Fox Theatre

Watched "In The Mood" last night OMG great show I loved it!!!!

The Fox Theatre in downtown Visalia is one of many 1930s-era theatres once left for dead and now restored. It's the home of the Tulare County Symphony and the center of downtown Visalia. While the murals and interior may not rival the larger Castro Theatre in San Francisco, the Fox fits nicely onto Main Street and anchors the area surrounding it.

Sound and Vision has worked hard to bring national acts to Visalia. The M. Ward concert they booked convinced me to make the drive. Passing the box office to enter the theatre, I saw the murals in the lobby and the plaque recognizing those who donated to the restoration effort. Two older volunteers manned the snack bar. More grandmotherly types should be involved in rock shows. It's not uncommon to see an old guy at a rock show - grey hair pulled back in a ponytail, always ready to talk about how he was at the Fillmore back in '73 when it mattered, man. I never liked that guy. I won't like myself when I become that guy. "Kurt Cobain was a prophet, man. Dance music never changed anything." Another rarity at a rock show - a baby. Bad idea. I'm wearing earplugs to the show. The baby is not... and he's unhappy about it and about a lot of other things. Get a sitter or make peace with your parents so they'll watch the toddler for a night. Unfair to the baby. Unfair to those around the baby.

But I digress. The seats at the Fox are restored, not new, so a tall person like myself needs an aisle seat or a couple of stretch breaks. The sound system is good. The bathrooms, as is often the case with art deco buildings have that little lounge before the bathroom where men used to have a smoke while their dates fixed their makeup or their stockings. Always a nice touch.

Crowds here are phenomenal. I don't mean that they're standing-room only. They could have easily sold another 100 tickets without anyone noticing. I mean that the audience was very appreciative. They were happy to be out on a Friday night. If you go to a show in San Francisco, you might get a spoiled audience. Half of them are wondering if they went to the right concert that night. They're at the Great American wondering if they should be at Bottom of the Hill. I've been at shows in Los Angeles where more people were in the lobby making the scene than in the venue watching the band. Visalians are not making the scene. They're clapping along with the band. A couple of them are dancing in the aisles. I hope the acts follow the audience's lead.

The Fox Theatre has to be considered Visalia's most prized cultural landmark. It is the best place in town to take a date if you want a dash of culture. I have been there to see the Tulare County Symphony several times and have not been disappointed.