Basia was on the desk computer, on the internet when I came out of the shower a couple of months ago. She does that on occasion, so I thought nothing of it.
But then she mentioned the price of tickets for a show involving an artist that she really likes, and I paid closer attention.
Here is the thing: I have gone to see a lot of shows. I like all sorts of music, and enjoy a night out. It is exciting, exhilarating, even. Or it can be, provided you do not go to so many, that the old magic feeling is lost, and it becomes routine. That happened to me, and that was when I knew it was time to lay off going to so many concerts.
This was not for me, however. This was for her.
Oh, sure, she played Blue October often enough, and I had been intending to borrow those albums and give them a listen in my own right. I did, and I like some of what I heard. But she is the much bigger fan.
She never asked about going to see a show in the year or so that we have been together, so yes, I paid attention.
But the tickets were few, and good seats were not particularly forthcoming. Ideally, we could have had front and center. Realistically, there were seats remaining, but they were on the side and back.
I looked to Ebay, just to check. Some guy was selling his tickets for this show, good tickets. But he was asking $400 for them.
Um, no. Greedy ass bastard.
I mean, the sickening asking price was $25 per ticket, and there were still plenty of seats available. They were not front and center, but this was a tiny place seating less than 500, to my understanding. It was not like we would have horrendous seats needing binoculars and plenty of tissues for the nosebleeds, right?
Such a preposterous asking price by someone living in some alternative reality universe completely separated from the rest of us did not surprise nor discourage me in the least, but it discouraged her.
"Ah, forget it." Basia said.
But I didn't. I kept checking the website of the City Winery, the venue which couples as a restaurant that was to host the show. Picked what I thought (and hoped) were the best seats available, and treated her to a show that she obviously wanted to attend.
Now, we have been to shows together, but it always felt a bit like I was dragging her to the shows. She claimed early on to really enjoy going to concerts, yet she had not yet shown any special enthusiasm for any of the concerts that we attended, although she did say that the Ringo Starr concert last year was "awesome".
I ordered the tickets through the website. The seats were okay, the best we could do under the circumstances. Again, though, it was a small venue - the kind where no seat was a bad seat (I hoped).
Here's the strange thing: there are no tickets issued. You show up with an ID and the credit card that you purchased the tickets with, and they let you in. I would forget about this, and wonder why, weeks after ordering, they still had not come.
Turns out I was just being foolish.
I began to listen to those albums, and tried to prepare myself, if you will, for this concert. I do not remember the names of the albums, or even the songs. But my attempts at getting familiar with it were not obsessive. I mean, I listened to other stuff, and was not listening to Blue October exclusively. But what I heard sounded pretty good, and I could see why she likes the group.
When I got the tickets back in early March, it felt like the show was so far away. Suddenly, though, it was late April, and I realized the concert was in about a week! It was time to start making more solid plans. Never a strong point for me, though. But I had to.
Not surprisingly, the night of the concert kind of snuck up on both of us. But we made preparations, and carried them through.
Basia looked absolutely gorgeous for the show, and we left around 5:30pm. The venue had instructions that those attending concerts should get there relatively early. It was recommended to be there by 6pm, but since the concert started at 8pm, that seemed just a little too early. But getting there early was desirable, and just seemed like a good idea.
Of course, there was traffic. I heard on the radio that Long Island was backed up badly, and Hillsborough is closest to Staten Island. Going that way had crossed my mind, but every time that I have gone that was in the past, there was traffic like hell, each way. I was glad not to have gone that way, but towards the Holland Tunnel.
Until we got stuck for perhaps forty-five minutes to an hour by the entrance to the Holland Tunnel. It was hell. Time seemed to suddenly be going by quickly. We still had plenty of time, but...
Eventually, we got there, and with good time. As it turned out, it was good that we did not get there too early. That would have been unnecessary, really. There was plenty of time. The food even came before Ashleigh Stone from Lubbock, Texas, took the stage to open up for Justin Furstenfeld. She had some good stuff, with a relatively soft, smooth sound that disguised powerful, explosive lyrics. I cannot speak to the exact names of the songs, because I admittedly was not familiar with her prior to the show. But she had one song that had very powerful lyrics that spoke about the difficulties of living in the United States when you are not rich - the theme of the song was about how things used to be better, and life more livable, and the title had something to do with that, as well (although it escapes me at the moment, as well). Also, her final song sounded very nice, as well, and the audience was quite receptive to it.
Her voice sounded great singing, although it was a bit shaky when she spoke to the audience (rather enthusiastically, I might add), which probably just betrayed her nervousness. She need not have been worried, as she easily won over this audience. I would recommend checking her out, if you get the opportunity to do so.
Then, it was time for Justin Furstenfeld, who is probably best known for being the front man of Blue October.
Before that, however, I just wanted to share something kind of funny that happened just before Justin took the stage.
There was a couple in front of us, and they seemed quite content, at least at first. Hell, I would even say they were lovie-dovie, you know? They were snuggling, and seemed to be enjoying a good night out at a show. Good food, good drinks (well, at least the guys was drinking).
But during Stone's set, something weird happened. Everyone was listening to Ashleigh's set, and nobody was talking. Or, so it seemed.
Quite suddenly, there was a loud "SSSHHHHH!!!", and it was the woman, and she was holding her hand up to the guy.
Talk to the hand, because the rest of me ain't listening, you know?
From that point onward, things were different. They seemed downright icy to one another. Or, at least the woman seemed icy and angry, while the guy seemed defeated and deflated. Guys, we've all been there at some point, right? You say something stupid without realizing it, and your woman makes sure that you are given plenty of time and opportunity to realize it thereafter. A nice evening out can turn bad very quickly.
She turned at some point, and gestured impatiently towards the waiter. At first, I thought it was a friend, of their, because the way she did it....well, was kind of rude, frankly. Surely, it must be a friend or family, and she must be telling them to come to the table.
But when the waiter came, she asked for the check.
Evening over. Funny, but they left literally moments before Justin took the stage, and I am guessing that they had come specifically to see him. My heat went out to him a bit.
Basia and I laughed a bit about it, although it was nervous laughter. At least, in my case it was. You know, watching something like that is a bit like being a zebra, and watching a fellow zebra being caught and mauled by a lion. Maybe it was his time this time around, but you are more aware of the danger than ever before, and perhaps next time, it will be your turn.
I think about the expression on her face when she was gesturing towards the waiter, and don't envy that poor guy. Obviously, I can't be sure what he said or did that ruined the evening. But I'd be willing to bet he's going to pay - big time!
Okay, in any case, apologies for digressing, and back to the review:
This was a cool show, with Justin talking at length with the audience, sharing personal stories (sometimes very personal), and revealing the inspirations behind certain songs. These included such a wide range of subjects as severe depression, substance addiction, writing a birthday song for his girlfriend when he had no money to get anything else, another song about regretting losing his head and hurting that same girlfriend when he lost sight of things, which was apparently one of the trappings of success that he personally suffered through, and the breakup of a family, while not being able to understand it.
Even when you are familiar with songs, it is always interesting to hear the back stories behind them, and this is particularly true when it comes from the artist himself!
Furstenfeld also did a makeshift questions and answers session, and in answering these, he showed considerable wit, as well as a strong ability to communicate things, more often than not highly personal things, clearly. His ability to express such personal stories through songs and conversation was a strong part of why it seems that the connection between artist and audience seems to come so easily and naturally for him.
Ultimately, I very much enjoyed this concert. Good music by both artists. An affordable event at a small, intimate venue, which was conducive to a good environment with strong interaction and connection between the artist and audience. I had never been to the City Winery before, nor had seen either artist prior to this evening (Basia had seen Justin Furstenfeld several times before, however). But I will keep my eyes open for more from all of them in the future. A very pleasant evening indeed!
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