Monday, May 17, 2010

Something I Love More than FOOD.

Bet that got your attention. It's not what you think it is either!  Saturday night we went to see what I would say is today's best touring band period: Pearl Jam!  We drove down to New Haven early in the day so the kids could stay at my sister's while we went to the concert in Hartford. We fully intended to eat with them before we left for the evening show, but those plans were foiled. And this time not by Kira!
She's usually the picky one who can't adapt to eating at new places, but this time she was game. We were going to go to Kitchen Zinc, an artisan pizza restaurant in the back of a larger restaurant of the same Zinc name. My sister has gone gluten free, and apparently she can get specialty pizza there. One common parenting SNAFU is that if one of the kids is cool, the other has to throw the monkey wrench. Like when they were little, if one finally napped, the other was up. It was a rare occasion to get both kids down at the same time!
For some reason, Owen was really upset about our going out for the night without him. It had started the night before, so much so he needed to sleep in our bed he was so upset in anticipation! I'm still not sure if he really felt unwell (he had a HUGE hot chocolate at Panera on the way down and sometimes too many sweets do him in), or if he was just thinking we wouldn't go if he was sick!
My sister and her husband told a story of babysitting another little boy who pulled a similar maneuver, only to perk up the second the parents drove out the driveway. She wisely suggested we just leave before dinner, go out on our own, and he would be fine.

Wow, an unexpected opportunity to have dinner out just two of us! Guess where we went: Subway! I know, I know, very pathetic, but by the time we got to Hartford, parked the car, and walked around looking for a place without having made reservations, we just decided that the night wasn't about the food. Shocking, I know!  But really, it was all about the music, and I didn't want to risk being late for the opening band, who is usually pretty good on Pearl Jam tours.

And they were! If you haven't heard of Band of Horses, definitely check them out. They were well worth sacrificing a nice meal out for a crappy six inch sub on stale bread. Definitely wasn't a grinder (see earlier blog entry!).  I even knew two of their hits from listening to my favorite radio station (I stream it online at wfuv.org).

The concert was beyond expectations. I mean, seriously, the die hard fans were raving on the fanclub website about it being a top five show of all time, for sure.

There's just something amazing about a band that's been together for 20 years and playing songs from 1991 with the same intensity and emotion as if they wrote it yesterday. We saw them two other times and while good, Saturday was off the charts.

It's tough to get out to see live music these days. Between being far out from many venues--most at least one hour to three hours away--and being broke (the price of tickets is criminal!), we go far less often than I'd like to. It's always been a big part of my life, so when I get to go, I feel so rejuvenated and alive.

Here's a highlight from the show, the link won't let me embed this one, but it's worth a click!! (and the connection to my last statement in the previous paragraph!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuWNADWlbj0

And one more for good measure:



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