Normally, I spent Monday doing a list of shout outs to the books, blogs and what not that I find on the web but I thought, this week, I’d do a musical shout out because I just got back from a concert something which I had little experience with until after I was married.

First off, I’ll give a shout out to the city of Atlanta. I had not visited Atlanta until 2006 when I went to see the Cubs play the Braves. During that trip we also went to the Coca-Cola museum, Five Points area and Olympic Park. It was a fun trip where we tried out Marta as well.

Since then I have been back quite a few times including 2 other concerts and several trips to Ikea (before Charlotte got its own). I can’t imagine living down there just because traffic is so crazy, real estate is also crazy high and well I didn’t think the Marta really did well to get you everywhere but as time has gone on I’ve developed a like for Atlanta. Still not love but maybe we are getting there.

Anyway, this trip was for us to see Imogen Heap in concert. This was actually the 2nd time we saw her. The first time was back in 2006 – in Atlanta because that was the closest she came to us. We stayed over night and took the Marta to as close to the Variety Playhouse as you could get but the walk was a bit confusing and I wish I understood buses better. It was still a fantastic concert then and this one was just as good if not better.

We went to our hotel first where we had stayed for the Pet Shop Boys concert we went to towards the end of summer. We stayed at a Doubletree right off of I-85 that turned out to be only 5 miles from the concert venue. We have had two good stays at this hotel.

We did have a few issues with parking even though we were way early to the very trendy area around Variety Playhouse (what cash only parking space doesn’t have change for a $20?) but we got a decent space for $7 and while it was somewhat difficult to get out after the show (ah the waiting!) it was still better than walking in the rain through a strange neighborhood at 11pm to try and find the bus, if, heck, it was even running that late!

We had dinner at a Thai and Sushi place called Sweet Lime which tended towards a higher end price for dinner but not completely outrageous and this trip was sort of a Christmas treat for us. Ken had Hawaiian Shrimp (think tempura shrimp with grilled pineapple and light sweet and shour sauce) while I opted for an old favorite – basil chicken. Only complaint was that their rice wasn’t very sticky which made eating with chopsticks a bit of a challenge.

We were still way early for the show, but I remember getting in much earlier the last time we went. This time we had to stand outside in the sprinkling rain for about an hour before they finally opened the doors at 7 (for an 8pm show). We managed to get our favorite seats up on the first row of the balcony and we sat around to people watch and prep for the show. I have to give a shout out to the lady who sold me a root beer, Smirnoff Ice and some popcorn cause when she carded me and saw my age she said – Well good for you. Thanks lady!

The Variety Playhouse is a nice venue specially for an artist like Imogen Heap who is using a lot of computer based technology to present her show. I also love how she comes out to talk before the show and the breaks she takes during the show to chat. It was a beautiful set and she was dressed as wild as ever. This photo is from her introducting one of two opening acts she had. Even with two short opening acts she still played for about an hour an a half so we definitely got our money’s worth!

First up was Back Ted N-Ted who had the tough job of opening up. He was great fun to watch and I’m hoping to download some of his music for iTunes before any Thanksgiving travel. He looked like he was having a good time up there and that is always good to see. I think this was a somewhat harder audience than what he would have encountered at the concert we went to back in 2006, Imogen has a lot of new fans and sadly some of them the kind who sit behind you and chat the whole concert *sigh*

He did seem to have a few groupies there who knew who he was   What was also nice to see at this show was that both of the opening acts came on stage to play as part of a band. The last time we saw Immie she played entirely by herself with a short help from a cellist who was her opening act for that show. She also had a cellist who came on stage during this show but I didn’t get a good shot from him. She auditioned a different cellist in each city, what a neat idea? The second opening act was Tim Exile.

I always come away from a good concert (the few I have been to) thinking about how I can improve my own performances of poetry and if there are ways, perhaps, that I can incorporate more musicality into my writing. When I was a teenager I really wanted to write music and I tried writing some lyrics but I never learned how to play any kind of musical instrument o you can imagine all of that was just BAD!

This was towards the end of the show and I thought it was such a nice picture that I would end with it. I love my Canon G10 and I have great video and photography of the event that I can go back to and listen to. Maybe I’ll use it as some inspiration as I am revising work and looking for the music to come out? I also think I want to read more of Imogen’s lyrics and think more about the connections between poets and songwriters.

So music, you are definitely one of my muses, even if I can’t carry a tune in a bucket or play a note. I can still sing really loudly in the shower or car when I try to forget that spys could be listening.

Now to continue with my already delayed and busy week!

NaNo/Poem a Day from 11-21-09

[another poem in the revision bucket]