Its ribs are ceiling beams Its guts are carpeting I guess we have some time to kill ...
I know Spot Buck went over in a big way (although many said it was too easy to spot me in a crowd - Is it my fault I'm one of a kind?), but I wanted to post a cohesive run down of our awesome trip to Nashvegas last Thursday and the Decemberist love that ensued.
Since I had Mike, Meg, Kristin, and Niya at my mercy in Nashville I had to take them to the cheap but amazing eating at Kalamatas (I know Flavin knows Nashvegas food better, but I have a few places up my sleeve).
Where you can get some amazing Mediterranean cuisine. Their special was stuffed salmon, but I am allergic so I enjoyed the smells and loved my gyro plate and spinach pie (which was not officially spanakopita, but was just as delicious).
We arrived at the show about a half hour early. City Hall is relatively new and near downtown. I was really hoping it would be a new 328 performance hall (it was tore down years ago after I saw Elliot Smith, Junior Brown, The Strokes, Weezer, and many others. I actually played there myself on more than one occasion). Sadly, it was a shitty little warehouse with bad sound and a horrible set up. We were able to see most of the show, but the place was damn uncomfortable.
Mike brought his camera so we busied ourselves as we waited on the bands, with goofy shots.
I was excited to see the first band after hearing that the singer used to be in Granddaddy, but All Smiles was nothing to write home about. Their album might be good, but their show needed some work.
Finally, The Decemberists took the stage in all their glory. I was hoping that they would play for five hours and highlight everything off of their last two albums. I didn't quite get my wish, but overall the show was amazing. Highlights were "Crane Wife 1," "The Perfect Crime #2," and "The Chimney Sweep."
They surprised us by bringing out the amazing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings who played a Welch song with the band and then dueted on Gram Parson's "sin City" - I was shaking like a leaf.
Of course, audience participation was at an all time high and we all screamed along with the encore of "The Mariner's Revenge" and a giant whale came out on stage to swallow the band away.
The whole concert there was this guy next to us screaming "Sing the Whale Song!" that we kept wanting to correct, but knowing that it wouldn't do any good we refrained and laughed at his stupidity like the Decemberist elitists that we are.
The concert ended too soon, with only one song from Picaresque, but it was all worth it. I wish I could follow them around for a while like the Dead.
I ended up buying their new DVD that is amazing and I am watching right now!
The perfect night cap of the ride home was finding out that Meg loved Van Morrison as much as I do (his references to Gypsies is enough to seal the deal). As the other's slept we sang through "Moondance" and started back through before we saw Carbondale glowing in the distance.
Since I had Mike, Meg, Kristin, and Niya at my mercy in Nashville I had to take them to the cheap but amazing eating at Kalamatas (I know Flavin knows Nashvegas food better, but I have a few places up my sleeve).
Where you can get some amazing Mediterranean cuisine. Their special was stuffed salmon, but I am allergic so I enjoyed the smells and loved my gyro plate and spinach pie (which was not officially spanakopita, but was just as delicious).
We arrived at the show about a half hour early. City Hall is relatively new and near downtown. I was really hoping it would be a new 328 performance hall (it was tore down years ago after I saw Elliot Smith, Junior Brown, The Strokes, Weezer, and many others. I actually played there myself on more than one occasion). Sadly, it was a shitty little warehouse with bad sound and a horrible set up. We were able to see most of the show, but the place was damn uncomfortable.
Mike brought his camera so we busied ourselves as we waited on the bands, with goofy shots.
I was excited to see the first band after hearing that the singer used to be in Granddaddy, but All Smiles was nothing to write home about. Their album might be good, but their show needed some work.
Finally, The Decemberists took the stage in all their glory. I was hoping that they would play for five hours and highlight everything off of their last two albums. I didn't quite get my wish, but overall the show was amazing. Highlights were "Crane Wife 1," "The Perfect Crime #2," and "The Chimney Sweep."
They surprised us by bringing out the amazing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings who played a Welch song with the band and then dueted on Gram Parson's "sin City" - I was shaking like a leaf.
Of course, audience participation was at an all time high and we all screamed along with the encore of "The Mariner's Revenge" and a giant whale came out on stage to swallow the band away.
The whole concert there was this guy next to us screaming "Sing the Whale Song!" that we kept wanting to correct, but knowing that it wouldn't do any good we refrained and laughed at his stupidity like the Decemberist elitists that we are.
The concert ended too soon, with only one song from Picaresque, but it was all worth it. I wish I could follow them around for a while like the Dead.
I ended up buying their new DVD that is amazing and I am watching right now!
The perfect night cap of the ride home was finding out that Meg loved Van Morrison as much as I do (his references to Gypsies is enough to seal the deal). As the other's slept we sang through "Moondance" and started back through before we saw Carbondale glowing in the distance.