John Gorka and Susan Werner concert
I am home from a concert in Annapolis. I went to See John Gorka perform at the Ram's Head Tavern, and stayed to see the other act, Susan Werner. It's late, I have to be up at a reasonable hour tomorrow, so this is just going to be a short series of lists.
First, a few small observations:
- I deserve special praise for navigating in Annapolis without getting lost much at all. The city's street signs have footnotes. I mean, on the actual signs. I even drove around the town a little extra, just to get a feel for it, and still did not get significantly disoriented. Amazing.
- I ordered a dessert rather than a proper meal. I had a warm cupcake with a molten mousse-y center and some chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It tasted like love and filled me with a warm glow, but this might have to do with the fact that it was a purely medicinal dessert, intended to counteract painful cramps.
- I went by myself. I might have been feeling social if I was in company, but my default is defensive/introverted if I don't know anyone else in a setting (I'm okay if I can, you know, anchor myself with someone, but among only strangers I get overwhelmed too easily). So I brought a book to read during dinner, as I wasn't really in the mood to get to know strangers tonight. The fact that the trio of overly-loud males who shared the table with me started off with "Hey look, we get to share with a reader." did nothing to encourage a change of opinion on my part, and the fact that it was followed up with "Hey you know, you could say hello to us." just cemented it.
The fact that I limited myself to "Excuse me, but I'm not in the mood to talk nor obligated to do so with you." as a response was an act of admirable restraint on my part. It still took a few more non-responses on my part before they left me alone. I moved my chair as far away and off-aligned from them as I could without interfering with other people's movement.
I don't see how anyone could be such entitlement-ridden twerps (excuse me, but a single female sharing space with you does not owe you anything) and still get John Gorka's music, which tends towards thoughtful and complex.
That said, I was able to sufficiently ignore them to enjoy the show.
And now, John Gorka
- He's still adorable favorite unclish.
- He talked about having gone to a spam museum. It's hard to describe just why everything he says is hilarious when he talks in a slightly distracted, dry sort of way, but it was, and the audience laughed like crazy
- I still called out 'wisheries' when he asked for requests, but he hasn't done it yet at his shows I've gone to.
- he did do 'Love is Our Cross to Bear' again, and I cried, again. Just... damn. There are a lot of songs of his that I know and love well enough that they're background music in my life. That one is foreground.
- other songs include: Chance of Rain, Writing in the Margins, Semper Fi, Where the Bottle Breaks, Stranger With Your Hair, Edgar the Party Man, Flying Red Horse, Let Them In Peter, Mean Streak, People my Age, Stranger in My Driver's Seat, and others that I'm forgetting.
Susan Werner
- did a bunch of religious-y themed music, but all from an agnostic perspective. She said she was once Catholic, then became lapsed Catholic, and finally stopped putting quarters in the meter and became an elapsed Catholic.
- also, she asked the audience who there had the bumper sticker 'if you won't let us be priests, at least stop wearing our clothes', but no one 'fessed up.
- should try to find the song about the red dress, that was a good one.
Okay! Stopping now. Bed, really!
First, a few small observations:
- I deserve special praise for navigating in Annapolis without getting lost much at all. The city's street signs have footnotes. I mean, on the actual signs. I even drove around the town a little extra, just to get a feel for it, and still did not get significantly disoriented. Amazing.
- I ordered a dessert rather than a proper meal. I had a warm cupcake with a molten mousse-y center and some chocolate sauce and whipped cream. It tasted like love and filled me with a warm glow, but this might have to do with the fact that it was a purely medicinal dessert, intended to counteract painful cramps.
- I went by myself. I might have been feeling social if I was in company, but my default is defensive/introverted if I don't know anyone else in a setting (I'm okay if I can, you know, anchor myself with someone, but among only strangers I get overwhelmed too easily). So I brought a book to read during dinner, as I wasn't really in the mood to get to know strangers tonight. The fact that the trio of overly-loud males who shared the table with me started off with "Hey look, we get to share with a reader." did nothing to encourage a change of opinion on my part, and the fact that it was followed up with "Hey you know, you could say hello to us." just cemented it.
The fact that I limited myself to "Excuse me, but I'm not in the mood to talk nor obligated to do so with you." as a response was an act of admirable restraint on my part. It still took a few more non-responses on my part before they left me alone. I moved my chair as far away and off-aligned from them as I could without interfering with other people's movement.
I don't see how anyone could be such entitlement-ridden twerps (excuse me, but a single female sharing space with you does not owe you anything) and still get John Gorka's music, which tends towards thoughtful and complex.
That said, I was able to sufficiently ignore them to enjoy the show.
And now, John Gorka
- He's still adorable favorite unclish.
- He talked about having gone to a spam museum. It's hard to describe just why everything he says is hilarious when he talks in a slightly distracted, dry sort of way, but it was, and the audience laughed like crazy
- I still called out 'wisheries' when he asked for requests, but he hasn't done it yet at his shows I've gone to.
- he did do 'Love is Our Cross to Bear' again, and I cried, again. Just... damn. There are a lot of songs of his that I know and love well enough that they're background music in my life. That one is foreground.
- other songs include: Chance of Rain, Writing in the Margins, Semper Fi, Where the Bottle Breaks, Stranger With Your Hair, Edgar the Party Man, Flying Red Horse, Let Them In Peter, Mean Streak, People my Age, Stranger in My Driver's Seat, and others that I'm forgetting.
Susan Werner
- did a bunch of religious-y themed music, but all from an agnostic perspective. She said she was once Catholic, then became lapsed Catholic, and finally stopped putting quarters in the meter and became an elapsed Catholic.
- also, she asked the audience who there had the bumper sticker 'if you won't let us be priests, at least stop wearing our clothes', but no one 'fessed up.
- should try to find the song about the red dress, that was a good one.
Okay! Stopping now. Bed, really!