4/29/09 Ri'chard's Cafe Review

I'll start off by saying, "Billy was BEYOND GREAT at Ri'chard's 4/29/09!"

Since I only live 45 miles from Ri'chard's, my mom, grandmother, and I set out at about 5:30 PM and arrived at Ri'chard's at about 6:15. Because our reservations were at 7:00, we waited in the car until about 6:30 and finally got out of the car and went and sat in the rocking chairs on the front porch of Ri'chard's.

We had been sitting on the porch for about 15 minutes when Steve Hornbeak (Billy's pianist and songwriting partner) pops his head around the corner of the building and exclaims "How are you?" My mom, grandomother, and I all greeted him back of course. Then a few seconds later, Billy pops his head around the corner at us with a huge grin on his face. "Hey, Billy!" I said and threw my hand up at him, then asked him how he was. He said he was fine, then he exclaimed, "I'm tired!" with his lips. (I don't blame him for being tired though. The poor guy has been running ALL week!)

At about 6:55, my mom, grandmother, and I finally went inside. As soon as we stepped through the door, Steve Hornbeak ran up and greeted us with hugs and thanked us for coming out. We told him that it was nothing and we couldn't wait to see him and Billy perform. About then, the waitress led us to the table reserved for us and out table was directly beside Billy's. So, as I made my way to our table, Billy hopped up from his table with a big smile on his face and gave me a big hug. He thanked me for coming out and I told him I was glad to be there and couldn't wait to see the show.

I went ahead and sat down with my mom and grandmother at our table. As we sat there waiting on our orders, Billy kept giving me funny looks through the top of his reading glasses and joked with me a few times. It was great. He's so down-to-earth and social!

After the band that had been playing wrapped it up, Steve got set up, and he sang a few awesome songs off of his album, Hear My Prayer (I highly recommend all Billy fans buy it, BTW). After Steve did a few songs, he announced that Billy has sold more than 10,000,000 albums and had him come up to the mic.

It is an understatement when I say, "BILLY BROUGHT DOWN THE HOUSE!!!" His vocals were beyond exceptional. He was hitting every note perfectly, belting notes I didn't even know existed, and man-- can he hold a note for a long time!!! He sang Damn, It's My Life, God's Alive And Well, This Time, and I Will (which Steve wrote). And let me tell you... this performance of I Will was utterly show-stopping!!! Everyone cheered when he belted the "Ooooooooohhh!!!" part of the bridge. He it look so effortless, yet you could tell he really felt the song.

After Billy did those 5 songs (along with some interjected vocals with Stephanie Eisley and Steve Hornbeak lol), he sat down. I walked over to him and said "DAMN! That was good!" and he bursted out laughing and said, "Thank you!". Steve went on and did some more great songs he'd written. And wow-- Steve is such a gifted songwriter and talented musician! Billy is truly blessed to be working with him.

Before they closed the show, they had Billy get back up onstage and sing One Voice. It was so beautiful and soulful in the new voice. Everyone was truly blown away.

Soon after, the "show" came to a close so I went over to Billy's table and chatted with him and his gang-- Tom Hooey and his wife, Stephanie Eisley, and a couple more. The only other fan who attended was also talking with us. She took some pictures of herself and Billy as well as of herself and Stephanie Eisley. We all had a wonderful time talking with Billy. He's just like an old friend. Being around him in such an intimate setting and getting to talk to him one-on-one sort of makes you forget that he's this amazing multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated recording artist.

Before everyone left, I got some pictures with Billy. I also got some with Steve.

When we all finally did leave, Steve and Billy each gave me a big hug and once again thanked my mom, grandmother, and me for coming out. And as we left, he did tell me he would be at fan fair "just to what extent--he didn't know". But, the BGF.com staff will update all of us on that as progress is made, I'm sure.

Anywho...
It was an awesome night. In total, my mom and I took over 200 pictures. I will have pictures up soon. My mom got some awesomely detailed close-ups (some of which Billy saw on her camera).



Thanks
~Autum

Here are some pics and their description:

Billy & Stephanie Eisley


Billy singing "It's My Life"


Billy with me.


Singing "Damn"


The band


Singing "God's Alive and Well"


Singing "God's Alive and Well"


Singing "I Will"

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Singing "I Will"


Billy and the band[/quote]

Ah! You got to hug him! Man you are so lucky! I hope I can get to know him like you do someday. Greta pics!

great review and picture Autum thanks

Autum,
I really love this review.
Thanks for posting this and for the pics as usual. You're one of the best when it comes to pics and such.
Melody that whole ah you got to hug him! Yeah that was just great. Haha it made me laugh.
Awesome review again.
Thanks for posting this!