On the Beat with Tommy Else (The Madame Zuzu's Aftermath)

A couple weeks ago, a group of my friends watched our mutual friend Tommy Else live out his unimaginable dream. Tommy played an acoustic set at Madame ZuZu’s Tea Shop in Highland Park, Ill. Also in attendance was Billy Corgan, owner/operator of Zuzu’s, frontman for the Smashing Pumpkins and Tommy’s musical idol.  I wrote about the night in an online piece for Global Traveler magazine at A Night of Good Music and Good Friends.
I had interviewed Tommy before the show to get his pre-show thoughts.  That interview can be found at On the Beat with Tommy Else.  Last Saturday, I spoke to Tommy about that night, to get his post-show thoughts.  That interview is below.
Tommy's performance impressed all of us.  We knew that Tommy dabbled in music, but we had no idea how good he really was.
I am quite sure Tommy was nervous about the night.  It was his first public performance in a long time (other than random karaoke nights).  He was performing in front of his idol, Billy Corgan, at Billy's invitation.  I applaud Tommy for just having the guts to do this, let alone do it so well.

Tommy is a great guy and we were all so happy tat he got this opportunity.  This is beyond bucket list stuff.  Five years ago, Tommy would never even have dreamed of this possibility.  Yet, there he was weaving flawlessly through a two hour set of beautiful music.  It truly was a magical night and I am happy and proud to have been there.