Birthday weekend Part 1

Last night, Chris and I went to The Rose in Pasadena  to see my favorite band, America.  The venue is local ( about 20 minutes from our house) AND it was my birthday, so we splurged on the tickets and dinner.

Diner is mandatory if you get a table.  They have some seating that is just chairs and standing room,  which is around $50.  The tables were not as closely spaced together as I had feared and we were seated next to some very nice fans who had never seen the band live before ( how is THAT possible???)  We ordered dinner.  Since it was my birthday and I was NOT driving, I treated myself to a whiskey. They did not have Bushmill's , but as I like to say Jameson's will do in a pinch.  It was Jameson's.

The Rose is run by the same people who run the Canyon Club and The Coach House. With a good seat near the stage you get a table where you MUST spend $25 per person on a dinner plate.  THIS is on TOP of the really inflated ticket price.  I hate places like this, especially since the food is often terrible.  At the Coach House, for instance I got a plate of "Steamed vegetables'  They had to STEAM them to get the ice chips off.  Really they popped the bag of frozen veggies in the microwave then they topped it with margarine. oooh,tasty.  Some reviews said the food at the Rose was pretty good but  I was not excepting much and ordered the vegetable lasagna, figuring they would need to go a long way to f- that up.  I was wrong.  The sauce tasted burned and everything else was suffering from a long stint in the microwave.  I deconstructed it and ate some of it but-- bleh.  Chris got prime rib which was also overnuked.   They also add a 20 % "Service charge" that is NOT the tip to your waitress, but tips "the people in the back of the house."  I really resented that.  They should just charge more for their almost inedible food and bury the cost there.  Our bill was almost the cost of my first car.

The opener was a local girl, Bleu Stroud .  She was sweet with a nice voice.  She did that vocal thing that seems to be super popular, where they stutter over the first letter of the word ; think Taylor Swift.  She has a lot of potential, but she needs to work on her patter a bit.  It was mostly "This song is called________" and a moment to introduce Ryan, who may or may not have been her brother.  Dunno.  She may have been nervous.  We guestimate over 500 in the house.

Before the show I went over to the Merch table to see what they had to offer.  I wanted a new canvas bag and while I was there  I ran into Ryland. They were selling his CD "This Magnificent" and I purchased it.  He graciously signed it for me AND I got a birthday hug- Glynnis  who was at the table with Brynna told him it was my birthday and he offered me a birthday hug.   I will be reviewing that later but they were playing it at the close of the show when they were trying to get the crowd out and I liked what I heard. I will post a separate review later this week when I get a chance to listen to it.  I have an hour each way commute so that affords me the time for a serious listen.

The lights went down and the house speakers began to play "Miniature"   Ok  I got goosebumps.  I was SO excited to see the band.  They started with Tin Man and as usual, Dewey's vocals were buried until about halfway through the song.  The sound was pretty good after that. 

The set was the usual one with TWO delightful additions ( for ME anyway) Monster and Greenhouse.  Greenhouse makes me think of the late Miguel Ferrer who did a wicked version of it the night I saw Bill Mumy's band, the Jenerators.   Fellow America  Fan Kathy and  I shrieked and high-fived. It was awesome.  They covered Eleanor Rigby and California Dreamin.   The bass solo on "Here" ALWAYS makes me appreciate what a wonderful musician Rich Campbell is.  I was paying close attention to the "new kids"  I have a confession here.  I like them, but I have been watching those two "youngsters" since they played in a band with Gerry's son Matt, so I have a bit of a mother hen feeling toward them.  When I first saw Ryland, I think I said he looked like the pizza delivery guy but MAN could he play drums.  My opinion has not changed and he has really grown into the role.  Andy is fun to watch. I still kind of miss Woodsy's impish grin, but Andy was all over the stage and having a good time.   Nice banjo work on "Don't cross the River"

It was too soon before the audience was counting out the final "one two one two three four" start to Sister Golden Hair.  The band was joined for the encore by Hank Linderman , Ryan from the opening act and Noah Wells, who is the lead singer and an amazing fiddle player for the band "The Barefoot Movement"  We ran into Hank outside the venue and I went up to him to speak with him ( for the life of me I can't explain THAT, except maybe the second glass of whiskey had kicked in?)  He invited us to go to McCabe's in Santa Monica to see the Barefoot Movement.  We did, but that's another day and another post!