Musical soulmates, Terminal 5 & Coconuts - The Black Crowes, Terminal 5, New York, NY - October 26, 2013

New York City, specifically Manhattan, has always been an enigma to me – both logically and spiritually. How do so many people fit on such a tiny island? How many yellow cabs can fit in such a small area? How in the name of atheism do you navigate this feat of cartography that would make Lewis and Clark’s heads spin, that we call the New York Subway? Why must every street corner wreak of homeless urine and pizza and/or kebabs?

A trip to New York in 2011 was underwhelming to say the least. I went with a friend, as we wanted to see New York at Christmastime and it was understood that we would have somewhere to stay for free. As a graduate student not having the funds to make my stay in New York as luxurious as I would like, I took this opportunity immediately. The sightseeing was great as was getting to see my bestie Andrea and her equally as awesome husband, Peter. On the downside, the people we were staying with were essentially living amongst filth, bad decisions and illegal substances. Have you ever seen an episode of animal hoarders? People with chickens or cats or rabbits living among them with all of their shit and filth? This is what I felt like for a night. Not to look a gift horse in the mouth or anything, but SERIOUSLY. This was a 400 square foot 3 bedroom apartment on the east side – already sounds a bit ridiculous doesn’t it? Fairly sure there was the use of illegal white substances AND I got kicked out of 2 places I was sleeping in order for 2 different people to engage in drunk intercourse. Needless to say, the next day I couldn’t get out fast enough.

Also needless to say, this trip left a taste in my mouth of New York similar to vinegar and I was not in a big hurry to head back to New York. So when my music soulmate Kevin moved there and suggested that I come up in October 2013 for a Black Crowes concert, I thought, “OK, this will definitely be better than my last trip, but I’m still somewhat weary.”

Kevin is the frontman of a band formed in South Carolina called Broken Compass Society. He lived in North Carolina for several years after finishing school in South Carolina (where we discovered our mutual love of blues rock and specifically, the Black Crowes). He made the rounds in clubs and venues in North Carolina/South Carolina but decided that in order to properly pursue his music career, he needed to move to a mecca of live music – New York City. So he packed up and took himself and aptly name puppy companion, Morrison, to Manhattan. When we had a South Carolina friend reunion last year in Charleston, SC for Hootie & the Blowfish’s annual reunion show in August, we decided we definitely needed to experience some Black Crowes magic together. So then and there, we bought tickets to the October 26^th show and it was locked in.

 We look antisocial, but really we are just buying Black Crowes tickets - totally acceptable

One of my fav BCS songs, "Falling With You"

Fast forward a couple of months, the time was here for our rock n’ roll weekend. I was excited to discover that a South Carolina friend and Bonnaroo companion, Steven, would also be visiting for our weekend festivities, as well as some other friends who live in New York – Aubrie, Dani, and new friend Renaldo. This was to be a weekend of epic proportions.

I arrived on the Bolt Bus from DC on Friday evening, Kevin and Steven welcoming me with open arms. I felt a tad homeless carrying around all my stuff for the weekend to 2 different bars, but this just makes the ‘vagabond’ label that much more meaningful. Our first stop was a bar at the top of a Hilton hotel in Manhattan with fancy drinks and breathtaking views of the city. This is where we were joined by Dani, Aubrie and friends. We hung out for a bit, caught up, and quickly realized this bar was well above our levels of class. This realization led us to cab back to Kevin’s neighborhood, the East Village, and patronize some of the bars in that neck of the woods. As soon as we entered Spanky & Darla’s, I knew this was my new favorite New York spot – complete with a fantastic southern rock jukebox, cowboy boot decorations hanging from the ceiling and most importantly, a Lemmy (Motorhead lead singer) impersonator (whom also turned out to be an accomplished New York comedian). Next came the ORIGINAL Coyote Ugly bar (ACROSS THE STREET FROM KEVIN!) complete with dancing on the bar and looking tirelessly for that Australian guy in the movie. Finally was Kingston Hall, and yay! Renaldo joined us!

At Spanky & Darla's with Lemmy wannabe

This was the highlight of the night for me because – yes, I said it – they had coconut drinks! They were some kind of rum concoction served in a coconut. Because I’m me, all I cared about was eating the coconut but I was quite frustrated because I couldn’t get at a good angle to eat the coconut. So, LIKE A BOSS, Renaldo smashed the coconut against the brick wall in the bar just so I could go to town on a coconut. What a guy. (See photo below – it’s OK, I know I’m ridiculous). The rest of the night included hanging out on the roof of a local boutique hotel and eating solid late-night pizza.

Coconuts!!!

The next day was quite touristy in nature, as we had the entire day to kill until the Black Crowes rocked the stage. In New York, everything stays open until about 5am, so it is just the norm in New York to stay up that late. After trying that on Friday night, I was in no position to function until about 1pm on Saturday. ‘Breakfast’ consisted of New York bagels in the park near Kevin’s house, where of course there was a dog costume parade taking place. Steven and friends, Kevin and I took the subway to Rockafeller Center to go on the Top of the Rock experience. As someone who isn’t a huge fan of heights, I was way more willing to do this than the Empire State Building option. It had amazing views of the city AND free popcorn! Little victories I suppose. We then wandered through Central Park on to the Museum of Natural History. We also saw one of the sadder things I’ve seen in New York, the cooperative apartment building where John Lennon was shot. Unassuming, but sad nonetheless.

The crew at Top of the Rock

After realizing we couldn’t get into the Whales exhibit at the Natural History museum without paying 30 bucks, Kevin and I began our journey to the West Side to be closer to the show’s venue, Terminal 5. Of all the snooty restaurants in the Upper West Side, Kevin and I ended up in a divey Irish bar where we devoured buffalo wings and watched college football for a bit. Finally it was time to meet up with Kevin’s buddy from home and head over to the show!

At Terminal 5!

The opening band was the Blind Boys of Alabama who, to my joy and surprise, played a fabulous rendition of “Way Down In the Hole”. (For those of you who don’t know, The Wire is my favorite show of all time, and this is the theme song to the show).

Blind Boys of Alabama - Way Down In the Hole

Next it was time to rock. I haven’t been this excited about a concert in a long time, as besides the Eagles, the Black Crowes are my favorite band ever. I love how pure their version of rock n’ roll is and how any time I hear them, it reminds me of good times.

They opened with ‘Under A Mountain’, a great note to start the night off with. The next few songs were a jam sesh of some of their lesser known songs, which to Black Crowes fans everywhere, is the best since they have such a huge anthology of music to choose from. One of my favorite moments in the show was when they played a 20 minute jam of ‘Thorn in My Pride’. Chris Robinson was his usual crazy self, flailing arms and signature dance moves included. The band was tight as ever and sounded fantastic. Most of the show was hard to handle for me (pun most definitely intended), as there was so much musical stimulation, it was a lot. But, this all led up to the encore when I most definitely began to cry – they played one of my favorite Crowes songs ‘We Who See the Deep’ and THEN, most epic of all, they ended the show with the Zeppelin classic ‘Hey Hey What Can I Do’. I’m pretty sure Kevin and I looked at each other and thought we were pretty sure this is what rock heaven must be like.

Black Crowes - Under a Mountain

The Black Crowes show was everything that I wanted it to be and more and cannot wait for the next time – hopefully outdoors in a festival scenario.

Since the show ended around 11pm and this is New York, we still had about 5 hours of partying to do before we hit the hay. My lack of sleep on this particular Saturday does make the details of the evening a little hazy. However, I do remember going to an Irish bar to meet up with everyone and debrief about the show, Kevin getting pretty hammered, and bonding with Renaldo over the most delicious empanadas ever.

The weekend ended with a sleep hangover at a bar before I was to catch my bus back to DC. This was a short trip to New York, but definitely of trip of New York redemption. I even went back a few months later and enjoyed it equally. I had found the formula to a great New York existence – great friends, great music and of course, coconuts.

A little Spontaneity ain't never hurt no one - Sting & Paul Simon - March 13th, 2014 - Verizon Center, DC

As many of you know, my pops and I have a wonderful relationship filled with baseball, music, travel and spontaneous adventures. So it is not uncommon for me to call up my pops and say, “hey wanna grab food/beers/live music after work? I’ll meet you at [insert DC restaurant/bar/music venue.” So last night’s spontaneous catch-up sesh was not out of the ordinary. We decided to meet up for food in Chinatown as a middle ground. As I walked to meet my dad, I kept noticing way more people in Chinatown than usual (and for anyone who knows DC’s Chinatown, that means full on claustrophobia). I also noticed that it wasn’t the usual adolescent Chinatown crowd hanging around the Chipotle – it was a very Eagles-esque crowd – you know the type. Older. Don’t seem to venture into DC much. Stand on the left side of the escalator. Not as awesome as my parents. THOSE people. I noticed a bunch of guys outside Verizon Center scalping tickets and just thought “whatevs, must be a Wizards game. Moving right along.”

I get to the restaurant where my dad is waiting and it is PACKED – like Saturday night packed. We were like “hmmm must have good happy hour – we’ll keep checking around.” Five bars later, we had come to the conclusion that something big was going on. And then it dawned on me. PAUL SIMON AND STING AT THE VERIZON CENTER! How could I forget?! I mentioned it to DT (my dad) and he was intrigued.

We decided that all the Sting and Paul Simon fans weren’t exactly going to be adventurous in the depths of DC’s Chinatown, so we decided that was the route to go for dinner. We were right – just us and a few Chinese regulars at Ming’s (I didn’t make up the name). We chatted over orange chicken about work, family and our general annoyance with the plethora of faith-based movies in Hollywood recently.

Dan the Man, for the past 6 years or so, has been taking the green route and taken the bus to work every day from Bowie. While inspiring, it does not bode well for urban spontaneity. Good thing this girl is a DC resident now! The deal was if we got tickets, not a big deal, I’ll take him home. If not, we’ll get him back to New Carrollton before the last bus. We walked to Verizon Center to scope out the ticket situation. Besides being quite green in the way of his transportation options, my dad is also an avid ticket scalper – yes, he buys the tickets from those sketchy guys outside arenas/stadiums yelling “GOT ONE!? NEED ONE!?” As long as I can remember going to concerts and baseball games with my old man, I can never remember him fretting over whether he had tickets or not – if we wanted to go to a show or a game, we were going. We would just have to look for the most unsavory individuals outside selling tickets and we were golden. 9 times out of 10, it was a success and we got some of the best seats in the house for 70% less than face value.

This Thursday night was no different. As he probably thought my younger, more urban disposition would produce more favorable results in the ticket department (and to see if he had passed along his scalping skills successfully), he handed me the cash and told me to GO. I went up to my first victim and said “how much” in the coolest way I could. The man hands me two tickets and explains the tickets are $150 each, club level. I had $100 in hand ready to go to my new friend Scalper McScalperson, but he wasn’t having it when he aptly explained “NOT FOR 2 BABY, NOT FOR 2!” I looked at him with my most serious “don’t mess with me” face and started to walk away. As soon as I took one step, he told me to hold up and we exchanged dollars for tickets. We were in business.

So this was definitely happening. In true Nora and Dan style. We got to the club level and were walking to our seats – as soon as we heard ‘Fields of Gold’ playing, we realized “oh shit. This is real.” We rushed to our seats and immediately realized our spontaneous gametime decision had paid off.

Sting and Paul Simon played the first few songs together and then Sting played solo for a while. Solo is hardly accurate though because each of these legends had a full ensemble of world class musicians with them. Every instrument in the spectrum of rock bands was represented, and then some – French horns, accordians, a Zydeco rubboard, recorders. It ran the gamut – and was glorious.

Paul Simon played a few songs made famous by his original duo, Simon & Garfunkel, but of course many of his solo hits. Paul Simon has had a unique and wide ranging career of music with his to-be-expected folksy sound, to a full on African chorus and drums ensemble, to a Cajun zydeco party on stage. All of these were exhibited on Thursday and executed flawlessly.

Sting had his signature worldly, somewhat psychedelic sound. There were times when I felt like I was at a Santana or Gipsy Kings show, and then Sting’s trademark voice would come through among the chanting, conga drums, and nylon-stringed guitars.

The encore performance was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes. One of my favorite songs, Bridge Over Troubled Water, was saved for a duet with Sting and Paul Simon and done beautifully. A very special moment for me and Dan to see that song done so well by its ever-so-talented songwriter. To end the show, put so eloquently by Paul Simon, “this whole thing started with 2 guys, 2 guitars and a microphone. We’ll end the show that way.” In true Simon & Garfunkel fashion, Sting and Paul Simon faced each other, almost singing to each other, finishing the show with the Everly Brothers’ “When Will I Be Loved”. Nicely done, gents.

Overall, a very successful night of spontaneity and live music, ending with Dan the Man experiencing the pleasure of riding the X2 bus back to my neighborhood from Chinatown. To say the least, it’s always an experience riding this particular bus.

If you couldn’t tell by this overly long post, my pops is one of my besties and I love anytime I can spend with him – especially when it involves hanging out with some musical legends on a weekday.

California Dreamin' - Nicki Bluhm & the Gramblers @ Fillmore West - January 25th, 2014

So I’m sitting at home writing this post, seriously California dreamin’. I understand why all the hippies in the ‘60s wrote so frequently about the joys of California and wishing they were there. California is one of my favorite places on earth, specifically San Francisco. There aren’t many places in the world more unique, more beautiful or more awesome than San Francisco, and this is why it’s my favorite city in the world. I had been before as a child for the first time and came back years later in college to watch University of Maryland play in the Emerald Bowl at the San Francisco Giants stadium (what is wrong with this picture?). Several years later, my cool cat father and I took the trip of a lifetime and drove down the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to San Diego, stopping at all the Major League Baseball stadiums and other breathtaking sights along the way. I truly fell in love with California that trip, but my most recent trip there solidified that yes, I indeed need to live there one day.

After meeting Erika at Bonnaroo 2013, I knew immediately we were friends/soulmates/partners-in-crime. We got drunk at Walk the Moon, discovered Nicki Bluhm, painted each other’s faces, and most importantly, washed each other’s hair after long nights in the Tennessee sun and cooking in the sauna that were the camping tents. In a word, we were inseparable. Although I’m sad that we don’t live in the same city, I was beyond stoked when I found out she was moving to San Francisco. I would definitely be visiting.

BONNAROOOOOOOO

I was finally able to visit San Francisco the last weekend of January 2014. Having essentially the exact same mind, she was way ahead of me when she informed me that Nicki Bluhm would be performing at the legendary Fillmore West Theatre. This trip (and this concert) were going to be awesome for so many reasons.

I arrived in San Francisco on a Thursday night, and I was finally reunited with my Bonnaroo partner-in-crime. The universe was again as it should be. I knew the trip was off to a good start when Erika and I made the wise decision to welcome me to San Francisco at the diviest of dive bars in the SoMa neighborhood. This bar was complete with pool tables, satanic porn art graffiti, west coast hipsters and Disney love songs remixed with rap. I think I made it to the promised land (I had this epiphany several times during my trip – I think it’s a telling revelation).

My first full day in San Francisco was a day of wandering and sightseeing. The food mecca of San Francisco, the Ferry Building, gave me the best seafood I’ve had in a while (and mutant seagulls). We wandered over to Fisherman’s Wharf – not for the overpriced tourist SWAG, but for the largest collection of sea lions I’ve ever seen. We walked to Ghiradelli for some free sundaes and to the Marina for some delicious strawberry cocktails and beautiful views (I don’t mean the men at what is called fondly by San Franciscans, the ‘Dateway’). Dinner consisted of BALLER Chinatown food, more dive bars and San Francisco history lessons from surfer BRAHs on Polk Street.

Us on San Francisco Bay!

The following day was my favorite of all and one I look back on with the distinct thought that San Francisco is where I belong. Today was the day I would return to my mecca – Haight-Ashbury – and see Nicki Bluhm in a musical institution. What was not to like? Especially considering I was wearing a tank top in January. We started with breakfast tacos in the Mission District (BREAKFAST TACOS?! AM I BACK IN AUSTIN! THIS IS HEAVEN!) and bottomless-ish mimosas. From there, we walked to one of the best places on earth – Dolores Park. This a park in the middle of San Francisco, filled with hippies to families to frat boys on the weekends. Picture the lawn of a concert venue – people on blankets with picnics, Frisbees, some harmless experimenting. Then take away the concert. This was just a giant lawn of people loving life and California sunshine. Erika and I made some new friends from inland California who offered us beverages, serenaded us with ukuleles, and offered friendly games of Frisbees. Dolores is notorious (or beloved by locals, as I see it) by a wonderful human being named the Truffle Man. He sells tasty edibles out of his truck and in San Francisco, business is GOOD. He was not there on this particular Saturday, BUT we did see a lovely young lady dressed in a Bavarian beer goddess outfit, selling edibles out of a wooden basket – pretty awesome.

In the meantime, we secured our Nicki Bluhm tickets and wandered over to Haight-Ashbury – those hills ain’t no joke. We sat in a local institution in the Haight, Squat and Gobble, and reenergized with some grub and most importantly, mucho amounts of coffee. We were able to go into a few thrift shops and other hemp-centric stores in the Haight before it was time for us to head to the Fillmore.

Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers hail from the Bay Area, so as hometown heroes, Erika and I were excited to hear the show sold out for several reasons. It is an honor to sell out the Fillmore because the venue will print a concert poster for every patron and pass them out at the end of the show, and frame one of the posters and post it in the Fillmore’s version of a Hall of Fame of sold out shows. Nicki Bluhm was in great San Francisco company in this department – Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, and so on. I was in AWE. The tradition for sold out shows at the Fillmore continues with the venue giving out free apples when patrons enter the venue – we took advantage.

The venue was packed but Erika and I got a nice spot on stage right. The crowd was a combination of old and new San Franciscans, proud of their homegirl. The show opened with a local band named Goodnight, Texas – a great band with an impressive acoustic set. They showcased folk sensibilities combined with Irish and bluegrass sounds. Their set consisted mainly of classic folk ballads, which was refreshing to hear without the drum-heavy and chanting common in today’s folk scene.

After such a mellow set, the crowd was ready to rock out with Nicki and the Gramblers. Nicki Bluhm and her band made their mark on YouTube with some Van Sessions videos, consisting of Nicki singing and playing childhood instruments and her band playing ukuleles and singing cover songs. Below is an example of their greatness:

Nicki came on stage looking like a true San Francisco goddess in a fitted black dress and her signature bangs. She is officially my style hero with her effortless California style and persona. They rocked the house and then some. This is probably one of the most utopian shows I've ever experienced. Nicki Bluhm identifies with "girl singers" - chick lead singers in a band of men. She's in good company if you ask me - Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac and Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane anyone?

In the middle of her set, she made the ultimate gesture to her hometown by covering "Somebody to Love" by Jefferson Airplane. SHE IS GRACE SLICK. It's incredible. I was in too much shock to take a video of this moment in the show as everyone was going insane, but here's a vid so you can see how awesome she is:



She very much falls into the category of rocker chicks like Grace Slick and Stevie Nicks, and more current rocker chicks like Grace Potter. I find her band, the Gramblers, to be similar to Grace Potter's band, the Nocturnals, with a bit of a funkier, folksy vibe. She covers other heroes like Linda Ronstadt:




Her originals are just as fun, funky and empowering - this is one of hers called "I'm Your Woman":



Erika and I rocked our faces off, forgetting about how much our feet were killing us and ended the night on a fabulous note. We got our posters, another apple and cabbed home delirious and euphoric.

I wasn't in San Francisco long this time around, but I will absolutely be back. Hopefully for an extended period of time.

Erika & I at Mission Street brunch!

Apples anyone?!?!

Free beer and free music and free circus freaks, OH MY!! - Lagunitas Couchtrippin' to Austin tour with J. Roddy Walston & the Business - March 4th, 2014

What do burlesque dancers, moshpits and southern rock have in common? Apparently quite a bit if you ask J. Roddy Walston & the Business and those on their Couchtrippin’ to Austin tour. This tour made a stop at DC’s U Street Music Hall as part of their road trip to Austin, Texas for the 2014 South by Southwest Music, Film & Interactive Conference. As some of you know, I have a deep romance with the city of Austin, TX and am sad to not be attending this year’s SXSW, so this was the next best thing. Did I mention this free beer and music event was on Mardi Gras?? It was difficult to pass up such a perfect storm of fun and free things. The Couchtrippin' tour decided it would be fun to hire the DC Rollergirls to mingle with guests and have burlesque dancers, clowns and other circus-like people to roam around the venue. It turned out to be the best of ideas, since it was Mardi Gras after all!

Tickets to this particular event were free via Eventbrite, compliments of my soccer pals and overall partners-in-crime Natalie and Christine. These planned events (i.e. Living Social) are so pervasive in DC, and furthermore, are often not worth the time and money spent. That being said, I was a bit hesitant when I received the invite, but as soon as I saw J. Roddy Walston & the Business was performing, I was locked in. Natalie decided to be a responsible adult and further her education, while Christine and I decided it would be far more beneficial to wait outside in the frigid March air (oxymoron?) and wait for approximately 45 minutes to go into the damp hole that is U Street Music Hall, drink free beer and listen to awesome-ish music – sounds good to me so far.

I say awesome-ish music because I had very mixed feelings about the other band on the ticket for this show. So So Glo came on right before J. Roddy. The band before them, Low Cut Connie (I'll get to them in a moment), was musically similar to J. Roddy in their nod to raw southern hard rock, so this is what I was expecting from a band right before the headliner. Instead, the audience was met with a menagerie of sounds - Wu Tang Clan namely - as the band came on stage, which I have to say got me pretty stoked. Then these Brooklyn boys began to take on a Beastie Boys-esque persona. By they time their set began, it was raw punk. My reasons for not being particularly fond of this band are several - (1) I don't like punk (easy enough?), (2) it wasn't punk I could respect - it was a sound reminiscent of some high school rejects who probably should have remained garage-bound, (3) I never heard a unique sound - it was like a mashup of bands and they couldn't decide if they wanted to be Green Day or Sum 41. All of those things considered, there is a chance I wasn't a fan of this band based on the amount of moshing going on around us (remember that thing about being garage-bound high school kids?). I'm also not a fan of seeing such hard rock forced into such a tiny venue like U Street Music Hall - the venue simply does not lend itself to this genre. These bands that wanna rock out should just mosey on over to U Street Music Hall's older (and much cooler) brother, 9:30 Club, and rock their faces off. Did I also mention that I'm pretty sure the sound guys were hammered - indicated by the moment when J. Roddy got in a heated verbal argument about their amps sounding like proverbial dog shit.

Ok, I started with the rough parts of the evening first - now to the highlights. The first band - Low Cut Connie – was playing as I walked into the venue and they were exactly what you wanted to hear as you had just waited in the freezing cold ready for some free beer - a fun honky tonk vibe with some hard rock elements. If you imagine the crazed honky-tonk piano antics of Jerry Lee Lewis (minus the cousin marriage), the over-the-top gyrations of Elvis and the frontman flamboyance of Freddie Mercury, you will have a good idea of the on-stage presence exuded by Low Cut Connie lead Adam Weiner. This was one of the more exciting, fun-to-watch bands I’ve seen in a while. Weiner engaged the crowd by jumping off stage into the crowd (a little more tame than crowd surfing) and with some fun call-and-response).

Finally time for J. Roddy! These local Baltimore boys are some cool cats reminiscent of Lynyrd Skynyrd with the entire band having matching long manes. J. Roddy has quite a presence on the piano, doing some serious headbanging throughout the set. They were super engaging, energetic and fun to watch - looking forward to seeing them at Bonnaroo 2014! All my videos of J. Roddy's set royally sucked, so you can get a better idea of their sound and stage presence below:

Christine & I @ Lagunitas Couchtrippin' to Austin with J. Roddy Walston & the Business!

Christine and I hangin' with Low Cut Connie frontman, Adam Weiner!!

Vagabond - DEFINED

So I've gotten some pushback about the name of my blog from some of my vocabulary-challenged comrades and wanted to clear things up about the definition of the term 'vagabond' and why I've chosen this term. See below for the definition of 'vagabond':
vag·a·bond

ˈvagəˌbänd/

noun

1. 1.

   a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job.

adjective

1. 1.

   having no settled home.

verb

archaic

1. 1.

   wander about as or like a vagabond.

I particularly like this term because the definition includes one of my favorite verbs/activities - 'wander'. Becca, Kevin and I are huge proponents of the act of 'wandering'. I like to make this hobby a cornerstone of my life, especially in travel and when attending music venues. You could just stand there and watch a show unfold, or you could wander around, make friends and some memories in the meantime.

I encourage all of my readers to add the term 'vagabond' to their vocabulary and incorporate some of the attributes of a vagabond into their everyday life.

NOW GET TO WANDERIN'!

New Prince Jam Debuts on Arsenio Hall Show!!!

You all may begin to see a trend that I love me some funk - especially funk brought to you by the one and only Prince.

Last night, Prince and his all-chick band debuted (and took over) their new funky jam 'FUNKNROLL'. I witnessed this act of FUNKtionality at my desk and slightly embarrassed myself with some dance moves that can only be described as the "Nora jam" (Kev, you know what I'm talkin' about.)

This new band Prince has assembled knows how to rock hard and I can't wait to see the energy they bring when I see them live (don't know when this will be, but I'm currently developing a see-Prince-live-get-funky gameplan).



GIFSoup

The Eagles, Verizon Center - March 1st, 2014

As I sat among the sea of 60-somethings, AARP members and other 20-somethings who’ve been brainwashed by their parents to love the Eagles and their music, I realized…wow, I am up very, very high.

I feel as if this a good way to start my FIRST BLOG EVER – a satire of all things artsy and annoying in the blog world – I just want to use this as a venue to say to my friends, family and other music lovers on this glorious Interweb, “Hey, I like music…A LOT. Hey, I go to a LOT of concerts. Maybe I should share all the fun I have seeing live music with them.” And that is what I intend to do.

There might be no better show to start this blogging adventure with my very recent experience at a concert for one of my favorite bands ever – the Eagles. I seek out the Eagles whenever they are in a 50 mile radius of the DC metro area, so finding out that they were a 10 minute bus ride from my home AND my lovely hippie mother had already bought tickets was music to my ears – pun much?

This show was extra special because it was part of the History of the Eagles tour, fashioned after their successful Showtime special, The History of the Eagles. The show was a complete historical – and I might argue religious – experience for any Eagles fan, spanning their entire career from the early days doing some serious California dreamin’ to their legendary Hell Freezes Over album. Glenn Frey acknowledged their California days with a nod to Saturday Night Live’s  The Californians and their over-the-top explanation of directionality in California. Very special guest Bernie Leadon joined the Eagles for a majority of the show, especially for the early Eagles and Desperado albums’ portions of the evening.

One of the absolute highlights of the show was a new arrangement of Witchy Woman - funky in all the right parts, just how I like it.

The Desperado album is by far one of my favorite albums of all time, so to hear them play an entire set of songs from just that album was a real special treat. I was half inspired to get a motorcycle and have an Easy Rider quarter life crisis.

After this more mellow portion of the show, things started getting weird - and by that I mean Joe Walsh made his first appearance. Those of you who don't know, all the guys in the Eagles strike me as someone who could be friends with my baby boomer parents and are very 'California' in all the 1960s senses of the word. Joe Walsh completely breaks this chilled out, acoustic jam sesh mold. As my mother says, he looks "rode hard and put away wet". (Thanks for that visual, Pam). That being said, the man can jam on a guitar - ONLY if it's electric. He went through his rocker classics, like "Life's Been Good to Me So Far", "In the City", and closed with "Rocky Mountain Way". After hearing a little Joe Walsh speech, I know he's done his share of hard drugs, and perhaps there's some residual effects that come about when he's in the performance zone - or at least it sounded like it.

Glenn Frey was a stellar M.C. for the show, with Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmidt (of Eagles AND Poco fame) took a backseat to his and Joe Walsh's outlandish antics.

The show ended in classic Eagles fashion, with an encore of "Hotel California" and my personal favorite, "Desperado".

Throughout the show, I was impressed by these artists' ability to do these classic songs such justice. I listened to the Desperado album after the show and the songs sounded as if no time had passed. Much like Crosby, Stills and Nash or the Rolling Stones, these artists make an effort to keep their music timeless and nostalgic to their original - and new - fans, and they succeed in style.

My rocker chick mama, Pamela!

History of the Eagles tour - Me and PT

Welcome to the best music blog ever...Pay attention to me.

Welcome one, welcome all to my brand spankin' new music blog, Musical Vagabond. I've finally decided to put all my constant concert-going to good use and share my wonderful, loud, melodic, funky experiences with family, friends and hopefully new friends!

I like live music. LIKE A LOT. I also like to travel quite a bit (if any of you saw how quickly my vacation days for the year were absorbed into the National Bank of Southwest Airlines, you might be appalled). Often my adventures in travel and music overlap (i.e., mucho music festivals), and alas, MUSICAL VAGABOND.

If I had a dollar for every time someone said, "Nora you go to so many concerts! You should write about it or something!", I would be a very rich lady. In all seriousness, I've decided to document all of my musical experiences here because I've basically turned my Facebook and Instagram pages into a makeshift blog of my many concert-goings and love of musical discovery. I figured I would give all of my very patient family and friends a break and just channel all of these random musical thoughts into one arena (thanks, Blogspot).

As much as I enjoy discovering new music and then immediately finding out when that band/artist will be on tour in a city near me, I enjoy equally telling my musically informed, music soulmate and cool cat father, Daniel Thomas, and my best music friends, Kevin Harrison, Andrea Dragan and Becca Adams about the music that has been discovered - these people will show up frequently in my musical adventures so GET USED TO IT. (I would like to extend a sincere apology to my dad's Gchat window and Kevin's Facebook chat window, as they are constant bombarded with my musical discoveries).

ME: "Kevin! I've made a groundbreaking discovery! Rod Stewart's band The Faces is blowing my mind!"

KEVIN: "...I know, Nora..."  

It's moments like this when I realize I should probably do a bit more research before thinking my every thought is an idea that should be toted to Rolling Stone magazine - generally I limit these occurrences.

All jokes aside, I truly hope you enjoy reading about my adventures and can begin to derive even a small amount of the joy that I do from live music, traveling to see said live music and time spent with friends and family.

Rock on!

Kevin & I at Bonnaroo - Broken Compass Society founder & music soulmate

BBFL - DREAAAAA

Becca - So glad this chick moved to DC - otherwise my life would be alot less interesting...and I would participate in way less wandering