SHARING THE SHOWS
With the pandemic, I didn’t even bother to write the annual anniversary post last year, but since I’m on a rebound with shows, I have to now! I’ll never forget that night at Cowboy Sports Grill dancing to Blind and Dirty with Maggie, when I decided I was going to write about every show (and Maggie, I have “St. Stephen” playing on my laptop as I write this sentence).
On October 11, 2020, not long after my move to DC, as well as the beginning of that damn demic), I felt the hankering for some live music, and I saw that YMSB was playing at B Chord Brewing Company in Round Hill, Virginia, only about an hour from my place. My current job gives us off for Columbus Day, and I got to meet Paul and Angela for some good fiddles and good dancing. The night was marred by my collision with a pickup truck as I attempted to get on Route 7, which totaled the Camry I’d driven for the last ten years. Nine months went by without a show, and I had, without realizing it, developed amaxophobia, a fear of driving. They say the best way to overcome a phobia is exposure therapy, but since I was working remotely, my supermarket was a five-minute walk from me, everything else in DC was accessible by bike or Metro, and life was pretty much on pause, I didn’t take many opportunities to face that fear. Fortunately, I’m making strides to overcome it by taking my car out twice a week. And the shows have refilled my spirit. On July 31, 2021, the night before Jerry’s birthday, I hit my first show since the accident (Better off Dead at the Pearl Street Warehouse), and as I danced, it felt like the end of that Simpsons episode, “Bart Sells His Soul,” where after selling his soul to his friend Milhouse for $5, Bart finally got his soul back and felt whole again. I had rediscovered something I hadn’t had in months. I also met some cool people that night, including John, Amii, and a bunch of other people whose name I can’t recall. A few weeks later, Mark and I headed up to Baltimore to see JRAD, and the following weekend, I met up with John for a Better off Dead show at the Union Stage. A month after that, school was well underway, and that grind always has me exhibiting a caterpillar-like hunger for shows. I met a new friend, Pete, at Masala Art, an Indian restaurant near the DC Waterfront, before the Trey show, and he’s been a big part of my experience (I count seven shows together in the last eight months). Dan and Maggie also came up for the Tedeschi Trucks Band at Warner Theater, which ended a two-month show drought due to the Omicron, which also had kept me sidelined during January. I also like going to shows solo because I tend to be more social with strangers. On such an outing to Bethesda, Maryland to see the Montgomery Warlocks, a local band (picture at top), I met Larry, who’s in several bands, including the Medicated Headsmen, a tribute to Traffic, Blind Faith, and the Spencer Davis Group, whom I ventured outside of city limits to see. I also met a few others, and I’ll rattle their names off as I remember: Amy, Craig, Lisa, Tom, and there are a bunch more; I’ll need to meet them at least fifty or so times to remember their names. Although COVID numbers are rising in NY and DC, I’ll still go to shows (masked) and have a bunch planned for the summer and fall. Here they are thus far (and there could be more): May 24 – Railroad Earth – White Eagle Hall – Jersey City, NJ May 26 – The Who – Bethel Woods Center for the Arts – Bethel, NY June 11 – Uncle John’s Band – 3 Daughters Brewing – St. Petersburg, FL July 12 – Circle Jerks – Black Cat – Washington, DC July 20 – Phish – Mann Center for the Performing Arts – Philadelphia, PA July 21 through 25 – Widespread Panic – Beacon Theatre – New York, NY July 26 – Phish – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater – Wantagh, NY July 28 – Free Flowing Musical Experience – Starr Hill Biergarten – McLean, VA September 16 & 17 – Widespread Panic – The Theater at MGM National Harbor – Oxon Hill, MD September 27 – Nick Mason’s Saucerful of Secrets – Lincoln Theatre – Washington, DC October 8 – North Mississippi All-Stars – The Hamilton – Washington, DC October 9 – Bob Weir & The Wolf Brothers – Kennedy Center – Washington, DC October 15 – Phil Lesh and Friends – Capitol Theatre – Port Chester, NY October 23 – Iron Maiden – Capital One Arena – Washington, DC As I type that out, I realize that’s a lot. I am making up for two nearly showless years, and there could come a time I won’t be able to go to these anymore, so carpe diem, I say! Plus, I would have never made it to Associate Professor without these shows, and I know the music will take me through the process of applying for tenure (fingers crossed). Thank you for making the experience what it’s been, and I hope you’ll continue to be a part of it.
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