A Preacher Looks At the Man Behind the Preacher

The enormous talents of Russell as an actor and singer are easily seen in many areas and are often addressed, but in this writing I would like to honor him for the kind of man he is becoming.

His growth is becoming ever more evident in the songs he is now writing. He writes of Australia as the Land of the Second Chance and he, himself, is taking his second chance at life very seriously. In his lyrics one sees plainly his awarness that where he was going with his life was not where it should be, but he has come to some deeper commitment that is expressing itself in a more loving and fulfilling way.

In speaking with some of the people who also attended the New York City concert, I found it to be the ones who have also learned these things about life who are the ones who recognize this point I am making about him. These particular fans are greatly encouraged, and somehow nurtured and edified by seeing him grow. I spoke at length with a lovely, white-haired lady who reminded me of Murph.

She was wearing a button that read, "The Fear of God is the Beginning of Wisdom." She was a very wise and aware woman and shared her feelings of what it meant to her to be a witness to his personal growth.

It seemed to both of us that he does, indeed, have the beginning of wisdom.

As a man who is deeply committed to being the best human being I can be, I was surprised by how seeing this change in Russell made me feel.

With all that is involved in being a part of the movie-making world, it would seem not an easy thing to make these changes. I surprisingly have feelings of love and pride for a job well done with life. As a minister myself, one might think I could take offense at his "Preacher", but it is so obvious that what he is attempting to pierce is the fakery and self-indulgence of the manner and motivation behind the sort of man he portrays in his lead-in to "Testify." Taken with the lyrics to others of his songs, we begin to see the picture he shares with us of a man on a journey, a man who plainly seeks spiritual growth and maturity and yet acknowledges that he IS still seeking and has not arrived. He reveals his humanness to us, shares his struggles, his pains, his lacks, and yet gifts us with insight into his yearning for his complete self.

Sometimes his blunt and honest approach to things may serve to hide his true nature from the more casual observer, but I see it as him having an absolute flair for the authentic. As he came down the steps after the concert with a large crowd between him and his car, I was caught up in just wanting to watch him be who he was.

I didn't even want to attempt to approach him for an autograph or a picture, but found myself focused on how he made me feel as he mingled with the people. Putting myself in his shoes, I would think it a very difficult thing to face such a tightly-packed crowd not knowing the unpredictable nature of people. He was tired and one knew he would rather just get into his car, but as I watched, his demeanor was consistently more patient and kind than I thought possible in such a situation. It's great to know that appreciating his talents in acting and singing as much as I do, there is this aspect that also touches my heart. What I want to say more than anything else is the delight I experienced when I saw that he had it in him.
I look forward to the future not only for his remarkable performances but for the finer man.

-- Rev. Carl Anzalone

I went to the May 17th NYC concert, needless to say I was 'blown away' by Russell's music and the band itself was awesome.

I did not hesitate to puchase My Hand My Heart CD. which I am enjoying. I'm hoping he makes another stop in NYC. I can only hope that he returns for anotherNYC concert --- soon.

This was my fourth time at a TOFOG concert. (Once in NYC, and twice in Chicago.) Yes, the audience was subdued, but so was Russell. He wasn’t as rowdy as he was at the Chicago shows. I don’t know but maybe because the venue was so different or maybe because we were all seated and not trying to crowd the stage. I still thought the show was great. RC always gives his all for every performance.

Now, it’s my turn to tell my side of the story as far as the photographs are concerned. Yes, I am the “birthday girl” or “obnoxious fan” as another poster mentioned. Yes, I did leave my seat and venture into the center aisle to take photographs. No, RC did not touch my camera. He did not put his arm around me as the NY Post said. He did ask people in the front row if they had a camera, and when no one said they did, he asked a gentleman to take the photo of us with my camera.

And yes, I apologize to RC for bothering him. But I also saw the videos everyone took at the concert. Flashes were going off left and right the whole night. So, it wasn’t just me. I just happened to be the only one visible because I am not the type to settle for photos from my seat. (I am an ex Navy photographer.) So he sassed me and asked me to stop. He did it before in 2001 in LA.

It was truly a wonderful birthday anyway. I had a great time. The young ladies sitting next to me certainly did too. They were the so called “drunk girls.” They just seemed very excited to be there and didn’t strike me as drunk at all. They wanted to dance. Heck, I wanted to dance too but the venue made that difficult.

So in closing, my photos from the concert are posted here at Murphs. I still have copies available to anyone who sends me a SASE. Cheers……

From coffee:

The concert was announced shortly before my Birthday in April.  My husband indulgences my fascination with Russell and I thought he might draw the line on a one day trip to NYC for a concert!   He shook his head and laughed then asked if we could afford to go?  I said "yes" and he said "Happy Birthday!"  He asked if he could go too and I told him if he wanted too of course he could come with me!   He does like the music and we've not been anywhere outside the state of Virginia in a long time.  

Now I didn't have the tickets in hand exactly on my Birthday but I had a hotel room and train reservations for my Birthday!    

The plan once we were checked into our room we would walk from our hotel on 45^th Street to the venue stopping midway for dinner somewhere.   Our room was actually a closet with a queen size bed.  There was barely enough room to walk around the bed without bumping into something.   Hey it was for one night so we didn't really care.

We changed and headed out of the hotel and ran into the sea of humanity that is New York City!  As I said the plan was to find dinner midway to the venue which turned into walking all the way to the venue.   Then we walked back down Broadway to find a very nice little Mexican restaurant for dinner.  Then the walked back to the venue thinking the doors would be open and we would be able to sit down.   We did get to sit down but outside on the steps as they were not letting anybody in quite yet.  It was a nice evening and there were many people standing outside waiting to get in.   I did get to meet several of the Crowe Crossing posters who in my state of mind I don't recall who!  I did not talk to many as I am a shy person at heart my board persona is a bit more outgoing.   Those that I did talk to were as fun and funny as there CC Board personas.  I am chalking my memory loss up to "CRS"!

The opening act was very nice and she had a lovely voice and stories to go long with her songs.  She told her husband, the base player, to not get too excited about all the women in the audience.   We were all only here to see another man not him!  After she finished there was a break then the lights went down followed by lots of activity on the stage with guys with flashlights.

Even five rows from the stage and with no light I can see him on the left side of the stage then watched him walk out and stand center stage.   He stated off singing "Micky" which I chuckled at the choice since there had just been several flashlights shining on the stage.

God's flashlight, Catches all us sinners,
Sunlight,
Pours the truth on what's been hidden.

When the lights finally came up I used the zoom on my camera to see him real close and I really felt he looked as tired as I felt.   I'd seen the Sound Stage special and he was a lot more energized.  I know it was years ago and he was performing with Kris Kristofferson so maybe not a fair comparison.   I still felt he was tired with just cause from the schedule he had been keeping.

I'm trying to remember what all happen.  I noticed the woman that kept running up and down the isle to get pictures.   It was the 3^rd or 4^th time she came down the isle when he stopped mid story before "Land of the Second Chance" and asked her "Do you know how fucking annoying that is!  Stay in your seat!"  Then he motions her to come forward and he stoops down and takes her camera and gives it to a guy in the front row.  I got the feeling that did loosen him up a bit.  It took longer for the audience.

I read all the concert reports form San Diego and LA and thought there would be no surprises at this concert.  He did do the same monologues from the other shows.  Except for the photo woman and the drunk sitting on the stage there was no new material.  The only difference was hearing him talking, laughing and telling his stories made it all fresh and new. 

When he talked about having a vegemite sandwich with thinly sliced tomatoes I chuckled thinking he was going to imitate Billy Crystal in the Princess Bride.   For those who don't know; Billy Crystal/Mircle Max is talking about true love "Sonny, true love is the greatest thing, in the world - except for a nice MLT - mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich; where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe they're so perky, I love that."   He didn't but the look on his face while he was talking about how addicting the sandwich was I think I saw a bit of drool!   Definitely hearing all the songs live you can hear the nuances of his voice and emotion in his delivery.  

It is a toss up!  I like "One Good Year" a lot, "Testify" also, and I've always loved "Mr. Harris" and I like the song a lot too!   Hearing just the 6 guys singing was amazing.  To think that these 5 talented musicians and one singer/actor/musician harmonize so beautifully was chilling.   It was the highlight of the show.  Well maybe Folsom too! 

I found myself noticing little things like unbuttoning his coat to adjust his ear piece, walking over to different members of the band and joking with them.   He was having fun and enjoying what he was doing.  The only thing that made me sigh was he kept putting his hands in his pockets and I kept thinking I heard him jingling the change in his pocket.   I know that it was just something my Dad did all the time when he was talking.  It is probably just a man thing but it just made me think of my Dad.   Dad did love to verbally fence with people and match wits with anybody!  He would jingle the change in his pocket while he did it!   I think that is one of the things I enjoy the most about Russell. 

Earl was quite diligent in taking pictures and he pointed out to me that Sting was standing off stage watching.   He did not take a picture because he said he felt that Sting was there to see the show not intrude on the show.  He was quite impressed that Russell does have some talented fans.

After the final encore I really did consider hanging around and getting an autograph.  I looked at Earl and felt maybe I had pushed him to his limit of indulging me.   My Mom says he is a gentle soul but even a gentle soul has his limits.  So we headed out and walked up the street to catch a cab back to the hotel.   After all the walking we had done and the excitement of the concert I don't recall my head hitting the pillow.  At the end of the night I thought, in my case, Earl stood by his woman!

If the opportunity presents itself again, yes I would love to see him and TOFOG in whatever evolution the band may take.