These Late Night Are Killing Me

OK, so I went out a few week ago to see The Hold Steady in Orlando.  Did I mention that it takes me a full day to recover from a late night out?  I'm sitting here, blearily, a little after 1 in the afternoon.  I got home last night at 1:30???   2 a.m.???  It doesn't matter how late it was.  Let's face it, my body is used to being in bed by 10 pm.  My body is in full rebellion mode. (You messed with me so this is what you get.  I'm not hung over, I'm just tired.)  I missed my bike ride this morning.  Got up (didn't really sleep well either) had breakfast, went back to bed.  I'm not yet recovered.

OK, so what was the cause of my misery today?  It was the Reverend Horton Heat/Cracker show.  The Legendary Shack Shakers played as well, but we managed to miss them.  It was that, but it began with dinner.

My friends Nancy and Steve Bird asked me to join them at Beaune's, a Wine Bar/Restaurant in Ybor City.  They had a gift card to use.  I'm not one to turn down a free meal, and I don't get to go out much, so I was delighted to accept.  They have a wine shop next to the wine bar, and you choose and bottle from the store and they open it for a $10 cork fee (much less than the usual restaurant mark up.)  They have a limited menu, but everything looked great.  We decided to share stuff, so we ordered 3 appetizers, a salad each, and an entree to split.  The problem (if you could call this a problem) is that the appetizer portions were dinner sized.  I don't know if it's because the waitress is good friends with Steve and Nancy or if that's how it always is.  There was a huge piles of mussels in a light cream tarragon sauce.  I ordered escargot, and instead of a snail per compartment they stuffed 2 or 3 in each dimple.  With tons of butter and garlic and bread crumbs.  And the cheese thingy that I couldn't pronounce that had whole garlic cloves baked into it.  We ate and drank wine and laughed and talked.  Then the salads came, with a delightfully light lemony dressing.  It was different from what I've had before and it was such a surprise.  We could have done without the entree, duck, but they brought it out and we ate every bit of that as well, along with the cassolet and haricot verts. The only thing left was a few bread rounds and one mussel that didn't open.  It was a meal fit for a king.

We staggered to our cars and drove to the parking lot behind the Ritz.  We got there right as the Shack Shakers played their last song.  I'm sorry to have missed them 'cause I really like them and haven't seen them in a few years, but from the reports I got it was the same wild show.  We found Matt and then sat around a but and talked with friends who were there.  Nancy had gotten us upstairs where there are chairs so we headed up there.  I  went to get us a beer, and when the bartender said $26 for three beers, I just started laughing.  True, they were big beers, but over $8 a beer?  WTF? The upstairs bartender had a good sense of humor about it.  Well, since we'd been through two bottles of wine over dinner, I didn't need to drink that much anyway.

We settled in and the show started just a few minutes later.  It sounded good from where we were.  Let's face it, Cracker's been around a long time, have a loyal following, and know how to please their audience.  They started with some old favorites, did some new ones, some more faves.  Gave the crowd what they wanted.

I'm used to being in the thick of the crowd, so when Nancy suggested going downstairs after twenty minutes or so, I said, "Sure!"  It was less crowded on the far side of the room, so we headed over there.  I kept drifting closer into the back of the crowd, then I spotted a friend on mine, Henry, at the other side of the stage.  Henry and I used to have desks that faced each other back when they had their great experiment at USAA of combining Policy Service and Claims into one unit.  We run into each other every so often at shows.  So I plunged into the crowd and made my way over to his side.  He gave me a big hug.  I looked up, I was just 4 people back from the stage.  Henry went to get a beer, and Nancy joined me just at Cracker launched into their signature song, 'Euro Trash Girl.'  (I often wonder if they wished they'd written fewer verses; the album version clocks in at over 8 minutes.)  A girl behind me tapped me on the shoulder and started a tirade, "You know, it's just rude that you people just come in and get right in front of someone.  I've been sitting here since before the band started and you just waltz up and....."  Actually, I totally agree with her; it was rude of me.  I apologized and turned to go, but Henry grabbed me and pulled me in front of him, and his friend pushed me in front of him, and I was right at the front of the stage, right under David Lowrey, lead singer of Cracker.  Aaaah, where I belong. 

The first thing I noticed is that Lowrey's looking his age.  Whew!  He's been at it, first with Camper Van Beethoven, now Cracker, since the early 80's.  Rock-n-roll is not an easy lifestyle.  The second thing is that the man I had displaced (or rather, had been displaced by Henry's friend) looked a bit uncomfortable.  I decided to bow out of my stage position and find my friends.

The rest of the night goes onto blur fast forward.  Cracker ended, Heat started, mosh pit ensues.  Nancy and Steve disappear, Matt and I hang out,  I dance and sway to my favorite songs and avoid the sweaty young men who are circling the pit.  It was my first time seeing the Reverend Horton Heat, and the show was as expected.  Obnoxious fans, but we were able to avoid them so it was all good.

OK, I've not been writing this all day.  Went to the store and have done a few other things, but it's almost 3:30 and I'm closer to feeling  like myself again.  But I've got to limit these late nights.

I just looked at Creative Loafing's concert listing for upcoming shows.  I don't see anything that tempts me.  For now.

Jen