Deja vu

Tuesday night, Neal and I went out for the first time in a LONG time without Charlie. As a surprise Christmas present, I bought Neal ticket to go see Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, one of Neal's (and my) all time favorite bands. The show was at GPAC, which under other circumstances would have been a pain, but since it is right around the corner from my parents' house, it made dropping off and picking up Charlie before and after the show a breeze!

The show opened with drummer, or shall I say percussionist extraordinaire, Glenn Kotche. He was superb and I was suprised that I was fully engaged the entire time he was performing. His performance of Monkey Chant and Mobile were more impressive that I ever thought possible of a drum act. He is truly creative and inspiring.

Jeff Tweedy's performance was much more intimate that I imaged. My previous experiences with Mr. Tweedy in concert have been on the side of angry, frustrated and annoyed, leaving me a little pissed off with him even though I will always continue to love his music. This show was an entirely different scenario. He was funny and talkative; he even encouraged feedback from the well mannered crowd. The music was all acoustic and was extremely calm and relaxing, much unlike any other Wilco shows I have attended. Neal said, "this is something I will remember for the rest of my life." And he's right, I probably will, too.

So, onto the deja vu part...I can't remember the last time I went to a show. But as soon as we walked into the place and saw all of the unknow yet familiar faces, it was like we had rewound the clock about 10 years. Everyone was the same - just a little older. The vibe of shows long gone was still there - even in Germantown! It was a bit surreal but the strange familiarity made the experience even more of a pleasure.

We will definitely have to make a point to go to more shows more often.