Cultural Weekend

This weekend was the highly anticipated (at least by Andrew and me) Cultural Weekend. Two evenings, two shows, two music fans.

Friday started with a quick dinner at Salut St. Paul before heading to St. Catherine’s to see Dessa and Company. I remember seeing Joan Baez at the O’Shaughnessy Theater in high school. That was where I first heard Dar Williams. It’s an awesome venue, and full of good memories from that concert so many years ago. As everyone who reads this blog already knows, Dessa was one of my closest friends in high school, long before she was Dessa. I own her cds but have not seen her perform live since one of the talent shows at Southwest. (Aside: What the hell were those musical talent shows called?) Well, at the risk of sounding cheesy, her performance was breathtaking. When she took her heels off early in the show, I found myself chortling that she always has preferred to be barefoot and her feet look just like they did in the mid-90s. Yeah, weird, probably, but we spent a lot of time together and I remember her feet. The girl is undeniably talented and I feel so happy for her.

Another highlight of the evening was Alexei’s performance. He was at the O’Shaughnessy as a special guest. It had been a long time since I’d seen him on stage. However, it felt less nostalgic than seeing Dessa since I spend time with Alexei off stage on a fairly regular basis. He performed two pieces, one of which was a beautiful but haunting, and emotionally charged dedication to his mom. I felt myself let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding when it ended. The other was a collaboration with Aby Wolf that was whimsical, funny, and fun. I think it’s called “Boom box.” I couldn’t find it on YouTube but I’m sure it will be up at some point and highly recommend finding it.

The only part of Friday’s night’s show I didn’t love was Black Blondie. Some of it was ok, but didn’t fit with the tone of everything else going on. Some of it was, frankly, terrible. One member of the band is also a Southwest graduate and I’m not trying to be a hater, but to my ears it was a blemish on an otherwise flawless evening of music.

After the concert, we went back to my house, where I made Brianna and Andrew look through the Southwest 1999 yearbook. Don’t worry- I also provided them with booze.

On Saturday night, we went to see Counting Crows, which was a mediocre show. With a band like that, I expected them to play at least half the tracks from “August and Everything After.” Instead, they played a lot of songs I’d never heard and did not put on a particularly inspired performance. I did enjoy the Amaretto I drank during the show. Andrew pointed out that we might have a different perspective on it had we not seen it the night after such an incredible performance by local artists who also are friends of mine. Sarah called me out for bias. The best part of the CC show was this blonde girl in the front row who danced with total uninhibited joy to every single song. I kept looking at her (not in a creepy way, I was all the way in the balcony!) and smiling. It seemed like she must feel about the Counting Crows the way I feel about the Bangles. At least, I hope so. I hope that was the best night of her whole damn life, seeing her favorite band in the front row.

It’s pretty fantastic to go to shows on a regular basis. Next up is likely a Mariachi band at the Cinco de Mayo festival, which will not be reviewed on this blog, but will surely be accompanied by some noteworthy tacos.

*Update: City Pages disagrees with my assessment of Black Blondie.  While it's true the crowd really loved the gospel singer, and he certainly has a great voice, the show stealing belonged to Dessa and Alexei.  No bias whatsoever.

Good Friday

One thing I always think about on Good Friday is how, if you are Christian, that Jesus Christ's conviction and crucifixion is the first recorded wrongful conviction. It would be the first record of an innocent man being put to death; proof of the inherent and unavoidable imperfect administration of the death penalty.

I can't wrap my head around how a person could support the death penalty anyway, but the fact that many of the states that impose the death penalty are full of "Christians" seems to me quite ironic.

Anyway, we are dyeing Easter eggs tonight. And I suppose that creepy bunny might bring Johan some chocolate on Sunday.