Borrego Sun - Since 1949

Jimmy’s Outrageous Front Porch Revue just completed its fourth annual show with three days of performances from Feb. 21 –23 at the Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center.

This was the first year that all three shows were sold out.

All the proceeds from the show were donated toward the Anza-Borrego Foundation’s efforts to preserve and protect the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

The chairs in the Performing Arts center were all occupied, with standing room only.

The show was put on by volunteers who wanted to share their enthusiasm for music and do something good for the state park at the same time. There were banjos, flutes, guitars, a saxaphone, a piano, a ukulele, and more. There were 22 songs performed over two hours, and the show was seamless and musicians enthusiastic.

There were many jokes shared on stage, and some witty and quick – something you would miss if you were to read or send a text. I don’t know if I’ve seen a more engaged audience, and I think the audience deserves recognition as well as the performers.

With technology always at our fingertips, it was truly a sight to behold to see direct interaction between the performers and audience members. I won’t go so far as to say that people don’t acknowledge each other anymore, but socially dominant trends ebb and flow, and experiences like this can be hard to come by.

As a millenial, I don’t often go to events where people don’t have electronics out. I can’t go to see a movie in a theatre without seeing cell phone screen lights, people are always looking down. People often look at their devices instead of at each other, and nowadays, that’s normal.

But no one was looking down at this event.

To be in a packed room, sitting like happy sardines in theatre seats, audience members chatting and chuckling between songs, was a treat in and of itself; and it was facilitated by Jimmy’s Outrageous Front Porch Revue.