Posted by
ChrisR on Thursday, August 28, 2008 3:41:57 PM
Got in at 1:00am last night from the Journey concert, and I am normally asleep by 10:45. Ugh. 5 hours of sleep, you don't do me no good.
West Wing writer - Aaron Sorkin - is making a movie
about Facebook. Genius.
The English Breakfast is
going to kill you all. And look at that mess - are you surprised? And in case you're curious, that would be mushrooms, tomatos, sausage, canadian bacon, potatos, eggs, baked beans and toast. And yes, they eat this almost every day.
I have one more thing to throw in after the Journey Review, but it's long, so bear with me for a minute.
Ok so everyone who reads this knows I was super excited for the Journey concert last night. The show was at the Nissan Pavilion, out in middle-of-nowhere, VA. It was about an hour or so west of DC, and we were leaving after work at 5. Hmmm. Anyways, the ride wasn't too bad, and we got to Manassas around 6:20 or so. We opted for some FivE Guys for dinner, and a good decision it was. Drove about a mile before coming to a dead stop that held us up for about 30 minutes waiting to get into the parking lot. Terrible system. Althoughj, i do have to admit that there were some brains behind the operation of having the parking cost built into the cost of the ticket. Anyways, the parking was jus a giant field in te middle of nowhere, and there were a billion cars everywhere. Whatever. We realize that Cheap Trick is already playing before we even get out of the car - whatever. Between the toss-up of cheap trick or five guys, five guys won. We got to see the last 4 songs of Cheap Trick - 3 of which were songs I knew (and I only know about 5 Cheap Trick songs). We caught The Flame, Surrender, (some unknown one) and Dream Police. All were good, and these guys looked old though. The singer's voice really has taken a beating over the years and it kind of showed, but they put on an admirable performance, so no real complaints.
Next up was Heart, who started around 8:15 and played until about 9. They went through al the big jams - Crazy on You, Magic Man, Alone, Barracuda. And to be honest, they sounded awesome. I think women's voices hold up better than men's, so even at 60 or so the singer was really belting like she was 20. They were really very good, although I was a little disappointed to see that Nancy Wilson, the guitarist babe, is actually just a rhythm guitar player and not the lead. She did, however, rip out an acoustic solo/intro to Crazy on You that was very, very solid. One quick pet peev: opening bands should not have encores. They did one, which was fine, but I don't think an encore should be demanded ebfore the headliner comes out. Overall, they were really very very good. Strongly recommended.
Journey came on at 9:30 sharp and opened with... a new song? Seriously? Not a good way to start the set. After that, they jumped into some classics - Only the Young, Faithfully, Open Arms, Lights, Separate Ways. Somewhere in the middle of the set they played 2 new songs. I hate it when bands play new material - listen, nobody is there to see the new stuff. Stick to the classics. I know you have a new cd coming out, but more people will be excited about it if they love your live show than by assaulting the audience with songs they do not have a particular interest in hearing. Anyways, the songs that the did play were awesome. Speaking of which, we got a few more new songs threown in there too. In total, they played for an hour and a half, including 6 new songs. An hour and a half of music - roughly 18 songs -and a third of that is new? This coming from a band who peaked in 1983? Speaking of which, the new singer was downright awkward. Close your eyes, and he was Steve Perry - but eyes open and he was an awkward younger Filipino guy trying to do the Carlton dance. It was pretty obvious that the guy had little stage presence, and really didn't have the best idea of what he was doing out there. Regardless, his voice was very very good and he really could belt it out with the best of them. They closed with Don't Stop Believing, jumped right into oneof my favorite songs, Be Good To YOurself... then left the stage for the night. Then the encore - Any Way You Want It. Not bad, but it was very rushed (the ending of the show, not the song). Outside of the poor song selection, they were very very good. It is a testament to what kind of musicians they are, because really, 30+ years later, these songs still rock. My ticket's face value was $18.75, and with service charges and parking and whatnot, it was $30.50. Definteiyl worth it for the 3 bands.
Ok, now the thing I spoke of earlier. On my favorite food blog, SeriousEats.com, they had a thing today about the
100 foods you must eat before you die. It says to put the ones that you have had in bold. I am going to do just that, and I urge you to leave a comment and do the same! (part I - part II comes tomorrow)
1.) Venison
2.) Nettle tea
3.) Huevos Rancheros
4.) Steak Tartare (not a chance will I ever eat this)
5.) Crocodile (I have had alligator - close enough)
6.) Black pudding (wouldn't touch the stuff)
7.) Cheese fondue
8.) Carp
9.) Borscht
10.) Baba ghanoush
11.) Calamari
12.) Pho
13.) PB&J Sandwich
14.) Aloo gobi
15.) Hot dog from a street cart
16.) Epoisses
17.) Black truffle
18.) Fruit wine made form something other than grapes
19.) Steak pork buns
20.) Pistachio ice cream
21.) Heirloom tomatos
22.) fresh wild berries
23.) foie gras
24.) rice and beans
25.) brawn or head cheese
26.) raw scotch bonnet pepper
27.) dulce de leche
28.) oysters
29.) baklava
30.) bagna cauda
31.) wasabi peas
32.) clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33.) salted lassi
34.) sauerkraut
35.) cognac with a fat cigar
36.) root beer float
37.) clotted cream tea
38.) vodka jelly/jell-o
39.) gumbo
40.) oxtail
41.) curried goat
42.) whole insects (wouldn't touch it)
43.) phaal
44.) goat's milk
45.) malt whisky from a bottle worth $120+
46.) Fugu
47/_ Chicken tikka masala (one of my favorite dishes)
48.) Eel
49.) Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut
50.) Sea Urchin