Ah….the Pearl Awards. The equivalent of the Mormon Grammys. The Faith Centered Music Association’s Night of glitz and glamor. Being a devout Eclipse fan, I was thrilled to be there as one of their groupies. But the night was so much more than Eclipse.
I had general admission tickets, which put me up in the balcony, but there were many open reserved seats, so there were selecting GA people to move to the floor.I was happy with my new seats….smack dab in the middle of Enoch Train, and across the aisle and two rows back from Eclipse. I saw so many performers and local personalities, it was fun to rub shoulders with the big-wigs (Kenneth Cope, Clive Romney, Sam Payne, and many many others. I also sat near Kae Compton (Nathan McEuen’s mom, whose hubby Dave is in Enoch Train) as well as Lee and Nancy Vance, and Courtenay Midgeley…avec the JR turned Eclipse fan club. The most disconcerting event of the evening was being checked out by Steven Kapp Perry (yes, he was definitely checking me out) But I was happy to be checked out by Scott Christensen…I mean Christopher (yep, he’s hot when he grins and winks)
The evening took more time than I expected. I had to be seated at 6:45, and the ticket info stated that the show would begin at 7. I was expecting 2, maybe 2 1/2 hours. But 7 is when the pre-show began. Presenting the awards that are announced as “previously awarded.” (This would include Eclipse winning Best Recorded Christmas Single “This Year” and Christmas Album of the Year “Three Kings.”) There was lots of practicing…..applauding, laughing, showing rapt attention, to be recorded for spots where the live show needed a little enhancement. The show actually began at 8:15ish. The performances were excellent (especially Sam Payne, Eclipse, and the Martin’s Cove Benefit song) The humor was witty (provided by Eric D Snyder…plenty of jello, funeral potatoes, olympics, I-15 construction, and NICK MOE jokes) I finally got out of the auditorium around 11:15. Yep, 4 1/2 fun-filled hours. I was so ready to rip of my formal dress.
Afterwards, I met up with Trevor(text message king….”Let’s play tonight!”) for ice cream at Leatherbys. Mmmmmm.