Week in Review

[kate_nepveu]

Friday night, we went to Northern Lights to see Ryan Adams and the Cardinals. My experience of the show was highly colored by the fact that I was exhausted and tired of standing well before the actual music started. I remember thinking that it was an unusual decision to go into extended instrumental noodling in the third song of the first set; being puzzled at the considerable amount of dead air between songs as the band tuned instruments; and liking the version of "New York, New York" that was something like a dreamy power ballad. Midway through the first set, a seat on the edge of a side-stage opened up; as it went on, I found myself more and more resting my head on my knees, eyes closed, as the band noodled or tuned or whatever.

I made it through the set break, but when I heard the piano start up at the beginning of the second set, I decided that I wanted, more than anything, to not be upright any more. And since I'd gotten the car keys from Chad, I was able to go out to the car and lie down.

I think I may actually have fallen asleep deeply enough to enter teeth-grinding mode, at least judging by the way my jaw felt later.

If I'd been awake and in a decent seat, I'm sure it would have been a fine experience. Chad had a good time in the second set, anyway, as he describes in his more detailed overview.

Saturday night we had a celebratory dinner at the Glen Sanders Mansion. Our usual appetizer was not quite excellent (Tuscan Shrimp Panzanella, which is shrimp and toast with an olive basil vinaigrette and Parmesan cheese; the vinaigrette wasn't as sharp and flavorful as it has been), but the rest was all wonderful. I had lobster bisque (for which I have a truly dreadful weakness), and risotto with Gorgonzola folded in and topped with pan-seared duck. I don't want Gorgonzola by itself, but as a complement to the duck it was lovely. Mmmmm, fancy food.

Unfortunately, I have three summary judgment motions and one set of pre-trial papers due at the end of the month, plus one out-of-state trip and one party, so today instead of loafing in the summer sun (I know it's traditional to complain, in the Northeast, that we skip spring completely, but this year it really was so), I went into the office. Tonight, I'll do a little booklogging, and then see if I can't manage to sleep properly while Chad's away, since he's only gone until Tuesday.

Comments

[sloanesomething.livejournal.com]

I saw the same show in Boston, with fans that actively booed everyone and told Rachael Yamagata (leading the Cardinals) to "get your fat ass off the stage".

Now I wish I had stuck around. (I did as you did; bye, Ryan!)

[kate_nepveu]

Well, there are two theories about his shows. One's that he's just a flake; the other's that he deliberately makes the first set non-rocking to get rid of the non-fans.

So sticking around isn't guaranteed to have helped, if that makes you feel better.

[orzelc.livejournal.com]

(Not that anyone's still reading this, but just for accuracy:)

Well, there are two theories about his shows. One's that he's just a flake; the other's that he deliberately makes the first set non-rocking to get rid of the non-fans.

Just to be clear, I don't think that the latter is a very widespread theory-- it's not much more than half-assed speculation on my part.

I do think (as I said on my blog) that the first set would've worked, had the show been in a venue where only fans would be attending (in Albany, someplace like the Egg), rather than a club where a lot of people would show up just because they had no better ideas. It was a little flaky and self-indulgent, but musically pretty solid, and the sort of thing that can work well with people who know the songs being played.

[kate_nepveu]

I dunno, should we try and make it a widespread theory? => I'm not sure which is worse, really.