SHARING THE SHOWS
So after a long drive from New York to Virginia, a struggle with some allergies related to humidity for which I was not prepared, and a lot of writing, I was due for my first Hampton Roads show for the summer.
Maggie arrived at my place at 3, and we grinded through the usual HRBT traffic to get to the other side of the water. We stopped for a quick dinner at Doumar’s, a 50s-style place where you can get served your food while in your car. We opted to go in though, and I enjoyed their famed barbecue sandwich with a hot dog chaser. We got to the venue at a little bit before 5, where we were able to escape from the heat. Few others had that idea, though, as the building was pretty close to empty. Fortunately, our Gold Circle tickets gave us the ability to sit wherever we pleased. Over the loudspeakers came Bob Marley, James Taylor, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Jackson Browne, Simon Garfunkel, and the Byrds (a tidbit from Maggie: their song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” came from the Book of Ecclesiastes). Maggie overheard some of the conversations going on around us, one of them being a man on a date telling his potential significant other that he discovered his wife had cheated on him by looking through her diary. Hmmmm… Anywho, as G. Love entered the stage, I did my usual “Special Guest!” yell. I only know that song “Cold Beverage” from it playing through our fraternity’s loudspeakers in the 90s at our parties, as well as from this classic). G. Love played his guitar and blew his harp in what felt like a Delta Blues-inspired set. Of course, he played “Cold Beverage.” Some little kid was dancing on stage; I’m not a kid person per se, but I thought it was hilarious and cute. Gary, Mark, and Sheila showed up after G. Love ended, having grinded through the traffic, no doubt worse than when we encountered it, later than we. Blues Traveler played some songs I knew, like “Run Around,” “Hook” (the obvious ones), “Back in the Day,” “But Anyway,” and my personal fav, “Dropping Some NYC.” They also played one off their new album called “The Wolf is Bumpin’.” I had to do one of my impulse buys at setbreak and get that album, the paradoxically titled Hurry Up & Hang Around and moe’s The Conch. Also, another cool line from Maggie: “John Popper can do some great things with his mouth.” ;) Members of moe. and Blues Traveler collboarated on moe’s “Happy Hour Hero,” and I got my first skingasm of the night when they brought out the Rolling Stones’s “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.” When G. Love came on, Mark yelled “Special Guest!” “Look what I started,” I told Maggie. After the requisite drunk dude yelled “Freebird!” the band came on with the Beatles’s classic, “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away,” a tune to which you can’t help but sing. I thought, I gotta learn this one on my guitar and find an excuse to play for my students. The Grateful Dead’s “Sugaree” closed out the set. I recently opened an online T-shirt store, and Mark and I talked about designing a shirt that reads “Special Guest” that our whole crew can wear to a show. I tried to talk him into buying for Sheila so they could wear them when they go to shows. If they decide to bring Jared to a show, he could also wear one. In fact, I think I could market my shirt toward couples too, if they want to show their unity at a show. Not that I’m trying to promote my business, of course…yeahhhhhhh…. But anyway (hahahahah), I ran into Chelsea at setbreak and gave her a hug. moe. opened up their set with their rail against the capitalist machine, “Captain America.” I had really stopped listening to moe. after Wormwood (no reason in particular, it just happened organically), so the only other tunes with which I was familiar were “Head” and “Bring You Down,” off No Doy, an album Bruce used to play in the fraternity house (congrats, dude, you made my blog twice in a row). But I dug their new stuff, and I look forward to listening to The Conch. On the way home, I got a Coke Zero to caffeinate myself for the drive across the river. I like a cold beverage. And when I got home, I “stuck it in the fridge” (hahahahhahahaha…). I also, definitely did not keep singing “I like cold beverage” on the ride home, and Maggie can attest to that. Ummmmm…yeahhhhhhhhh…
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