As you all know, I attended my first house concert not so long ago to see a good friend of mine, Ari Hest, rock the Kessler house.  Having been my first house concert I had no idea what to expect.  But what I did get was a great performance from Ari, unplugged to be exact, and the chance to meet some incredible people.  Hanging out with the duo from Mars or the Moon, and being introduced to Rick Sparks, I had a lot of great conversation to keep me busy after Ari was finished performing.

Rick Sparks had an idea.  His idea was to host a house concert of his own.  It was for a regional lady by the name of Tori Sparks.  As you have read, Tori Sparks is a favorite of mine here at Indyconcerts.com, and it was an absolute pleasure getting the chance to see her perform.  And by the way, Rick and Tori are of no relation.

So, after having interviewed Tori, I sat down with Rick to learn more about this upcoming show.  We sat and talked for a couple of hours about his ambitions and his plans of holding more house concerts having not even held his first show.  And all the while I was receiving text messages in fear of cancelling, he stuck it out and the show went on.

As I walked into his home I was immediately greeted with beverages and snacks that had been provided for the event.  With chairs on the right and food on the left, I made my way to the kitchen to finally put a face to a voice that was Tori Sparks.  She was an hour late, due to the time change, but managed to go on not minutes after her projected start time.

The night before I had the chance to see a new movie featuring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx.  This film, called The Soloist, is the story of a Julliard drop out that was homeless in L.A.  A true story, it follows a reporter, played by Downey, as he tries to become not only a friend but also somewhat of a savior for the man.  The film included many moments of intense music performed by the greats Bach and Beethoven.  And this is where I collapsed in my chair.  I have never, in the many years that I have been listening to music on a near religious basis, been moved to tears from pure sound.  The movie was incredible and impacted me unlike any film that I have seen in years.

But this brings me to another revelation that I had on Saturday at Tori’s show.  When Tori began to sing I got chills down my entire body.  I have never been in a room where a woman, or man’s for that matter; voice can bring me to that level.  I was absolutely shocked at how great she was and from song to song I just wanted more.  She did something I have never seen before when in between songs, as well.  She would begin talking to the crowd and would begin to speak in song.  She would be playing her guitar a touch in the background and then just talk in song.  It was unique and something that I wish more artists would do.

The show was a success from every possible angle.  Rick has been able to put together a house concert as if he had been doing it for years.  And Tori played the room as if she was born to play house concerts.  After a few hours of stories from Tori, I was nothing short of completely satisfied.  Tori will make it as far as she wants to go in this business, and if good looks and a mean set of skills on the guitar do not get her there, then her personality and song writing will.