After the first three artists came a speaker. I believe he was owner/manager sort of guy, and his speech implied he was/is a preacher as well. I'm not sure what the whole point of the sermon was, but I got that he was suffering from burn-out after 12 years of running the coffeehouse. If the sermon meant that he'd be closing without more financial support, or because he can't find someone to run the place after he steps out, that part of the Kansas City metro area would be losing a valuable ministry, as well as a most interesting place to hang out on weekends. He finished up and introduced the featured attraction.
Friday night's concert was the acoustic version and billed, on concert-night, as Don and Lori Chaffer, not Waterdeep. I didn't detect a huge difference between the duo and the whole band, other than with Waterdeep, they had slightly heavier backing. They sound great either way.
So, what's Waterdeep (or Don and Lori Chaffer)? I'd describe them as jazz/folk/alternative/rock. Don and Lori seemed very relaxed on stage. Their informality with jokes, even mistakes, really brought them close to their audience. Their stage presence implied we were all a bunch of old friends, whether first-timers or band-chasing regulars.
Acoustic show --hmm. I thought I'd be hearing Don and Lori merely strumming on guitars and singing. They sang and hummed. They harmonized beautifully. Lori played guitar, Wurlitzer and accordion (not all at once). Don played guitar, bass, and harmonica (guitar and harmonica at the same time). When they felt like it, they could make those "merely" acoustic instruments really rock.
Don and Lori's humor kept things quite interesting between songs. Don couldn't find his kapo (sp?) so he whistled a tune while he searched. Lori messed something up while singing and she inserted an extra note in the melody and sang "sorry" with a smile. The two of them started a song and exchanged grins, then laughter, and started over. I don't know what went wrong either time. Even the story of their second-hand Wurlitzer was fun. Lori said it was a $50 instrument, but worth thousands to the naive and gullible --even with its broke sustain pedal.
