On Thursday, I closed out my workday a bit early and Ryan and I hit the road for Tucson. I received tickets to the Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros for my birthday and had been really looking forward to getting out of town, even if for only a night!
Between Ryan's oral surgery this week and co-survivng his monthlong illness and midterms, this caregiver was in serious need of a break.
Armed with very little besides my iPhone and a couple Cokes for the road, we made good time on the drive and were in Tucson before we knew it.
One of our favorite places there is the Hotel Congress. We spent the day there just over a year ago and were looking forward to enjoying some of the food this time.
They had a CRAZY good happy hour (I'm talking $3 Sierra Nevada IPA on tap) so I enjoyed a well-deserved beer. Ryan was still on antibiotics from his surgery, so he enjoyed a Shirley Temple :)
Dinner was excellent. I had a sophisticated fish n' chips and Ryan had one of the softer items on the menu - scallops and steamed asparagus.
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| Anyone spy the Dumb & Dumber reference? |
It was SO nice to get away for a few hours, that over dinner I remarked to Ryan that we could go home without even seeing the concert and I would have been happy.
I'm glad we didn't, though - the concert was GREAT.
Alex Ebert is a unique talent. This was only the second show of their tour, so they were still working out some kinks on performing new songs. It felt fun, spontaneous, and intimate all at the same time.
Jade has SUCH a beautiful voice. She could sing to me all night and day. The band was tight, they looked like they were having a great time, and they played for TWO HOURS. Their "encore" was at least 45 minutes long!
It was a really fun show. I do have a bit of a gripe, though...
The show was 18 and over and felt far more obnoxious than many other shows I've been to in the last few years. At some point, Alex brought up a few kids on stage to celebrate birthdays and before you could say "magnetic zero" the stage was SWAMPED with kids. Security had a really hard time wrangling people, instruments were dangerously close to being knocked over and trampled, and at some point Alex even said, "Okay, no more people on stage, this isn't safe". When a recovering drug addict wearing a white Jesus outfit is concerned about your safety, that's when you know things are getting hairy.
Shortly thereafter, someone very near us started a fight and there was a full-on takedown involving some angry dude and at least 5 security guards. Between all of that nonsense and the flailing drunken tiny tattooed girl whapping me in the face with her hands and bouncing into me no matter where I stood, I had a hard time focusing. STAY IN YOUR OWN SPACE, PEOPLE. I'm all about dancing-as-self-expression and everything, but keep your flailing limbs to yourself, please. Also, is it possible to enjoy a concert when you're that drunk? Yeesh.
Despite the somewhat anxiety-producing atmosphere, we had a really good time. I love the vibe of downtown Tucson, especially Congress st!
When we finally got home around 1:30 am, it was definitely a fall-into-bed-happy kinda night.
I wouldn't mind doing this once a week :)
yay tucson! i have a healthy dose of native tucsonan pride. :D i was bummed we weren't going to be down for the show. i love jade's voice too. sometimes i pull up their npr tiny desk concert on youtube and hit repeat. LOVE cup cafe (makes me hungry just looking at the menu).
ReplyDeletei have had similar experiences at the rialto (usually during all-ages or 18+ shows). sometimes, depending on the show, i love grabbing a fold down seat in the back and just enjoying music while comfortably seated. :) glad you guys could get away for a bit. we need one of those.
that sounds so fun, I love edward sharpe and the song "Home" is very special to me. I would love to see that live.
ReplyDeleteI've always struggled at concerts with the crowds like that and inevitable fighting between people. It has always made me nervous and unsettled. Especially going with a guy bc some drunk men in tight spaces are just LOOKING for fights and it makes me nervous. anyway, other than that- I'm glad you had so much fun. I could definitely do that one night a week too!
and Shirley Temple! love it.
ps i meant to tell you how much I love the D&D reference.
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