Music is what feelings sound like
I saw Lenny Kravitz Friday night, and Martin Rivas and Craig Meyer Saturday night, and I'm going to see elizabeth! tonight. I think I'm turning into a live music junkie. Or maybe I'm trying to take in as much as I can before I leave this rich musical scene...
After grabbing a quick bite at Sultan Gyro in Lyndhurst after work and just making the train by the skins of our teeth, Rhonda and I stood in the rain for about 45 minutes outside the Hammerstein Ballroom. It was worth it, though, as we snagged a good pair of seats in the front row of the second mezzanine. The guy to my right saw us with our sneakers off (to let our socks dry a bit) and followed suit. Heh... The opening act, Lissie ("Like Lassie but with an 'i'"), a singer/songwriter who went onstage alone with her acoustic guitar, was fine, but her songs and performace were more mellow than I'd have expected considering the explosive set that followed. Lenny rocked the house, even though he claimed he had a 102-degree fever; he did say he'd be there 'til he dropped! The man can play a mean guitar, and his lead guitarist was incredible, too. Kravitz came out into audience at one point, and definitely engaged everyone when "Let Love Rule" became a singalong. At about twenty minutes to 11 PM, the show ostensibly ended, and Rhonda thought it was over. I smirked and said, "He'll be back; he hasn't even done 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' yet!" Sure enough, that was the encore. I was surprised he didn't play right up until 11, but maybe he really wasn't feeling up to it; in any case, that allowed us enough time to get back to Penn Station and make the 11:09 train back to Secaucus, where we caught the midnight train to Geor- er, Lyndhurst.
I'd felt tired but otherwise fine on Friday night; when I woke up Saturday morning after an unusually lengthy eight-hour sleep, I was feeling nauseous, with a throbbing headache. I think it was a combination of standing in the rain with wet feet and just running myself ragged at work and not getting enough sleep lately. I skipped breakfast and lay down on the couch with L.C. and watched "Flash Gordon" and "Stargate Atlantis," which I'd TiVoed the night before. Still feeling unwell, I went back to bed and napped for over three hours. When I awoke again, I had some soup, showered, and felt better, though the headache was still with me. I took the train to Long Branch, where Matt, Sally, and Paige picked me up at the station as planned.
We headed to Sawa, a Japanese place with a good but pricey menu, and decided to sit at the bar by the front door, where the guys were supposed to play, even though Paige and I kept getting shivers from the cold air every time someone entered or exited. We got a few drinks (mmm, Sapporo...) and some edamame and sushi rolls and other stuff and dug in while waiting. Craig and Mart arrived and started setting up, and I said hello to the latter before they started their first set. I'd forgotten that they were going to be doing the "Saturday Night Campfire" thing instead of Mart's original music, but the covers definitely got the crowd going, including my little gang. They did "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic," and we (and others) joined in on the "Ee-ohs," enjoying them so much that we started adding them to many other songs, too. lol Elvis and Ray Charles tunes were covered as well, and plenty of other classic and not-so-classic material. Mart came over and chatted after the set, and I mentioned to him how I'd just told Paige about seeing Serious Pilgrim at CBGB way back to which he exclaimed, "Way, waaaay back!" We reminisced a bit and lamented CBGB's passing, and talked about how it lives on in the music, then Mart paused and said, "The place was a shithole, though," to which I chuckled and agreed, "Well, yeah..." before we both said, almost simultaneously, "But it was our shithole!" and laughed.
During the next two sets, Sally and Paige danced a lot, and put in requests for "Mustang Sally," "Pink Houses" (the guys did "Jack and Diane" instead), "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," and others. Paige and I contemplated requesting "Turning Japanese" but decided against it. ;) We had a great time, though the bills were a little surprising. Matt drove us back to Sally's apartment, where Paige got in her car and headed for home, and I stayed overnight on the couch.
Sunday morning, I felt much better, even after consuming an English muffin with vegetarian 'sausage' and 'bacon' (and lowfat cheese!) as prepared by Sally. Heh-heh... No, it was actually not bad at all; not quite the real thing, but acceptable. Matt went out and grabbed Dunkin' Donuts coffee for the three of us, and then I showered and got dropped off at the train station by Sally. Back at home, Yesika picked me up and we headed over to Food Basics for a few things, then to the Portuguese Tavern in Clifton for some short ribs. We brought the food back to my apartment and had our own little "anti-Super Bowl" party, watching "Spider-Man 3" after eating. I was kinda curious about Tom Petty's halftime show, but having seen him live two years ago, I figured I'd pass. If he was going to have a wardrobe malfunction, I could live without seeing it.
I'm feeling a little off again this morning, but at least the headache isn't back. Yet. I'll probably be too busy in an hour or two to notice, anyway... Hmmm, it was just barely flurrying on my way in to work. Anyway, there are a few pics from the Kravitz and Rivas shows here...
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andersensilva) wrote,
