Live Music

I’ve been to a few gigs recently, much more than I did in London. Cassie is a huge live music fan, and she’s the one that always just buys tickets now rather than figure out whether it would be worth it. It’s been great going to the various famous venues in San Francisco.

It should be said that the gig-going process is a lot more adult for me now. I remember getting very sweaty and bruised and beer-sodden at gigs in Bedford and London, but now it’s much more civilized. Apart from anything else, when Cassie had her foot problem, we would be sat at a small table at the side, and table service drinks makes it all much nicer too. In addition, Cassie seems to know people who can get us free or VIP tickets, which makes things more congenial in general.

Cassie is a huge Calexico fan, so when they played at Solana Beach, north of San Diego back in 2009, it was an ideal excuse to meet in the middle (we still lived in different cities at this point). I took some nice photos of the beach while I waited for her to arrive. The gig was great, and we were stood right in front, but an asshole with a camera and an accomplice seemed to think that his documentation of the gig was more important than people’s enjoyment of the gig. C has seen them so many times, so we were able to retreat to the back of the small venue without too many regrets.

Back in May 2010, we went to see Frightened Rabbit at the Fillmore. I’d wanted to see the Fillmore for a long time, it being such a pivotal place in the history of pop culture in the city. I have a book that I stole off my brother which describes the musical history of the city from the 1950’s onwards, and it’s illustrated with all those amazing psychedelic posters, and it was nice to see the gallery of the original designs in the bar at the venue.

We were sitting at a table on the right of the stage, and that combined with the table service from waitresses with glowing trays made the evening worthwhile, but I wasn’t keen on this band. They were very earnest, almost like a Christian rock band, and sounded like a cross between Travis and Coldplay. Not my thing at all.

Other gigs we’ve been to in the past few years. I’ve only reviewed a couple. I would like to do more fun and interesting reviews of gigs, like the ones Pete Collins does over at ‘Having a Party Without Me…‘. But I don’t.

Next week I’m down in LA to see Kraftwerk at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Should be a bit different, and I doubt I’ll be hanging out with the band. They’ll be backstage recharging.

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