June 2014 - Big Head Todd and the Monsters

We started the workweek with a Neon Trees concert and ended it with a Big Head Todd and the Monsters concert at the Minnesota Zoo.  It was hot and humid but perfect weather for an outdoor summer concert in my favorite outdoor venue with both M and his brother Ray.

June 2014 - Neon Trees

June 23rd was the second time we saw Neon Trees in 2014.  This show was at First Ave. and much more of a production than the one at Triple Rock.  The place was packed and the show was great.

March 2014 - Neon Trees

I bought tickets in February 2014 for M and I to go see Neon Trees for their show in June 2014.  In March 2014, I got an email that was sent to me just one minute before I looked at it that said if I responded to the email, both M and I would be able to see Neon Trees for a private concert at Triple Rock on March 26th for free.  There would only be 100 people invited to the show. I responded immediately and found out a couple of days later that we were on the list.  Awesome.

The show was on a Wednesday night and if you've been to Triple Rock before, it's a tiny place so seeing what I consider a big-time band there is fantastic.  

They came out onto the stage and no one really knew what to expect.  It turns out that they were doing a practice run for their upcoming tour, the one we would see in June.  They didn't play for long, maybe 35 minutes at the most, which surprised everyone but despite that, it was a fun, exclusive concert to be at and made us anticipate the June show even more.

JBT

We went to see John Butler Trio on Sunday, February 9th. I hate Sunday night concerts and they're worse than mid-week concerts. These kinds of things matter when you are an adult and have a job to go to in the morning so you only go to concerts that are completely worth being tired the next day. JBT is one of those bands. While we just had seen them almost exactly 6 months ago at the zoo, we wanted to see them again even though we were under the impression they didn't have a new album.

The show was at First Avenue and was packed. JBT took the stage and we heard a couple of songs we didn't know. John told the crowd that they did have a new album out and it had just come out earlier that week so we were surprised with a bunch of new material. We both bought a poster of John that was autographed. I've never purchased a poster at a concert in my life but I needed this one. I thought it would make a good addition in my home office/craftroom/walk-in closet. (Yep, my room is all of those things.) We left right when JBT was taking the stage again for an encore.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Old Friends, Music and Beer

M and I went to Pickle Park in Fridley on Saturday, November 2nd to see my friend Heather's husband's band perform.  It's also the band of one of my oldest friends, Rich.  Once we were there, Chris met up with us as well.

This was the grand finals of a battle of the bands-type event where 11 bands played and competed for $35,000 in cash and prizes. They had played 5 rounds of shows over the summer to get to this point. Unfortunately, they did not win, but another band they are friends with did.

Heather's husband Jeremy on stage

Me and Heather

I wasn't sure who would be there but I was pleasantly surprised to see some friends of mine.  I've seen all of the guys below in the last two years but it is a rare event when we are all together so it was a must that M took a picture of us.  Heather and I met Matt and Rich on the same day when they were at the mall with each other the summer before 9th grade.  Once we started high school that year, we saw Rich our first day of school as he was one of the new kids in the district since he went to a private school before. As for Tim, we go back to 5th grade.     

Matt, Me, Tim, Rich

After the show, M, Chris and myself went to Dangerous Man Brewing for a couple.  Both Chris and I had never been there but of course M has multiple times.  He even had his Dangerous Man t-shirt on. (P.S. Michael gets mistaken for the Dangerous Man in the beer community a lot!)

MY Dangerous Man

THE Dangerous Man

The bar was packed and it was early.  We didn't have anywhere to sit at first but found seating after about 45 minutes.  I saw one of the news reporters from KARE 11 there drinking with his family/friends.

I had the pumpkin spice ale which was delicious.  So delicious I had two.  At one point in the night, one of the bartenders/workers got on top of the bar, got everyone's attention and said that they wanted to cheers everyone as it was one of those rare times when the mood, the people, the beer and everything is right and so we all raised our glasses and cheered and continued to sip away.  I was buzzed at this point so I thought that his intermission into our lives while in their establishment was perfect.

M and I dropped off Chris and we went to Applebee's where we had some water, some food and terrible service before going home and calling it a night.

It was a big weekend for me.  I hardly ever go out on weekends let alone both Friday AND Saturday.  I felt young again!

Monday Night Concert

I had the day off Monday, October 28th and woke up feeling less than fine after too much vodka and not enough water from tailgating the night before but it was nothing Perkins pancakes couldn't fix.  I don't know why but I love Perkins pancakes.  I'm not sure if it's the actual pancake or syrup but that combo is delicious. Naturally after breakfast one is exhausted so I lazed around all day and then took a nap until the 4 pm hour.

Just a couple hours later, M and I went to see City and Colour at First Avenue.  We had seen him once before in February 2012.  M bought these tickets in early spring and this concert was the last of five concerts this year that we were really looking forward to.  While getting out of the car, my jeans ripped in the back of my thigh. (It's hard to contain these wonderful legs.)  I am sure no one noticed but man am I happy this happened on this Monday night versus when I wore those jeans to work a couple of days earlier.

The show was all ages, which we are not a fan of but we had a great spot to stand on the lower level in the center.  The place was full but it wasn't packed to the gills like the last time we saw him.  Dallas Green (get it? City and Colour) played for almost 2 hours.  In my opinion, it was too long.  I enjoyed the show but he had changed since the last time we had seen him.  It's as though fame has gotten to him a bit. (He opened up for P!nk several months ago-a very odd combination since their music is nothing alike)  He was impatient with the crowd, sometimes when it was warranted but I feel that he is just fed up with modern society and he wished he lived in a different era.  He's not the kind of guy that smiles or really even laughs but he did make some references to the Twins and Timberwolves and how he feels our pain since he's a Blue Jays and Raptors fan.

Outside next to the famous wall

Here's a video of the first song released from the new album:

Wicked

My friend Jill and I both lost our dads to cancer in December and October 2012, respectively.  We've both struggled together and talked about how things have been for ourselves and families since.  Jill came up with the brilliant idea to celebrate and support each other around the time that our dad's passed away.  The goal is to do something fun, something we don't normally do and enjoy it with each other's company.

Since October was "my month", I came up with the idea to go see the Broadway musical Wicked and so that was the plan on Thursday, October 24th.  Weeks before that when the plan was being formed, I looked at tickets and there were plenty available for this show with a hefty price tag of $175 but a price we were both willing to pay. We also found out there is a lottery 2.5 hours before every performance that you can be a part of and if chosen, you get orchestra level tickets for $25 cash.  Woo!  We decided to take our chances and go that route instead.

The weekday shows start at 7:30 pm so we arrived at the Orpheum box office about 4:45 pm, 15 minutes before we could be entered into the drawing. There was already a line of about 20 people when we got there and that didn't seem bad.  By the time all was said and done, there were well over 100 people there. Our chances weren't looking good.

We all packed inside the Orpheum entry, entered into the drawing and waited until 5:30 pm until they drew names.  When putting our tickets in what looked like a cauldron (how appropriate), we asked how many tickets would be given away...only twenty tickets.  Our chances looked more and more grim but we had the chance for every drawn name to take up to two tickets.

Before the drawing, they told us that these tickets would be in row 6 on the main floor.  Pretty damn good for $25 cash.  They started to draw.  One by one, people would be scream if they won and by the end of the amount of allotted tickets, Jill and I found us non-winners.  Sigh.

It was a chance we were both willing to take and a chance that in a sense was worth it but it was a tiny bit depressing knowing that we wouldn't be going to the show, a show that I've passed up seeing three times now because apparently I don't have any cultured friends to go with. Ha!  Next time, I'm at least going by myself.  

OK, instead, we decided to go eat dinner, something that was a part of our plans anyways.  We decided to eat at Union, a place that neither of us had been to before.  That still qualifies for our date night!  Union opened almost a year ago and is separated into three areas; at street level is a seafood restaurant, one level below is a night club called Marquee and up one level from street is the rooftop dining area.

We sat up on the rooftop area, which is covered by glass in the winter and retractable in the summer.   

I started with a drink that had vanilla vodka, black cardamom and cream in it.  The name?  Margie had sex in the pantry.  I just pointed to it on the menu when I had to order.  

The sun starting to set

Jill started with Savory Donut Holes comprised of shallots, bacon and vasterbotten cheese.  I tried one and it was pretty good.  The cheese was sort of like a Parmesan.

I started with the Caesar salad with soft boiled eggs.  I don't think I'd ever had soft-boiled eggs before but they were very good.

At this point in the dinner, it's getting pretty dark due to the glass roof and it was hard to take pictures of our food.  I had to lighten these up and the quality is compromised.  

The menu has already changed since we were there so I am going from memory about what we ate.

Jill had the ravioli that had braised greens in it and I think Ricotta.  She really enjoyed it.

I had the sea scallops with pierogi's stuffed with potato and sour cream.  I can't remember what sauce surrounded the plate but there were chunks of pork as well.  It was delicious.

We both really enjoyed our dinners and the service was fantastic.  Our server was so knowledgeable of the menu and gave us recommendations when we weren't sure what we wanted.  She had us debating on things to order that after initially looking at the menu, we dismissed.  It's so refreshing to have good service.

I don't remember what time Jill and I left the restaurant but Wicked was already on stage as we walked by the Orpheum.  We had lots of fun with each other and by the end of the night, we don't regret not seeing the show.  Next time.

A Perfect Concert

Each year, M and I discuss who would be the perfect artists to play at the best outdoor venue around, the Minnesota Zoo Amphitheater.  The lineup for the zoo comes out in late April/early May and we find the best artist we like on the list and we buy tickets to the show.  We go to at least one concert a year out there. We've had impressive lists of who we think would be the best out there for the venue and for our liking but we've never been right according to the real lineup.

The list came out this past spring and again, we didn't have any artists in the lineup that we had really desired to see.  We decided we would go and see Eric Hutchinson in June.

A couple weeks after the zoo concert schedule came out, we struck gold with what we thought would be the all-time best artist at the zoo and it was confirmed that John Butler Trio added a date to the schedule.

We got our tickets months ago and scored center section, 3rd row.  We patiently waited for August.

Sunday, August 4th came and it was time to see JBT.  Once arriving at the concert, our tickets were technically 3rd row but 1st and 2nd row only went on the sides and not in the middle so it was as though we were in the front row.  Add the perfect, cool summer night's weather and it was the making of a beautiful night.

We had seen JBT once before at the Fitzgerald Theater and that ranks up there very high, if not the best place to see an indoor concert, particularly JBT. 

The concert was fantastic and everything about the night was just perfect.  

 

Tom Petty

M and I went to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Target Center on Saturday, June 29th.  We saw him when he came about three years ago and while I do not listen to Tom Petty very frequently, it was one of my favorite concerts.

The Smithereens opened up and while we were both kind of excited to see them, we didn't enjoy them.  In my opinion, they were boring and just gave off this vibe that they had super egos.  I didn't like it. 

Tom Petty on the other hand, did not.  He was graceful and appreciative and the crowd was so into him. I thought the show was good but I preferred the last time he was here.  Thank you, M for the ticket!