Fine Line Music Café, April 15, 2008
I know, I know, it seems like I'm always at the
Fine Line. Shut up.
Tax Day 2008 turned out to be very pleasant weather-wise. Mostly sunny skies and temperatures hovering around 60. This is why there was a tinge of regret in my soul as we headed downtown to catch an early show featuring the rising
Sara Bareilles. But all was well, because we grabbed sone
Panchero's beforehand and ate while waiting outside for the doors to open.
Six o'clock, and the opener comes out. I've had pretty awful luck with opening acts since the
Mandy Moore show back in like September, and tonight was no different: an atrocious chick-quartet called
Raining Jane came out and channeled the Indigo Girls, dashing my hope of them being a Saving Jane clone. We suffered through about six of their songs; the highlights of their set were 1) a cello solo, 2) the surprise reveal that
Rachael Yamagata was on the bill, and 3) when they left the stage. Oh, and in case you wanted to hear what the dumpy girls who didn't get asked to prom have been doing since you graduated high school, check out their album!
One bad thing about early weekday shows is that every act feels crammed in and constrained. Rachael came out about 15 minutes after the lesbians had torn down their equipment and wasted no time getting underway. She has a new record due soon, and is apparently using this tour as a vehicle for trying some of her new material out. Her performance was good but unremarkabkle, but was highlighted by an a cappella song that managed to silence even the activity in the smoking alley adjacent to the building.
Shortly before 8:00, Sara Bareilles came out. Touring in support of her major-label debut,
Little Voice, she also had new material to show off. Honestly, I went into the concert expecting a Colbie Cailat-style experience, with unenthusiastic, by-the-book performances that were essentially the album played live, but Bareilles proved to be much more than that. She was engaging, had non-album stuff to play, and actually seemed to enjoy playing and mixing it up a bit. The last two songs she played were "Love Song" and, as an encore, a tune by Bonnie Raitt, and finished just a shade before nine.
Overall, the Bareilles/Yamagata show was a good time. One thing I didn't enjoy was one of the things that bugged me about the Cailat show: the crowd. Listen, I know it's an all-ages show, but really, if you have no idea how to act at a show, go to a free one to learn or stay the fuck home. And if you act like an ass at a show, don't get pissed if I mock you.
Coming next week: The ES.com Primer on Being a Good Concert-Goer
Labels: local, music, personal, review
As should be painfully obvious to everyone here by now, the dynamic content portion of ES.com is powered by
Blogger. And, since I've done this for God knows how long, I have a few posts. Well, Blogger recently introduced the ability to tag posts with categories, so I've been applying categories to all of my old posts, some of which I have realized are better than others. Which is why I am making a new category in the blog denoting what I feel is probably some of my best work in weblog shorthand, fittingly titled "
Best of the Blog." Take a looksee, my busty friends.
Check back often, because I will continue to post the best that I have.
now playing on iTunes/iPod: silence
Labels: bestof, site
As an Apple fanboy, it gives me great pleasure to see Macs out "in the wild." I already point out any Mac appearances in television or movies, which my girlfriend mocks me endlessly for, but that still isn't as cool as seeing regular people using them in everyday situations. Example: I am sitting in Panera Bread right now, and of the 10 or so people using their laptops, four of them are on MacBooks. Pretty friggin' sweet. The OS X marketshare may still be at like, 6%, but the real world ratio is definitely going up.
now playing on iPod: Pat McGee Band "Anybody"
Labels: mac, tech
Everyone who knows me knows I am super excited about the
new Twins ballpark. So much so, in fact, that I track pretty much anything I can regarding it: the webcam, construction galleries, etc. I even track down news articles from the
Star Tribune. Which is why I read an article concerning
the vendor selected for the new concessions. My favorite part? (emphasis mine):
Walleye tacos and ahi tuna, bratwurst and cheese curds - the menu at the Minnesota Twins new ballpark that opens in 2010 could feature an array of options from traditional fare to regional favorites.
Hoo boy. I love walleye. I love tacos. WE HAVE A WINNER! That is unless it's a trainwreck like
Green Mill's walleye-bacon wrap. But then if it is, I will have cheese curds to fall back on. At any rate, I'm sure the new parks offerings will be vastly superior to the Metrodome's.
now playing on iTunes: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones "The Impression That I Get"
Labels: internet, local, twins
This is the first entry to ES.com that I'm posting with the iPod touch so bear with me if I make any mistakes...
Yesterday being April Fools Day, the internet was all atwitter with random-ass pranks. Some of them were lame:
MacUser, one of my favorite Apple blogs, chimed in with a dizzying array of occasionally-funny news stories. But the prank I found most amusing came from
Woot. On top of it being 2-for-Tuesday, they had a woot-off! Only, everytime an item sold it was replaced by an
identical item. Pure hilarity.
The real April fool was on us though because this snow is goddamn ridiculous. On top of that, the wet snow pack is gonna make it almost impossible to reach 55 this weekend like it was supposed to before the snow fell. DAMN IT. Oh well, welcome to Minnesota, guys.
[photo credit: houseofglass' Flickr]now playing on iPod: Josh Kelley "Small Town Boy"
Labels: internet, local, mac, weather
