A rock ‘n’ roll show

Did a little showroom floor shopping today. That’s twice I’ve done that in the last month, not counting quick grocery store visits. I don’t blame the pandemic for this. I blame the small amount of shopping I do, and also the internet. I walked around Target recently looking for shorts thinking This is easier on the website. And, today, we started the sofa-shopping process. I’m sure it will be a process.

Today’s process involved going to one store and sitting on seven sofas, a few of them more than once.

There is, of course, a sale. There is always a sale at a furniture store. Some of the gimmicks more thoughtful than others. But the woman we met today explained, in some tedious and plodding detail, the renovation sale they were undertaking. One half of the store is being reworked. And later this month they’ll flip it. And in the fall the whole store will be open again. But! For now! Everything is too crowded and it all must go at these low, low, toe-stubbing prices!

There is always a sale. Always a gimmick. And the drop cloths were a nice touch, but I am skeptical. The furniture store in my hometown held a going out of business sale for at least five years.

Anyway, we might have found one. We’ll think about it. There’s an even bigger sale next Thursday.

There is always a sale.

We made it over to the amphitheater, with easy parking, just in time for a concert. Opening the show was Toad the Wet Sprocket. It took 30 actual years, including a two-year Covid postponement, but I finally got to see this set live.

The Gin Blossoms are still happily using their 1996 “Congratulations I’m Sorry” aesthetic. It’s just perfect. Robin Wilson sounds good. Jesse Valenzuela is still pretty amazing.

(I haven’t seen them since 1996-97 or so, sadly.)

And, of course, the headliner, if you’ve been around this space in the last two days, was Barenaked Ladies. Canadian Music hall of famers Barenaked Ladies.

We walked in while Toad the Wet Sprocket was playing “Crazy Life,” which was a personal treat. At the end of the show Toad the Wet Sprocket and Gin Blossoms came out to join BNL in a cover of Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle With Care.” I had no idea how much I wanted to hear that song, how … singular a moment that would be.

It was exceptional. The whole show was terrific fun; well worth the two-year wait.

And then we hopped in the car and drove to Nashville to see friends tomorrow.

The whole day has felt like getting away with something. Shopping! Eating in the car! A concert! An overnight trip!

Crazy Life.

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