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By ONOFRIO CASTIGLIA | The Winchester Star Jan 16, 2017 Updated 7 hrs ago
Jeff Taylor/The Winches Country music legend Mickey Gilley, 80, sings the T. Graham Brown hit “I Tell It Like It Used To Be” during his performance at Shenandoah University to benefit the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation on Saturday.
WINCHESTER — Singing his hit songs and telling stories and self-described “corny” jokes, country music legend Mickey Gilley entertained more than 600 people on Saturday night at Shenandoah University’s Ohrstrom-Bryant Theatre.
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“I’m glad to be here,” the 80-year-old told the nearly sold-out crowd. “Of course, at my age, you’re glad to be anywhere.”
Although Gilley was temporarily paralyzed in 2009 when he fell while helping a friend move a sofa, h said he still loves being on stage. He sang all 17 of his No. 1 country music hits on Saturday night, including ‘Room Full of Roses” and “Don’t the Girls All Get Prettier at Closing Time,” though he lamented he hasn’t been able to play the piano since his accident, as his hands don’t allow it, but he hopes to play again if he lives long enough.
“I don’t know how much time I’ve got left,” Gilley said. “As long as the people keep coming out to see me, I’m going to keep performing.”
Gilley talked about his honky-tonk club Gilley’s in Pasadena, Texas, which was the backdrop for the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy” starring John Travolta and Debra Winger, and his famous cousins, rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis and the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, with whom he grew up in Louisiana.
He stood and danced during parts of the show, and a screen behind him and his band showed photographs and video clips from his career, including acting gigs he had on the hit television shows “Fantasy Island,” “Murder She Wrote,” “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “CHiPS.”
For other parts of the show, especially his ballads, Gilley sat on a stool in the center of the stage.
“I had a good wife once, but her husband came and got her,” Gilley quipped before kicking into “You Memory Ain’t What It Used To Be.” Frederick County resident Gary Hunt came to the concert with hi wife, Sheila, who got the tickets as a Christmas present from her sister. He said he has been a Gilley fan all his life and was glad he didn’t have to go to a big city to see the show.
At a VIP “Boots and Hats” reception before the concert, people got the chance to ride and pose for pictures atop a mechanical bull, like the one at Gilley’s.
Concert promoter Christian Schweiger, of Winchester-based Bonnie Blue Concerts, grew up near th famed honky-tonk.
“We are very pleased. We have nearly a sell out crowd,” Schweiger said before taking a turn riding the bull.
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Schweiger said only 14 of 622 tickets were left. VIP tickets were $150, and regular tickets were $79.50.
A portion of the proceeds from the show benefits the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation in New Market, which is dedicated to preserving the history of Civil War battles that took place in the Valley. A tally from the concert was not immediately available.
“It’s a chance to see a legend while supporting a wonderful organization,” said Dr. Max Mandel, a Stephens City veterinarian who attended the concert with his wife.
Foundation CEO Keven Walker told the crowd at the reception that the nonprofit organization has “a very important job to do here in the Shenandoah Valley,” calling the Civil War battlefields “outdoor classrooms” that “remind us of what happens when you fail as a democracy.”
Gilley made an appearance at the reception and was presented with a key to the city by Winchester Mayor David Smith, who was wearing a tan cowboy hat.
“I need the key to the bank,” Gilley joked. “That’s where the money is.”
— Contact Onofrio Castiglia at [email protected]
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