Friday, April 25, 2008

Old Ironsides

First night of the tour - playing Old Ironsides in Sacramento. We last played here in September of 2006, and we are happy to be back in the 'Sac' again. It was a good show and we had fun, but we were all a bit van-lagged from the trip down. We took naps at varying parts of the day, some of us up to three hours. After we rubbed the sand out of our eyes, we made out okay.

The opening guy, Chris Anaya, was a mellow introduction to the evening. At one point he invited a gal up to sing a song with him that I rather liked. This was offset by inviting another person up to sing harmonies and the guest had no idea what the lyrics were. They ended up not doing the song. You rarely see this - a trainwreck. A band/performer/artist/singer will do anything and everything to just finish the damn song - no matter how awful it is. To actually cry 'uncle' and just punt is a spectacle (and cringe-worthy). I saw it happen to Billy Joel one time on "Goodnight Saigon" (Billy started in one key, the band came in on another) in the Rose Garden, so this isn't an idictment on this artist. It happens to us all...

The Stilts featured three guitarists, creating a huge wall of sound. The star of the show was easily the lead guy. Straight out glam-zines of the 80's, this guy had all the great moves, struts, and pouted his way to my heart. At one point, he ripped off the guitar strap and was flying the guitar around like an airplane. Well, until he stopped (midflight) and kept it between his legs, lurching and heaving with each note he was playing leaving little to the imagination what his night was to be filled with. What can I say, I was impressed. He wasn't just glam either, he could play as well. Good times, I say.

***

The weather here is amazing. It's pretty wonderful when you can actually scrape the moss and mold off of you and know that it won't be growing right back. Don't get me wrong, I love Portland...and I'll love it more when I get back in June, but I've had all I can handle of rain and miserably cold temperatures for the year. I need my sun!

As always, you can find pictures here. Bookmark it and check back often. We'll always be doing something. Hell, I might actually learn how to take a decent photo at night...

One show down - thirty more to go!

cheers,
Dr Finkelstein

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