by Anita Kurucz, translated by Erzsébet Jakab, photos by Andrea Szirbik
On October 15th, 2022, Tamas Hevesi performed at the Hungarian winery, Prohibition Cellars. Hevesi, the well-known singer and football trainer from Gyula, created a great atmosphere and encouraged dancing with the 85-person-strong Hungarian crowd.
After the 6:30 pm door opening, a lot of Hungarian families arrived, including children and grandchildren, but there were also a good number of non-Hungarian speaking family members and friends who were also looking forward with excitement to the concert. A lot of them met the singer before the event and posed together for pictures. And, of course, the introductions and pictures continued after the concert. Before the Hevesi performance we got attuned by listened to the Puget SoundZ band playing favorite songs while we were sipping the great wine selection of Prohibition Cellars.
This evening was special to us, the audience, and also to Tamas. This great world traveler who has already visited 106 countries came to Washington state for the first time to play for our local Hungarian community. The opening song was “Sunday Afternoon,” a tune whose message is about the invaluable importance of family time spent together. This time we were the “family.” We were representing our country, the Hungarian community, our home. After this touching song the rhythm picked up and Tamas’ best-known songs followed: “The World is Ours,” “Triumph,” also known as “Striped Sunbrella,” and “We Must Play All Life Long.” The audience sang along and some also danced.
Toward the end the singer took requests, and the song “Jeremy” was the audience favorite. Many times, we believed that the night was over, but he kept offering more surprises. The audience responded with a standing ovation. At the end of the concert the Puget SoundZ joined the singer, and later they continued to entertain us while Hevesi met the audience and posed for more pictures.
We are hoping that there will be a continuation of this great event in the future, and again we will be able to meet this great entertainer who brought us joy, nostalgia and dance on this unforgettable Saturday night.
