My husband Michael and I have lived in the Spokane, Washington, area for more than 13 years, and in that time we’ve attended many concerts, but we have never been to one at the Bing Crosby Theater in downtown Spokane. So this past Sunday night it was quite a treat to see singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer Richard Marx perform there.
Michael worked for Richard many years ago so he reached out to him when he heard he was coming to town. Richard responded back quickly, kindly letting Michael know that he would arrange to have his manager get us tickets for the show.
On Sunday, the air quality in the Spokane area was hazardous due to wildfires in our state, and also in Oregon, Montana, and British Columbia. It was a dreary, depressing day that looked, smelled, and felt like what you would imagine a post-apocalyptic world would look, smell, and feel like. Because of this, we stayed indoors and didn’t do much all day but look forward to seeing the show that evening.
We left our home around 6:00 p.m., making the hour drive down Hwy 395 to Spokane through heavy smoke that made it hard to breathe and see beyond a quarter mile or so. When we arrived in Spokane, we had to drive around for a while in order to find a parking space close to the theater so that we wouldn’t have to walk too far in the smoky air. We were fortunate to find one of the lasts spots close to the theater, and made the short walk trying to breathe as little as possible until we entered the theater.
Walking into the Bing was both literally and figuratively a breath of fresh air. Built in 1914, and originally called the Clemmer Theater then several other names before it was changed to the Bing Crosby Theater in 2006, the building was designed by architect Edwin W. Houghton as an 800-seat movie theater, or as they called it at the time, a “movie palace.”
When it opened in 1915, the Spokesman-Review commented that “an atmosphere of richness is over everything.” To this day, the attention to detail and the ornateness that created this “atmosphere of richness” over a hundred years ago is still very present. This, along with the acoustic shell over the stage and the small capacity of the theater remind us how unique the theater is and how different the entertainment experience was for both the performer and the audience back when it was built.
Over the hundred years since the theater opened, the entertainment experience has, for lack of a better word, evolved. Now, most concerts take place in arenas or stadiums with capacities in the thousands, and even tens of thousands, and include sound systems that reach decibels that can make our eardrums ring for days; there is also technology that can turn those with little vocal talent into superstars and concerts into pyrotechnic-filled, every-move-choreographed, over-produced productions.
But on Sunday night, Richard reminded us that an artist is most powerful when their performance is simple. Using his talents and the intimacy of the venue, he gave a brilliant acoustic performance that transported all in attendance back in time to when artists didn’t have technology to hide behind; to a time when musicianship, lyrics, and vocal talent were required.
Alone on the stage, with only a few guitars, a piano, a microphone, and a martini, Richard played many of his hit songs, and also short pieces from some of the songs he wrote with and for other artists, including “This I Promise You” recorded by NSYNC, “Long Hot Summer” and “Better Life” recorded by Keith Urban, and “Dance with My Father”, which he co-wrote with his friend Luther Vandross. Vandross recorded the song, and the pair won the 2004 Grammy for Song of the Year for it.
In a small venue like the Bing, the artist is close to the audience, and Richard seemed comfortable with this “closeness,” using it to interact with the audience, and in turn allowing the audience to interact with him. His warning that he would be using the F-bomb gave the audience permission to use it too, and both parties did, making it feel as though we were all just hanging out at a jam session with a bunch of friends, only one of those friends was quite a bit more talented than the rest of us. Michael, who had seen Richard perform many times in the past, said that he had never heard him sound better.
At one point, when Richard was telling the story of how he wrote the song “Hazard,” a lady in the audience shouted out, “It’s a great f***ing song!” This made Richard and everyone else in the theater laugh. In our world that is so politically divided and filled with such daunting and devastating problems that we often find ourselves overwhelmed by, it was nice—and very much needed—to spend an evening being entertained and laughing with some fellow human beings.
While Michael and I enjoyed the show from start to finish, we both agreed that the highlight of the show was when Richard told a story about attending a Tony Bennett concert that his parents had dragged him to as a teenager, and how this experience left a lasting impression on him, particularly the moment in the show when Mr. Bennett sang at the edge of the stage without using microphone. After telling this story, Richard unplugged his guitar from the sound system, walked to the edge of the stage and performed a song without any artificial amplification, only using the well-designed hundred-year-old acoustics of the theater as projection for his voice and guitar.
It was a simply stunning moment, and the audience loved it, which was evidenced by the fact that just about everyone in the audience picked up their phones and videotaped the performance. (FYI – I choose to “unplug” from my phone and just enjoy the moment so I don’t have a picture of it.) While the audience may not have completely understood why they were so moved or exactly what they were feeling, they knew they were experiencing something special … and rare.
Since Michael and I spent 9 years writing THE SPIRIT FACTOR, a book about, well, you guessed it, spirit, it was easy for us to understand what was happening in this moment: It was what we call a “SPIRIT FACTOR moment.” And these “SPIRIT FACTOR moments” happen when we, individually or collectively, transcend or remove obstructions that hinder, handicap, or separate us from each other in our everyday lives.
When Richard “unplugged” and performed, there were no obstructions between him and us, the audience. This is a vulnerable place for an artist to perform from because there is nothing to hide behind, which is why most artists don’t have the courage, confidence, or talent to do it. But this is the place where a performance transforms and transports an audience, where a speech inspires the masses, and where an idea changes the world. And it’s the place where we as individuals and as a species need to start creating, performing, living, loving, and governing from if we want to not only evolve but also survive.
I know that we are individually and collectively starving for these “SPIRIT FACTOR moments” because we seldom experience them in our everyday lives. That’s why when we do, we remember them and are inspired by them. These moments are important because they remind us of what’s real and true in a world that doesn’t seem to value or care about what’s real or true anymore.
In our book, Michael and I discuss the importance of “environment” so I want to talk about the role the theater played in Richard’s performance Sunday night.
In century-old buildings like the Bing, the spirit of the artists who have performed in them and the audience members who have attended these performances are forever imprinted energetically in the makeup of the building, becoming a part of its story and its history. This collective energy accumulates over time, becoming a tangible part of the building’s “environment,” turning the building into a living, breathing participant in every show. Even though you can’t identify or point to it in one specific location, this “participant” is as present, tangible, and important to a performance as both the performer and the audience.
A venue such as the Bing, with its history, intimate setting, acoustics, and unique and beautiful design, creates an environment for the performer and audience that makes the entertainment experience more meaningful and memorable than those in larger, more modern venues. The Bing definitely provided the perfect environment for Richard to create such an inspiring and memorable show!
When Richard took the stage Sunday night, he mentioned that he had always wanted to perform at the Bing, and that this was his first time doing so. I think everyone who attended his show would agree that he did the theater proud. And, now, as with the countless performers who have taken the stage before him, he has left his unique energetic imprint on the theater, as have we, the members of the audience.
But I also feel that Richard’s performance and the theater have left their energetic imprint on everyone in attendance that night. And because of this, maybe, just maybe, it will inspire us to create “SPIRIT FACTOR moments” in our own lives, knowing that we can transform our lives by doing so; and if enough of us do this, our individual “moments,” when pieced together, will, without a doubt, transform the world into a kinder, safer, healthier place for all of us.
If you have the chance to see Richard Marx live, I highly recommend that you do. And if you live in Spokane and have an opportunity to see a show at the Bing, I highly recommend that you do that, too.
THE SPIRIT FACTOR 