Shawn Colvin and Joan Armatrading at Longwood Gardens

The mercury hit 101 degrees on Wednesday, which was actually one degree cooler than the day before.  It was a hot night to sit at an outdoor concert.  But considering the setting was in a botanical garden and the performers were occasionally accompanied by fountains reaching for the sky behind them, it was worth the steambath.

To enter the concert area, concert-goers walked through an arbor covered in Angel's Trumpets (Brugmansia, a native of South America).  These fragrant flowers come in several colors - white, yellow, pink, orange or red.  The flowers on the arbor were all white.  It was a magical sight with luminaries in the pathway under the arbor.  The beauty of these flowers hides their danger.  According to Wikipedia,

All parts of Brugmansia plants contain dangerous levels of poison and may be fatal if ingested by humans or animals, including livestock and pets. Contact with the eyes can cause pupil diliation or unequal pupil size. Some municipalities prohibit the purchase, sale, or cultivation of Brugmansia plants.

Yikes!  Beware of the beautiful flower; it has an evil side!

Shawn Colvin, a singer-songwriter, opened the show.  Her new album (ahhhh...CD) is called These Four Walls and is her first in several years.  The songs she performed from this new album were classic Shawn.  She even warned us she had about three uplifting songs...and that was it.  Her songs are thought-provoking stories; they make me want to be attentive and see how the story ends.  I was happy to see her perform - especially from our front-row seats.

Shawn only played for about 40 minutes.  After a seemingly long break - maybe a 1/2 hour or more - Joan Armatrading came out.  I think the audience was shocked to see her in long sleeves and pants.  She immediately said she was hot.  No kidding!

Joan is 59 years old and has been a performer for 30+ years.  Originally born in St. Kitts, she's lived in England since she was a young child.  Apparently she's more popular in England than here.  This is the 2nd (3rd?) time I've seen her.  The last was about 15 years ago.  She draws a crowd here in the States, for sure.  In fact, I think her Longwood Gardens performance was sold out.

Her music has been called "folksy-jazzy musings" according to one website.  Joan is so diverse and has experimented with music genres so much over the years that I would call her music folksy, bluesy, rockin', and occasionally soul-wrenching.  Regarding the latter, anyone with a pulse is moved by the song called The Weakness in Me.  (Melissa Etheridge covered this song years later and won a Grammy for it.)

I had a really great summer night.  I got to see a Grammy award winner (Shawn won two in 1996 for song and record of the year) and a nominee.  (Joan had three nominations. I can't believe she didn't win.  I better check on that again.)  The concert location was beautiful, I fell in love with a new flower, spent a quality night with my partner, and got to see several friends and acquaintances.  It all made the hot night well worth it.