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If you weren’t one of the 600 people who showed up for Michelle Shocked’s fiasco of a concert with Taj Mahal and Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown Wednesday night at the Music Hall, consider yourself fortunate.

Here’s why:

- You didn’t have to wait an outrageous 90 minutes or more, not only for the scheduled 8 p.m. show to begin, but to even sit down. Doors to the hall remained closed while patrons cooled their heels in the lobby.

- You didn’t have to hear yourself or others complain about the increasingly late hour and having to get up and go to work in the morning.

“It’s very sad,” said Shocked fan Jana Simpson of Prairie Village.

“I’m going to go to bed, I think,” said Rick Watkins of Leawood.

- You didn’t have to ask for a refund. Only 37 of 64 people who wanted theirs on the spot got it, because money ran out at the box office. However, the remaining 27 were promised their money back. Anyone with questions about a refund should call Ticketmaster at 931-3300.

- You didn’t have to listen to Shocked talk trash about the show’s local promoter, who the ticked-off headliner blamed for the delay.

“Clap your hands if you know what a promoter is,” Shocked said after slowly padding on stage with her head down shortly after 9:30 p.m. The alternative folk singer wasn’t ready to perform yet, only to apologize by figuratively shooting the promoter, Pamela McCord, between the eyes.

“I encourage you to bring what enthusiasm was not left out in the rain and please enjoy the show tonight,” Shocked said before giving way to Gatemouth Brown and Taj Mahal, who, given the sour circumstances, performed their sets admirably before an already thinned-out crowd.

The concert was delayed because Shocked was displeased with the quality of the Music Hall’s sound system and the soundcheck conducted by Music Hall staff, McCord said Thursday.

Only when McCord paid “a large sum of money” to obtain a new sound system and tech crew at the last minute, did Shocked agree to perform, McCord said.

“[Shocked] comes to me and says, ‘Pamela, this is just not going to work. These guys just don’t know what they’re doing,’” McCord said.

Shocked could not be reached for comment.

Felicia Fremont, the Music Hall’s event coordinator at the show, said Thursday that Music Hall staff had been in telephone contact with Shocked’s representatives, and that the Hall’s sound system had been approved.

Talk about a communications breakdown.

“I have never, ever started a show late like that,” McCord said. “At the same time the artist is kind of different.”

Taj Mahal’s road manager, Cary Williams, didn’t want to burn any bridges with Shocked, but he seemed to disapprove of her behavior, calling it “a pattern” he’s observed in her interactions with other artists.

“This seems to be a common problem,” Williams said. “There’s something unexplainable to me why it keeps happening.”

Uncle Tupelo and The Band, first scheduled to appear with Shocked at the Music Hall, were dropped from the tour over “creative differences” with Shocked, Williams said.

“Me or Taj, we didn’t have a problem with the promoter in any way, shape or form,” Williams said of Wednesday’s gig. “It was about Michelle being upset about whatever deficiencies there were in the sound system.

“I don’t think it was justified to delay the show necessarily for that long,” Williams continued. “But I think it was the result of Michelle and her people not doing very good pre-production work in terms of letting Pamela know exactly what they wanted or what they needed.

“I respect Michelle and what she’s trying to do. But I think you have to be a professional.”

While the show did go on, ending well past the midnight hour, its potential entertainment value was pretty well crippled by the delay.

A few good tunes by the eccentric Shocked, including a strong “Prodigal Daughter (Cotton Eyed Joe),” managed to rouse the fans. But, even with the new sound system and crew that Shocked had demanded, the sound quality of the show ranged from poor, especially during Brown’s opening set, to merely so-so. On a scale from one to 10 on the Dragmeter, I give this one an 11.