October Concerti

It is officially Autumn here in the heartland - my favorite time of year. The last blast of Summer's hot breath has breezed through, and for the rest of the month the daily high temp will apparently stay below 70. Ahhh.

So, I'm out in the elements a titch more, taking the occasional picture - like this one of a new electric powered vehicle filling station added to the parking lot of the local library in its recent renovation. How about that? Guess I can go ahead with that Nissan Leaf now. ;)

I've also been keeping track of a certain tree underneath which I park each workday. I remember her (him? it?) from last year as having red leafy highlights in her foliage, and true to form, she's at it again. Note the progress over the last two weeks:

I do love the walk to/from the building now. It has a soundtrack, provided by squirrels and my feet: rustle, rustle, rustle. :)

Okay, so I've covered the October part of the title to this post, but what about the Concerti part? So, here you go:

First, a show by Mat Kearney, with an opening act provided by a band named Leagues.

Kearney was great. He had a winning style with the audience, extemporizing lyrics on the spot to insert a local vibe into his songs, and even jumping down onto the floor and singing his way around the room. The girls in attendance went nuts at that part, crowding past where we were in order to "touch the singer". Easy, girls. Yikes!

So, all in all an excellent show, as was the next one about 10 days later: Explosions in the Sky. Woo! They are one of my favorites. Such good "study music" - no lyrics, ever.

Kind of an old, ragged venue, with the inside about as in need of a refresh as the neon sign on the outside.

The facility was huge, with loads of tables and some decent lighting off in a corner, so I could even knock off some assigned reading for TS794DE while enjoying the music. Just like at home, except ... louder!

The opener was a band named Wye Oak. Not really my speed, a little angry-sounding on both the guitar and vocal, but certainly enough to wake up the crowd.

The headliner, though, was just superb. The front man (if you can call him that) very politely introduced the band, made some kind remarks about being here, and then kicked of 90 minutes of non-stop music. And I mean non-stop. No break between songs, no thank yous or words of any kind again until they said thank you and good night. Crazy.

They remind me of a contemporary new-agey rock version of Phil Spector's old "wall of sound" concept. It just washes over you like an incessant pounding surf, insistent, rhythmic, and intense. Several times I needed to lean up against a pillar to keep from tipping backwards when I would close my eyes and simply "feel" it.

Great shows, and so far a great month.