to sing, dance and play at least one musical instrument to be hired. Any fiddlers that I know want to audition?

He gets a C+ for fiddling, and a A+ for show production. The production is performed by his wife, who is the true genius behind his show. Without her touch, Shoji would probably be pan handling on street corners in the French Quarter. Well, possibly not, but you get the idea. So I figure that if one combines the C+ and A+ a fair score would be B+, substanciated by the fact that I did not check my watch once during the show. Like I said, the support cast and special effests were excellent.

So on to the Frankie/Brenda show. This was really two one-set shows back to back since they did not sing together any, and only barely acknowledged the presence of the other. But that is ok.

Frankie Avalon, 61 years old I think he said, put on a polished, active and engaging program. Very entertaining. He could bend his knees, jump a little and actually defied his age. And his physical condition did not hint at his age. His voice was excellent, just mellowed a bit by age. I rate his show as A. I never once considered looking at my watch, except to see how long the show was at the end, as it seemed only 30 minutes. It actually was 50 minutes.

Brenda Lee struggled. She understandably has lost the clarity of her voice, having obvious problems with range for her not-so-rangy songs. She did reveal her age by stating that it is the same as her good friend Dolly Parton, and that Dolly is always honest about her age, so ask her. She did inject a round of rather amusing jokes, probably to give her voice a rest. I won’t rate it, I just won’t go to see her again. The watch? I checked it occasionally, wondering if she was to sing 50 minutes also. She did.

There was a fellow seated beside me that pulled out his camera when Brenda was to start her set. He did not do so for Frankie. So I observed that he must be there for Brenda Lee, due to that fact. He then went into his praises of her, all obviously from memory. She has always been four foot something, but now she is also about four feet wide. I noticed that he didn’t take a single picture of her.

So the summary of my experience in Branson entertainment is that it is a mixed bag. But in general they can be entertaining and not dismally bad. Just ratchet your expectations down one notch at the city limits. And bring more money than you think they should charge as you will need it. Also ratchet up your patience two notches, as many shows start at the same time and end at the same time, which converts route 76 into a linear parking lot. One good thing: all shows started very promptly on time.

I may come back in twenty years for my four show dose, but I won’t recognize any of the performers; they will be today’s has-beens, and I don’t know any of today’s now-is’s.

Man, am I glad I don’t have to read thier review of me!

An after thought, I did make it to the original old town Branson today, complete with the brand spanking new Branson Landing shopping bonanza on Lake Taneycomo, at the end of Main Street. I bought a pair of badly needed sneakers, but they are so white that I walked Annie tonight without the help of a flashlight. Andy Rooney, why don’t they make black sneakers? The blue-white glow of these things look ridiculous on a boy my age!

Next week, off to another adventure, hopefully less expensive.

Tonight I saw the Andy Williams with Petula Clark concert in the Andy Williams Theater.

I can always tell how well I like a performance by the number of times I look at my watch. I checked it several times during Andy’s set. Frankly, it was getting boring. Andy at 79 has lost his zip and his ability to sing his songs convincingly. Andy, I respect you, but it is time to really retire from performing!

Petula’s performance, the shorter second set, was a breath of fresh air until Andy joined her for some duets. That is when I started watching the time again. Petula still has enough pizazz to demand an audience’s attention. Too bad she wasn’t the headliner.

Now that is my humble opinion. I asked a great-great-grandmotherly lady next to me which she thought was the best. “Why, Andy of course,” she said. “He still has it, and I don’t like the loud music.”

I enjoyed the “Lost in the 50′s + Platters” show yesterday more than tonight’s performance. And it was in a much lesser theater at a considerably cheaper price.

I got home rather late because I had to stop at Uncle Wally’s place for some food, as I skipped supper because of having nothing to eat.

Last night I went to my first show in Branson. It was called “Lost in the 50′s with the Platters.”

It had a featured cast of ‘younguns’ plus a small live band. They were actually very good singers, doing a good job with the 50′s songs, all hits that I well remembered. The show had skits as themes through the show.

Featured also were the Platters. This was not a impersonation act, but the real Platters of the recent incarnation. All were old, one was so fat that I was afraid I would be hit in the eye by a popping button, since I was in the third row. But there was one younger than the rest, probably a replacement from the passing of a member somewhere in the past.

Although their voices obviously were not up to their heyday, fatty’s voice cracking occasionally on high notes, they did an acceptably good job singing their hits, and a set of period songs that were not theirs. They were definitely entertaining, and the audience, 99% of which were old enough to have grown up with them, received them enthusiastically. One picked a gal out of the audience to sing to, and her name popped up in the skits frequently. Very funny, although I suspect it is a common trick.

All things considered, it was a very enjoyable and entertaining show, a good choice.

Speaking of 99%, I overheard one woman behind me tell another, “If my son wins the lottery he is going to buy me a Thunderbird convertible, and I am going to drive it to Chicago. I have the money, my purse and my Depends, and I am ready to go!.”

Where is Aunte Creek Campground (COE)?
An uneventful day of travel yesterday; left KY Lake at 7:30 AM and arrived at the campground about 4:00 PM. A long day of driving with only one 15 minute stretch break and one stop to refuel Barth.

After the fuel filter replacement Barth started aggressively and idled strong. She ran like a Swiss watch all day. Albeit a loud Swiss watch.

The fellow that made the repairs seemed to be a good mechanic (he had horse sense) but was a bit chatty, which probably cost me a half hour of labor.

Gaby Gertie performed pretty well, although she took me on a US highway that was narrow and winding. I did not know that, and apparently she didn’t either. It was one of those roads that once on it, one had to drive to the end as there was nowhere to turn for a 100 miles. So aborting early and finding a better path was not possible.

I crossed the Mississippi River on US 60. That bridge was undoubtedly built in the 40s as it was very narrow. It would have been a real pain to meet a semi rig on it. I was fortunate that I escaped that fate.

The first CG I went to, called Indian Pointe, had no space for me. It is closer to Branson and other stuff.

I am camped not near Branson, but this area has bloomed into a city called West Branson, among other town names. Very commercial. I did not see any houses so I guess everyone lives in the back of the store fronts. Branson proper is probably 20 – 25 miles from here, so trips there to see entertainment will be a major activity. Dog is out of her arthritis [ain med so I need to find a vet for a refill first activity.

Aunte Creek CG is a COE park on the water, as all COE CGs are. It is virtually empty. I think there are only four of us scattered about the CG. I will probably park here at least a week, maybe two.

Still in KY. Barth would not hit a lick this morn.

Had a mobile mechanic visit and he replaced the complete fuel filter, not just the cartridge. Consensus was that the old filter assembly was allowing air to be sucked into the fuel lines.

Was performing perfectly normal when he left.

As yesterday, early tomorrow morn will be the proof. I will either be on my way to Bronson or paying another $180 to find another plausible cause of the problem.

Now the problem is also escalating to the issue of arrival at Bronson near the beginning of a weekend, never a good time to move.