Mattamy Theatre - FirstOntario Arts Centre Milton, Ontario, Canada:
After a short intermission, ETA Chris Connor from the UK stepped on stage looking splendid in his light blue jumpsuit with gold detailing, and wearing a gold scarf around his neck. He looked and sounded exactly as he does in videos—handsome and amazingly talented! Chris had great rapport with the audience throughout his set, but his story of the Morris Dancers in Great Britain was perhaps the most amusing. He started out by talking about how country music that is so popular in North America is loathed in the UK, which led to ramblings about the Morris Dancers, which then segued into Elvis’s country music songs, and ended with Chris singing “Honky Tonk Angel”.
After being encouraged to sing “Suspicious Minds” during a “should I sing this or this” discussion with the audience (it was already on his playlist btw), Chris removed his gold scarf and donned a passel of scarves provided by someone off stage to give out to the group of ladies already assembled in front of the stage—a group that included me. I never seem to have much luck at being selected to receive scarves during such handout sessions (that is why one of the questions I ask during interviews is, “How do you decide who gets a scarf?”); so as Chris said, “Sorry, I am out of scarves,” and proceeded to shake the hands of the unlucky ladies, I, as the last one in line, kept hold of his hand. Maybe it was because he kept looking at me while he was holding my hand as he sang, or maybe it was because he made no attempt to remove his hand, but for whatever reason I stood there transfixed in the moment. I just could not let go of his heavily ringed hand! Not sure what goes on in the UK during shows, but it is not unusual for ETAs I have met in Ontario to bend down and give a kiss on the cheek to each woman as they shake their hands. I guess maybe I was waiting for that special moment.
Nearing the end of his song, Chris did get down on one knee (as seen in the photo posted earlier on FB) and gave me a kiss on the cheek. It is such a strange feeling to be standing at the stage in front of an audience knowing all eyes are peering at the back of your head. If you read what I wrote about my MDQ experience with ETA Matt Cage, you will know what I mean when I say this was a similar experience. For a brief moment in time, it is as if you and the ETA are the only two people in the entire theatre. The band, the singers, the audience all seem to drift away.
Chris ended the evening with “I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You”, which was quite fitting seeing that he left many an audience member feeling that way about him.
Original post date: October 4, 2018. All photos used in this post are credited to Lisa MacArthur, for SIDEBURNS Magazine.