Frog and Goat

The better half and I went to Wolf Trap Friday evening to hear Los Lobos and Buddy Guy. If you’ve never been to Wolf Trap I strongly urge you to go. We took a picnic dinner and spread our “Neat Sheet” out on the ground. It rained earlier in the day so we were concerned that once we sat on the Neat Sheet that we’d slide all the way down the hill, but we held tight. The Neat Sheet was awesome. It repelled the damp and was soft enough that I didn’t feel like I was sitting on a tarp. For our picnic we had green olives stuffed with blue cheese, mini pitas and Roasted Sweet Pepper Hummus, Blarney smoked cheese, crackers and an excellent hard salami. We also drank some Trinity Hill, which I think is so awesome that driving to NoVa to get it is not an issue. We also had a Sangiovese as well. Before you start thinking we’re total alcoholics remember that we drank 2 bottles of wine over a long stretch of time.

Los Lobos appeared on stage around 8pm and their first song was a little rough. We thought it kind of sounded like a sound-check but after that they rocked. They played for about an hour and ten minutes and wailed on all their songs. Now I remember why I like them so much. The bari sax was outstanding. 2 drummers–whoa nelly.

Buddy Guy was on stage around 9:15 or 9:30. He was amazing. He plays a mean guitar, is funny and can sing like nobody’s business. At 10 I was in the Ladies (remember the 2 bottles of wine?) and thought I can’t believe it is 10pm and I’m this wound up and this rocked up. A far cry from what I’m normally doing at 10. He went on and played until 10:45 when, apparently, he had to stop–I guess there’s a noise issue with the neighbors.

Saturday morning it was actually sunny for a little while and we met the better half’s aunt and uncle at Anita’s for breakfast. Mexican for breakfast is one of the best ways to start your day…who cares about Wheaties. It was really nice seeing them and his aunt gave us a show when she dropped the ketchup bottle (for her hash browns) into the salsa container. Salsa flew through the air. We all cracked up. I didn’t know this about her but she’s known as the klutzy one in the family.

After breakfast we went to Sutton Place Gourmet and got 2 bottles of the Trinity Hill wine and I got some pate (made Individual Beef Wellingtons for the better half’s birthday–a Rachael Ray recipe). We also went by Whole Foods Grocery and got some Lamb sausage–which is tonight’s feast.

After enduring horrible traffic getting out of NoVa (shame on you people for not voting for the bond that would continue to pay for roads), we turned off in Fredericksburg to get some Carl’s ice cream. To die for. Then we took the scenic route home.

The better half liked all his birthday presents and the dinner. I’ve eaten lots of different things in my life but I still can’t stand liver (of course I got too much pate so I’m not sure who is going to eat that). I thought after becoming a fan of Haggis (a couple of years ago in Scotland) and Steak and Kidney pie (in England) that I would be past my dislike of liver. I almost had to spit the pate into my napkin last night. I think the next time I make the Beef Wellington I’ll use pate on the better half’s and extra mushroom on mine.

For our next trip to Wolf Trap I’m going to come up with a more sophisticated picnic. I should start planning it now…only one month away. Every thing has to be portable in the cooler and easy to eat as we’ll be on the lawn again.

John Hammond’s performance as the opening act for the Blind Boys of Alabama was good. But while I was watching him play, there were certain things I noticed; I’ve decided address them directly to him:

You play a mean guitar… by that I mean that you can play fast, complex and accurately… but the blues don’t respond well to being rushed. They’re meant to be felt and savored… and they need to make the audience empathize with the pain of the song.

I believe that you feel a lot of the blues as you play them. But the speed of your emotion (if there is any such thing) exceeds that of the audience’s emotion. You’re off in your world, feeling the blues, as they watch and listen and are left in the concert hall. I believe there’s some adage about performance that says it must be larger than life– exaggerated to some degree– so that it can be perceived by the largest number of people in the audience. I’m not talking about “dumbing it down”– just that the speed of the performer’s mind and emotion far exceeds that of the audience. Don’t leave ‘em in the dust.

And the harmonica… dude, can’t you just have somebody up there to play the harmonica, while you play the guitar really well? I don’t need to see you wheezing out an oral sex session with a harmonica mount around your neck… I’d rather concentrate on listening to you play the instrument with which you’re truly skilled…

And you don’t need to play the classic blues, either… when you played that Tom Waits song, everything in your performance (even the silly harmonica) seemed to converge to “just right”. To your credit, before this performance, I’d never connected Tom Waits directly to the blues… and your performance illustrated that connection. But somehow I got the feeling that you were “into” the song, and although you “felt” the other songs, they didn’t fit your performace as well as that song.

P.S. If the headline act is expecting you to play on stage with them, you really ought to come out and join them when they ask you to… otherwise– no matter what the real situation/extenuating circumstances are– you end up being perceived as an ungrateful prick. Just so you know.

We went to see The Blind Boys of Alabama with John Hammond at the Carpenter Center tonight. Much to our surprise our seats were the front row–we could touch the stage. John Hammond opened and he’s a very talented guitar player. He also played the harmonica and I don’t know if it is because we were right there or what but I wish he hadn’t played the harmonica. It looked like he was eating the thing. The better half thought the sound/playing was off…it was a little too visceral for me.

The Blind Boys, however, rocked. They were outstanding. Jimmy Carter is the smallest and most delicate man but with a huge voice. He brought the house down or up–everyone was standing–he came off the stage and whipped everyone into a frenzy. I had no idea old men singing gospel could be so terrific.

Here’s what else is going on musically…

Here’s a decent article on The Thorns (my new boyfriends). I am really enjoying the album and, if it is possible, I’m trying to wear a hole in the CD. There’s even a Jayhawks cover–what could be better?

Something else I’ve been listening to is the new Lucinda Williams CD World without Tears. She rocks. I really love “Righteously”, but I also find myself drawn to “Sweet Side” and “Real Live Bleeding Fingers and Broken Guitar Strings” (that’s a mouthful). The other night I pulled into the driveway and refused to get out of the car until “Essence” was finished (from her Essence album). What’s a girl supposed to do? Jump out of the car instead of finishing singing (even if it is poorly) at the top of her lungs-doubtful.

The better half’s friend gave him a copy of Nick Drake’s Pink Moon and that is wonderfully haunting and what a shame that he offed himself shortly after recording….of course that was years and years ago so I shouldn’t start wearing the black now.

Hem-Rabbit Songs is another CD that I recommend. I really seem to be on an introspective/mellow listening track these days. Probably because I didn’t get A3′s La Peste for my birthday. I love that song “Too Sick to Pray”. And, there really is no excuse for me not running to the store for it.

We’re scheduled to see Buddy Guy and Los Lobos next Friday at Wolf Trap. Yes, we drive to Northern Virginia for shows. We’ve already bought tickets for the Tracy Chapman/Joseph Arthur show there in July. The Indigo Girls are appearing there in August and we may go to that show as well. Have I mentioned that there aren’t that many outdoor concerts in Richmond? What do we expect–radio stinks in this town and so does the city’s mindset on anything that may draw people to downtown, this in spite of the huge new convention center. One day I’ll be installing Satellite Radio in my car, I’m sure. We already listen to Music Choice constantly at home and that introduces us to tons of songs we’d never hear on regular radio. So, until the installation of Satellite Radio, the radio will be on the local NPR station and the CD player will be spinning.