Mark Wood Concert

Three words - oh my freaking gosh. Last night's concert with Mark Wood was probably the most fun I've ever had on a stage. I mean there aren't words to describe how I felt as I was burning up the bow hairs and incinerating the strings on my violin as Mark Wood played mind-numbing riffs on his 7-stringed Viper violin. But I'll get to that in a second.

I woke up yesterday morning feeling a little better than usual seeing as I didn't have class. I went to school and waited in the orchestra room for our bus as instructed by our substitute teacher. The bus was late (shocker), but I didn't mind - less time I would have to play with this egotistical jerkwad. I was already tired of playing the songs, not to mention practicing them for 5 hours straight.

As I was unpacking my instrument in the auditorium, I got my first glimpse of him. Long, classic-rocker looking hair, a regular T-shirt, and skinny jeans (aka. chick pants). Wow this is gonna be a long one I thought to myself. As soon as I ascended the stairs to the stage to begin rehearsal, however, my whole outlook began to change.

First off, the guy wasn't a jerk, quite the opposite - he was polite but very energetic. A bit of an egotist, but what do you expect from a nationally renowned musician?

Then the magic began. He began to teach in a way that was very encouraging and didn't single anyone out (except the concertmaster and the first chair cellist). He simply played and had fun and made sure that we did the same. He incorporated a lot of choreography and little intricacies into the otherwise boring and routine playing of the songs. The practice blew by, and before I knew it, it was time to board the bus back to Apollo to catch our rides home.

At quarter till six, Nathaniel Ray and I arrived back at Daviess County to warm up for the concert. We warmed up, had about fifteen minutes off stage, then came back on-stage to a crowded house. After a quick introduction by Mrs. Higdon, Mark Wood jaunted from the wings to the center of the stage. He said his little speech, and the concert began.

From the very first note I knew it was going to be fun, but I had no idea just how much fun. The crowd roared every time we did a little jig or Mark Wood went into a crazy solo. Then he surprised me again.

Toward the end of the concert, before our very last song, he began a riff to Iron Man and proceeded to solo for a good twenty minutes on countless numbers of songs, and I nearly melted. It was sheer brilliance. I had to give it up for him. The guy was good, and he put his all into that solo. He was really exhausted afterwards.

We played our final song and at the end, we all bent down playing one note really fast and jumped into the air and threw the crowd into a frenzy. We all bowed and Mark Wood left the stage. However, the crowd encored Mark back on stage, and together, we took one more thankful bow, and that was the end of the most amazing playing performance of my life.

Then after the concert, I was lucky enough to get my violin signed by the man! The perfect way to top off the night. I can honestly say I will probably never forget this experience, once in a lifetime for sure.

Dakota