SHARING THE SHOWS
After another busy week at the academic grind (final projects are coming due), this introvert needed some “me” time, which was spent on the couch with my son/cat Chester lying on my stomach while I finished the second season of Ozark on Netflix (some dark shit), caught up on This Is Us On DVR (awwwwww), and watched Detroit Rock City (my 18th or 19th time watching it), that delightful little romp about those kids trying to get a Kiss concert, for inspiration for my screenplay, which is about four kids trying to get to Big Cypress, that big Phish festival that celebrated Y2K.
Anyway, Saturday night was about the concert. Maggie and I rode down 64 to Richmond to the Broadberry, a very intimate venue, which marked the first time I saw Skydog, an Allman Brothers tribute band, perform a full show, and it was quite the metaphysical experience. Funny story: that show fell on my ex-girlfriend’s birthday. We had broken up a few months before. It was a long-distance relationship, so I would have traveled from Virginia to Ohio to visit her and missed the wonder that is Skydog, and you might not be reading this. No regrets here. Anyway, we had some deep conversations about life, punctuated by Disc 2 of the Allmans’s Dreams anthology. When we got there, it was sparse. A 9:00 start time meant 9:13, another ploy to get people to buy more alcohol while they wait. A nondrinker, one of the things I love about the Broadberry is they set up a water station so you don’t have to compete with the drinkers for the bartender’s attention (Shaka’s did this too). Designated drivers rule! The picture behind Maggie and I is supposed to say “Virginia is for Music Lovers,” but it actually came out on her phone as “Virginia is for Lo_ers” (insert your own consonant, preferably not “s”?) The artists definitely needed to use a lighter color. The band opened with “Blue Sky.” Once that opening note hit, I was a dancing machine. Dancing is some of the best therapy I can attest to; I danced out some of that work-related stress. They followed it with “Black-Hearted Woman,” which had a “Whipping Post” tease, but went into a delicious jam. My thought at the time: I feel very authentic seeing an Allmans tribute in Virginia, given that they’re Southern rock. Seeing them in New York back in the day was amazing too, but there’s a flavor in the Richmond, Virginia backdrop that New York just doesn’t provide for the Allmans. They followed up with “Come and Go Blues,” “Midnight Rider” (a favorite of mine), “Southbound,” and a psychedelic “Dreams,” that had quite the mesmerizing bass line. I stood next to a dude who looked just like John Bell, the lead singer for Widespread Panic, and Maggie caught a picture of Gregg Allman’s doppelganger. “Stand Back” (another favorite) followed that, and then came their signature “Whipping Post.” A dark song, it spoke to some of the work-related stress I was feeling, but then “Soulshine” followed, which always lifts my spirit, as if saying, things are gonna be alright! Setbreak had more deep conversation. The second set opened with “Statesboro Blues,” then “Little Martha,” then a couple of songs I couldn’t name, then “Every Hungry Woman” (another favorite). There’s not much to report there, because I started dragging at that point, as did Maggie. We tried to fight through, but as Maggie put it, sometimes we have to listen to our bodies. So we surrendered and headed home. The obligatory post-show munchies run was punctuated by the clerk cracking up at my encouragement of Maggie’s purchase of a peanut butter brownie through the singing of “Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side.” He probably thought we were experiencing some munchies (we were, but not for the reasons you might think; it’s awesome enjoying a show and having a permagrin straight).
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At 3:00 this Friday afternoon, I submitted my dossier to the office of the Dean, which contained my work life for the last four years. I spent a few late nights and weekends over the past few weeks printing, writing, copying, recopying, paginating, etc. When Maggie proposed the Jerry Garcia Band (JGBCB), I was on the fence. Part of me just wanted to lie on my couch DVRing “This is Us” with my cat/son Chester laying on my stomach, but once it got in, I felt the need to celebrate by dancing. So I greenlit the show.
Maggie picked me up at 8, right after I put on my “Weather Report” T-shirt. I’m pretty sure Dark Star Orchestra (DSO) 8/16/18 at Innsbrook was the last time I wore anything Dead-related, so it was nice to dust that one off (I’m doing my best Gene Simmons impression in that picture). The show was slated to start at 9, but when we arrived, there were about six people in the place. Okay, another ploy to get people in earlier to boost alcohol sales. I don’t drink, so that didn’t work with me. Maggie and I are both introverts, so I passed the time by logging the stereo setlist on my little notepad. It went: “Spoonman” – Soundgarden “Life’s Been Good” – Joe Walsh “Moby Dick” – Led Zeppelin “Brain Damage” – Pink Floyd “Bad Moon Rising” Creedence Clearwater Revival “Breakdown” – Tom Petty “Traveling Riverside Blues” – Led Zeppelin Finally, the band took the stage. They opened up with Stevie Wonder’s “Boogie On Reggae Woman,” The Beatles’s “Dear Prudence,” and James Taylor’s “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).” They put a nice jammy spin on those tunes, but I’m thinking, BRING ON JGB! Then they did with “The Harder They Come,” “I Second That Emotion,” “Cats Under the Stars,” and some other songs with which I wasn’t familiar (my JGB knowledge is sparse). Maggie and I hung out outside during setbreak, and we had some deep conversations about art, family, and the future, specifically, what my future would look like if I got promotion and tenure at my school. I’d buy a house right on Buckroe Beach, like my friend Sherrie has (and she’s also Chester’s aunt). Anyway, I digress. Back to the show. They opened the second set with Eric Clapton’s “After Midnight.” Other tunes included “Ruben and Cherise” and “Waiting for a Miracle.” I LOVE this venue; small crowds and plenty of room to dance. At the end of the second set, Maggie proclaimed, “I feel like I ran 10 miles.” That made me think of when DSO played 12/1/17 at the Norva, and Mark ran his app to count his steps. The app clocked at him at having done 12 miles. Dancing is a workout for sure. Of course, the band closed with the Dead tune “Deal.” The ride home was peaceful and filled with deep talk. I’m glad I made it out; I needed to blow off some steam, and this was the perfect celebration. I passed right out once my head hit the pillow. |
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April 2024
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