As you may have noticed, all kinds of music, with the exception of country, appeal to me.
A month or so ago, I was at Yoshi’s to see Irie Love and CRSB perform. Irie Love, who hails from Hawaii, sings reggae. CRSB, Bay area guys with ties to Hawaii, sing more mainstream pop/hip hop kind of stuff. Irie Love performed first. I was expecting so much from her, but she basically put the audience to sleep. She admitted that she’d thrown the band and backup singers together at the last minute – and you could tell. She was trying to be charming and funny, but the audience didn’t seem to be feeling her. In my opinion, she was a Debbie Downer. When CRSB came on, they pumped the audience back up again with their high energy, though.
As you already know, a few friends and I went to see Uncle Kracker, ZZ Top and Kid Rock at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View the weekend before last. We missed Uncle Kracker due to standing in lines, but ZZ Top and Kid Rock put on a great show.
Last night another friend and I went to see Harry Connick, Jr. perform at Davies Symphony Hall, which is walking distance from my apartment. Even so, she insisted on picking me up in her car. We found a parking space one street over from the venue, then went in search of our seats. A man in the elevator was also sitting in the Loge section, but on the opposite side from us. He invited us to have a drink before the show began. He was actually quite drunk and rambling about all kinds of nonsense – being Irish and Italian, being from Boston, working at Davies Symphony Hall, living in the area, and so on and so forth. We were saved by the bell, so to speak. When it announced 5 minutes to show time, we downed the rest of our our pinot noirs and stood up. I thanked him for the drinks. He proceeded to tell us that he intended to do some partying after the show and was wondering if we would be interested. I said “Maybe,” if we ran into him when the show was over. With that, we dashed off to our seats, which weren’t half bad. I only have one Harry Connick, Jr. CD (don’t even remember which one it is) and have seen him perform one time previously in San Francisco. When I saw him before, he was funny, lively and did many New Orleans type songs. He camped it up with his band members, too. Last night he was backed by some of his band members, as well as some members of the San Francisco Symphony. It threw me off a bit. I prefer it to be just his band and him, which isn’t to say that he was bad. He was good, of course. His repertoire included ballads (mostly new), a Bossa Nova type song, a few standards and, of course, New Orleans music. He played the piano, organ, trumpet and congas, danced and told the audience several funny stories. In short, he was adorable. My only complaint was when he ruined “On the Street Where You Live,” by stretching those jazz piano boundaries quite a bit, to the point where I didn’t enjoy the song at all. He did one encore with “Closer Walk With Thee/When the Saints Go Marching In.” My friend and I bought the obligatory T-shirts. I can always buy the CD on-line, but the T-shirts are usually special ones that you can only get at the concerts.
Since Muka was about a block away from our parking space, we headed in for a nightcap. I walked in and said “Hello, Robert” to one of the bartenders. He looked up and seemed surprised. “You don’t remember me, do you?” I accused him. He did, though. He pointed to the spot at the bar where I’d been sitting the last time and even recalled what I drank. My I friend and I were both going with the blanc de blancs this time, though. The other bartender was even kind enough to refill mine gratis, for some reason. I had two drinks. She had one and noshed on a little food. I was home and in bed by 11:45 p.m. Hey, it was a school night! 🙂
My next musical event will be to see the opera, “La Traviata,” in Santa Fe. I’ve already seen several operas in Los Angeles (even saw Placido Domingo in “Carmen”) and in San Francisco (one of my former roommates worked for the San Francisco Opera!), plus already saw “La Traviata” in Venice, Italy, although it was NOT at La Fenice. Unfortunately for me, it never seems to be opera season when I’m in Paris, Rome or Milan. Although I already saw “La Traviata,” so many people have said that the setting for the Santa Fe Opera is spectacular. That’s basically what sold me on it. As I say, go big or go home. I’m going to do Indian Market and the Santa Fe Opera in one fell swoop!
Upon my return from Santa Fe, I have a ticket to see Kermit Ruffins at Brick and Mortar. Apparently, he’s a recurring character on Treme on HBO. I had a ticket to see him at One Eyed Jacks in New Orleans, but missed him! There were 3 or 4 groups performing that night. Since he was the biggest name, I assumed he’d play last. In the meantime, I dashed out to get something to eat. By the time I got back, he was playing the last song of his set. He was obviously NOT the last one to perform that evening. I was disappointed. Hence, the ticket to see him right here in San Francisco. It’s sure to be a good time.
I’m considering buying a ticket to see Earth, Wind and Fire at the Masonic Theater, which is also walking distance from my apartment. Everyone in Hawaii seems to have gone to see them at the Blaisdell Center and said what a great show they put on. More than likely, I’ll end up buying a ticket to that, too.
In the meantime, here’s a photo of me enjoying my blanc de blancs last night.
At Muka