Impromptu Road Trip to see Tommy & the High Pilots (December Madness)

Ok, so back in December (2009), Tommy & the High Pilots were playing a concert up in their home city of Santa Barbara (CA).

Elizabeth had been for a while saying how she wanted to go, but the drive obviously is a bit long from Orange County (especially if she was going by herself - hubby wasn't interested in tagging along, and there was their son L to consider as well). So, didn't seem like it was going to happen after all (though it was a fun daydream idea :). I didn't even consider the possibility for myself...

...and then I got E's text message (which she NEVER does) on the day of the concert around 2pm asking me if I'd drive up with her to the concert. I've been pretty busy up to this point, both with Real Life (RL) & Work (especially with work - overbusy & working some Overtime to try to keep on top of workload), so it caught me in an interesting mood. I actually stopped to consider the request seriously! :) After a bit of texting & a brief phone call between us, figuring out some of the logistics (such as how long of an esstimated drive time, when I could get off work, how soon I could get over to her place after I drove in the opposite direction to get home and change ;-) for this last minute hair brianed scheme of ours, we set about putting the wheels in motion. ROAD TRIP!!! :)

I left work about 4:30p, headed home to quickly change and get back in the car...and managed to hit the 5 fwy (northbound) around 5pm...and merge with all the traffic heading North right then through Orange County. What normally takes around 20-30 minutes took a good hour. I showed up around 6:00pm at E's door, we piled into her car...and we were off!

No stopping for dinner on the way as we were too worried about making it to the concert by 8pm (or a bit after), when we figured that Tommy & the High Pilots would go on (doors opened at 7pm, but someone else was opening for them). Fortunately, we made it JUST in time! Yay!! :) Orange County to Santa Barbara in 2.5 hrs! Managed to arrive about 8:30pm, found parking near the Bar/Club (location for Concert)...and then found our way to Soho (the bar/club). Paid our entrance fee of $10 (and showed ID :), and to our delight, they were just starting to set up the stage for the High Pilots! We made it!!! On Time! Awesome!!

:)

The concert itself was rocking! Energy was high - both on stage and in the crowd. Everyone was having a blast! (You can see for yourself in some of the videos I shot :)

Here's a few pics from the night:

Pic of E & myself - taken with E's camera

Some shots of the band playing away...

At one point in the night, E (wearing a knee length skirt, mind you) knelt on the floor to get a picture of the band performing on stage...and managed to get a nice cut on her knee (possibly as a result of some broken glass - someone knocked over & broke a glass near us earlier in the concert...even though it was standing room only where we were).

After the band finished playing, they hung out in the back with everyone (and of course they had a Merch table set up). We let some of the crowd pass before we even attempted to go and socialize. I killed a few minutes by buying their cd (I had been meaning to get a copy earlier, and even had plans in the works to get one mailed to me from the Pmo as they only sold at concerts and up till that day I didn't think I'd be at a show till they were back down in LA/OC areas in 2010, but seeing as I was now THERE at the concert I was totally in favor of supporting the band by *actually buying* their cd.) I even did the deal of 'buy a T-Shirt and CD for $20'. :)

I then proceded to go 'round the room, talking to each of the guys (mentioning that we saw them at Rusty's in Santa Monica and that we drove all the way up from OC - which they were suitably touched/impressed by the gesture :) and got their signatures on my newly purchased cd. Yay! :)

Unfortunately, we weren't able to hang out very long with them as it was getting late and niether of us (E or myself) had eaten any dinner that evening. We asked for a late night food spot recomendation from them (Tom, Mike, & Pmo were all nearby us at this point) since this was the band's home town - so theoretically someone might know the area/what was open this late. Mike gave us directions for a spot down the way (theoretically w/in walking distance) that could still be open, & Pmo mentioned another place nearby the one Mike mentioned, so we set off on foot (in the chilled night air) in search of food.

However, after a number of minutes of walking in the cold breezy night air, we weren't having much luck in finding any late night eateries open (besides an expensive looking restaurant that we passed on). Eventually, we turned around and stopped in the still-open CVS Pharmacy and picked up a few snack-items to tide us over. (I got some beef jerky & some kind of nuts/berries/granola/honey bar. Turns out my bar choice was a better one than E's choice - we both decided that the one she picked was Nasty! I shared some of mine with her :)

So, we hoofed it back to our car and set off on the long drive back to the OC. Fortunately, we came across a still open In N Out (it was only around midnight at this point :) so took advantage and got some real food for ourselves. Yay! :)

Then we settled in for the rest of the long drive back. Fortuately, I wasn't driving, as I many of you know how I do have a tendancy to nod off when driving (if tired enough). We got to E's house around 2am, and I got home sometime around 2:30am. Good thing that when we started hatching this crazy scheme I decided to take Wednesday Morning (12/23) off from work! (Yay for Half Days :).

And that's the end of my crazy last minute Road Trip Adventure to see Tommy & the High Pilots in Santa Barbara only days before Christmas! :)

To see MORE Pics and Video, you can check out my Flickr Site here. You can also check out just the video on Youtube here. (If you want to catch up on all my recordings from Tommy & the High Pilot's concerts, I also have a Playlist on my account dedicated just to them :).

Tommy & the High Pilots Pics online

DSC08627
Originally uploaded by marcailgaelyn

I've now got my pics and all 8 videos from Tommy & the High Pilot's concert at Rusty's Surf Shack (Santa Monica Pier) on 11/27/09 online.

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shutterbec/sets/72157622912233735/

(Videos will also be posted to Youtube...eventually :)

Ludo in Concert was AWESOME!! :)

Ok, I had SUCH a blast yesterday going to see Ludo with Gretchen Foltz and Elizabeth Ray at The Troubadour. Truly a Fun Evening. :)

We all met up a bit before 4pm at my work and carpooled up to West Hollywood, grabbed some food, and then found the theater and some parking. (Garmin/GPS kept telling us to go in the wrong direction - odd - but we had the address, so we looked for the street number and eventually found it :).

Only downside to the parking we found for the evening - found a 'public parking' area, but no guy in booth (all closed up), and no signs up anywhere saying whether or not it was free or paid for the evening. HOWEVER, when we got back to our car, there was an attendant, NEW signs were up saying a parking rate - which were NOT there when we parked - and a note was on my car saying that we had to pay the Max. Rate of $15.00 for the parking lot. What?!?! We argued with the guy about it. Said that when we arrived it was 7pm, there was no one around, and there most definitely were No signs up saying there was a fee for parking. He argued back that HE go there at 7pm and there were signs around/at the driveways and you had to pay for overnight parking past 7pm. Considering we walked out of the driveway/entrance where one of these New signs were standing (upright sign holder out on the side walk) - the three of us all agreed it certainly wasn't there when we walked by at 7pm. UGH!! Dude!! What a rip-off! We would have paid for our few hours of parking when we got there IF there were signs posted and a guy around. We looked! But we got into a stalemate argument, and there was no 'supervisor' to complain to or anyone to take the issue up with over his head...and we wanted to go home...so we finally gave in and paid the $15 cause it was like 1am and we all needed to get on the road for our hour drive back to the OC.

Back to the FUN part of the evening. :)

Both on Twitter and Facebook, Ludo had posted that the doors to the Troubadour would open at 7pm that there might be 'free stuff' available.
Facebook: "LUDO Is rocking the troubador in Hollywood tonight. Come early for free stuff and Without a Face. Doors open at 7. Tickets still available!"
Twitter: "In Hollywood tonight at the troubador. Doors open at 7. Tix avail at the door. Come early for free ludo crap and @waftweets !!!"

So we (and a bunch of others who read the messages) all got there early...only to find out the Troubadour WASN'T opening early...and their staff was pretty annoyed with all of us fans showing up early and keep walking up to the (unlocked) door and inquiring about them being open. They had a line queue up a bit down the street (and there was no signage or anything to say "stand here to wait for concert" so you walk by w/o knowing what the line is actually for...since its a decent distance away from the Troubadour). Basically, the line started at an abandoned building at the corner of Santa Monica Blvd & Doheny, on Santa Monica, and wrapped around the corner back along the sidewalk on Doheny. Eventually (like almost 8pm), they opened the doors and started checking tickets and IDs.

Got my nifty little orange wristband that says "Troubadour" (proving you had a ticket and could go in and wander around, I guess. Hmm....perhaps they were color coded for those over/under 21?...though I didn't look to see if there was another color. The Troubadour has a bar, so its possible).

We checked out the front bar area, where they had some merchandise set up, but they had a bunch of stuff for the other bands/acts that I didn't recognize and and who were apparently the groups leading in to Ludo's act....and I didn't spot (at that time) much Ludo stuff out. (A couple of T-Shirts and posters, mostly). Maybe they had more Ludo stuff there...just not out. They people working the area were all trying to quickly eat some food - not focused on hawking merchandise, really. ;-)

So we headed into the main area. Checked out the bleacher style seating in the upper area, but eventually just kicked it in the main standing-room-only section near the stage. Of course, considering who I was hanging with, the three of us were great at entertaining ourselves and cracking ourselves up. (We broke out into spontaneous movie quotes often throughout the night - even in line outside - and even the occasional Song. "Brave, Brave, Brave, Brave Sir Robin" (Monty Python's Holy Grail) was one of those songs while waiting in line outside. :)

1st act finally started and it was some guy who called himself "Man without a Face".
Um...we were not impressed. I got a Guinness and drank it while we waited. He kinda got his target audience with his first couple of songs. Some of which had some potential, but he needs more work/help/pointers.

2nd Act was a group called "Ha Ha Tonka". I actually liked this group. Better than the 1st act by far, though they were not to Liz and Gretchen's taste. (Too country-ish for them...even if it was a *Rock* Country influence). They said they were from the Ozarks, so a bit of a Country influence makes sense (to me). I loved the A Capella song the guys did. Their voices blended well together. These guys were drinking beer while performing (had beer bottles instead of water bottles to take swigs of between songs :), and its influence definitely showed on at least 1 of the guys soon enough. And wow!, the guitarist was REALLY talented! Liz thought so too - and mentioned that no matter what happens with this band, that guy could probably make it with probably any band. Oh, and overall, this band had good stage presence. (Kudos to them :).

The very last song they performed they were joined by members of the next Act, Meese. It was a rip-roaring good time. They were all having a blast on stage, which the audience loved. Fun.
:)

3rd Act, "Meese", got set up after a bit and started in on their set of songs. They're from Denver, CO, and the reason they're called Meese is cause their two main band members are brothers with that last name (lead singer/guitarist/keyboards and a guitarist/signer...or was he base...I forget now). I enjoyed the songs (the beat mostly, cause with the sound as it was, it was sometimes hard to understand the actual lyrics :) Liz mentioned that they were a bit too monotoned for her taste. (Playing style). And we both agreed that they're stage presence could use a bit of work. :)

And funny enough, some of Ha Ha Tonka members came back on stage for Meese's last song to play with them. (Ha Ha Tonka lead singer & guitar player joined Meese's drummer in the back...helping out on drums ;). It was fun to watch.

When they were done, it was a flurry of activity as the stage was fixed up for LUDO! (Last 2 bands had to get their gear off-stage, and Ludo's gear had to get on and set up how they wanted/needed it for their performance). As each Act had performed, the Troubadour was getting more and more Crowded. Now, as Ludo was just about ready to go on, it was pretty packed! Definitely standing room only in this downstairs section between stage and bar. :)

Eventually, everything was set up how they wanted it (the band members were down there working away with the stage hands, making sure guitars were tuned, levels were ok on mics, etc.). The band members left the stage for one last gathering (up in a box office area, stage right up a flight of stairs along the wall leading from the stage/corner of the room) and then made their grand entrance.

Woo-hoo! Everyone was ecstatic! Opening song for the night - "Go Getter Greg".

This guy recorded some pieces from few of the songs (from his cell phone) at last night's concert and posted them on his youtube account
http://www.youtube.com/user/DaWeaves79

Go Getter Greg: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udqF6PKqqKg
Hum Along: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_h_kDMEkXU
Saturday Night: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkU01p_gicw

While the first songs were great to sing to, and they played to the crowd (the energy of the crowd was really high!), the Band REALLY kicked it into gear once they started playing Broken Bride. (Entire album!)

That was AWESOME. If you don't know about Broken Bride, the entire CD is one long story. Its a Rock Opera about this guy (known as The Traveler) who's wife died in May of 1989, so he builds a time machine to go back and save her. Only he shoots too far and ends up in pre-historic times, is attacked by Pterodactyls and ends up hiding in a cave. Next song on the album is "Save Our City" where we go back to the 'present/future' and where the world is in chaos due to a zombie apocalypse and we follow the story of a young boy trying to get people to rise up and help fight the zombies (and their evil leader, known as the Dragon). Then we head back into pre-historic times with the next song to catch up with the Traveler. He makes a run for the Time Travel Machine and manages to reclaim his machine (narrowly avoiding a pack of pterodactyls). He then activates the machine and tries again to get to 1989 to save his wife...only this time the machine malfunctions again and he shoots too far forward and lands in the zombie apocalypse. The Traveler, faced with a decision to help save mankind or to go back and rescue his wife....and I'll stop there. (But I will tell you there's a twist in the end :).

Note - when they perform Broken Bride, I mean they perform it *all* w/out a break... straight through. Just one song into the next. Like I said...AWESOME!!!

They performed a bunch more songs after that, including Hum Along, Druken Lament, Topeka, and (I think I recall) a few other songs from "Your Awful, I Love You" album (which meant I could sing along cause I KNEW those songs :). Oh, and Andrew Volpe sang "Horror of Our Love" before the band started in to Broken Bride. (He had the stage to himself for that one). Great song, so couldn't forget mentioning it. :)

Lake Pontchartrain was DEFINITELY a fan favorite. The crowd ate it up and they were having a blast on the stage. (I really started getting horse by this time, shouting/singing along...along with everyone else in the audience).

It was really fun when the band would stop singing on some of the songs throughout the evening and let us just sing for a bit while they played. (Testing us to see if we would continue/know the lyrics).

One of the last song of the night: Goodwill Hunting by Myself. (Yay! Crowd loved it)

AND final song of the night: Love Me Dead!

YES!!! Definitely one the crowd was waiting for. Such Fun! :)

Oh!!! And at the very end of the night, after all the songs, they said they have one more CA show (tonight - Sat, 11/7 - at the Glass House in Pomona) and announced that in January/the new year, they'll be back in CA to work on a new album. YES!!! :)

After the concert, most of the people headed in to the front are to buy merchandise, and Ludo's band members came out to meet the fans, autograph stuff, take pics with fans. It was great. I got 4 signatures, and got one pic with Andrew Volpe (and got to say to each of those guys how much I enjoyed the concert - totally fun seeing them live).

RE: my 4 signatures - They signed my copy of "Your Awful, I Love You" cd liner :). Forgot the CD in my car (doh! thought I grabbed it) and my sharpie marker (also in the car), but at least I had the case so I could get the liner signed...and I had a regular gel/ink pen in my purse that worked for one signature, and others either had a sharpie on them, or a fan lent them theirs :).

Souvenir for the night - besides tons of photos and autographs - Liz got me a copy of the Broken Bride album as a Thank You for driving and such. (You're awesome Liz. Thanks!)

Members of Ludo:
Andrew Volpe
Tim Ferrell
Tim Convy
Matt Palermo

Links for Ludo:
http://www.ludorock.com/default.aspx
http://www.facebook.com/LUDO
http://twitter.com/LudoRock
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLudoVideoThing

Overall - Wonderful, Wonderful time. I'm SO glad I went. Totally recommend them live. If you Like Ludo's stuff - Go see them in concert!

:)

(p.s. - I'll upload my pics in a few minutes...and will post again to here when they're all up on Flickr...and I'll add at least some on facebook too :)

Golden Bough's Program (10/26)

As promised, here's the program from Golden Bough's performance on Monday night (10/26) for the North Orange County Community Concerts Association.

:)

Golden Bough: Margie Butler, Paul Espinoza, & Kathy Ross Sierra.

"America Bound"

"Set sail for the land of freedom and opportunity. Tonight, the popular Celtic trio, Golden Bough, performs a new musical concert, America Bound, capturing in song the experience of millions of Irish and Scottish immigrants who crossed the Atlantic Ocean in search of a better life in the New World. Margie Butler, Paul Espinoza and Kathy Sierra trace that journey in haunting ballads, humorous songs, sea chanteys and rousing jigs and reels and demonstrate how the songs these immigrants carried in their hearts to their new home became the foundation for some of American's best-loved folk music."

PROGRAM

Mursheen Durkin

Paddy's Green Shamrock Shore

P Stands for Paddy

When the Boys Come Rolling HOme

Isle of Hope, Isle of Tears

Froggy Went A'Courtin'*

Frog in the Well**

When New York was Irish

The Little Beggarman / The Red Haired Boy***

The Bard of Armagh / The Streets of Laredo

Johnny I Hardly Knew Ye

Real Old Mountain Dew / The Arkansas Traveler

*Popular American Folk version of an (originally) Irish song, according to the performers.

**The Irish Version

***Went from Irish song to an American Appalachians/Bluegrass song. :)

- - INTERMISSION - -

The Water is Wide

The Scottish Soldier

Green Grow the Rashes-O

Black is the Color

Charlie is My Darling

Banks of the SAcramento

Irish Eyes Are Smiling / Too-Ral-Loo-Ra*

My Irish Molly-O

Bonnie Highland Laddie

Cape Breton Tunes

Donal, Where's Your Trousers?

*According to the performers, though these 2 songs are usually known as Irish, they' actually written by Americans. :)

Joy of Spontaneity (Celtic Concert)

Yesterday, around noon, I got a text message from my friend @Candai which said something to the effect of "tell me your available tonight?!?"
:)

After being on the recipient end of many of her last-minute invites too cool things (mostly where she got free tix through work), I've learned to say "Yes". :)

I asked her what was up, and she responded that it was a Celtic band performing in Fullerton (7:30p) and that FREE tickets had just fallen in her lap. Woo-hoo!

We BOTH love our Celtic/Irish/Scottish music! So carpooling plans were made, and we met up after work to travel straight over to Fullerton, grab a bite to eat, and enjoy the concert.

Though we missed one transition from 55N to 91 (too busy chatting, I know :), it turns out that it was all in the best as by taking our detour route to get back on the 91 fwy we COMPLETELY missed the car fire that shut down the other side of the fwy. (If we had made the transition, we would have been stuck in that horrible mess). Whew!

Walking about Downtown Fullerton, we spotted an 'early bird' special (2 for 1 entree price, w/purchase of 2 beverages...any beverages, even soda/tea :) at an Italian place so decided to chance it. Food was yummy, and the service was good (except when it came time to pay - the server was a tad slow at noticing that we were ready to to pay :). And best of all, it was w/in walking distance of the concert location.

The concert was part of a series put on by the North Orange County Community Concerts Association (NOCCC). http://www.northocconcerts.org/ Apparently, the NOCCC is celebrating its 64th season/year. WOW! Impressive. Though I've never heard of them before now...and its no wonder! @Candai & I were the *youngest* ones there! :) But it was all good. :) The evenings concert was by Golden Bough, a Celtic band (trio) who's been around for 30 yrs.

From the North OC Concerts website:
"Golden Bough, Celtic Trio Monday, October 26, 2009, 7:30 PM - A musical exploration of the Irish and Scottish folk heritage and its influence on some of the best loved folk music of America today. Golden Bough features spirited vocal harmonies and instrumental numbers performed on Celtic harp, guitar, pennywhistle, violin, recorder, octave-mandolin, accordion, and bodhran. Enjoy rousing instrumental music, ballads, humorous songs and sea chanteys, plus the stories behind the music"

Group's website: http://www.goldenboughmusic.com/
Besides concerts & special events (and educational programs), they also perform at some festivals (like Highland/Scottish festivals). Last night's concert was called "America Bound" (1st time they performed this particular concert) and featured a selection of Irish & Scottish tunes (ballads, humorous songs, sea chanteys, & of course jigs & reels).

The Irish set was up first, and then after the Intermission, it was time for the Scottish set.
All in all I really enjoyed the music. I personally would have loved to hear more reels & jigs (more traditional instrumental only songs) thrown in the evenings concert, but I did enjoy all their singing songs. They did occasionally ask for the audience to join in on some of the choruses, and of course, @candai and I acquiesced...enthusiastically. :) (Ok, me possibly more than her on a few songs...since I knew a few more of the sea chanteys, etc.).

Their last song of the evening (not counting their encore) was "Donal, Where's your Trousers?"... was of course fun to join in on the chorus!

(I apparently left the program at home today, so I'll type up the full list of songs covered in the concert later).

Afterwards, most everyone moved to a smaller room off the side where some light refreshments (fizzy punch!! and cookies/brownies :) were served while the performers sold and signed their cds and just generally chatted with people. @Candai & I struck up a conversation first with their Violinist, Kathy, who came out and asked us how *we* ended up coming/heard about the concert, as we were obviously the youngest ones there. (That got a laugh :) We explained, and then started chatting about various things. @Candai asked how Kathy went from training/playing violin the Suzuki Method to playing Celtic...and she actually gave us more than a quick & simple answer. (It was great!) She performed on both the Viola and the Violin during the concert (and sang too). Both were wonderful (especially when they performed reels. Superb playing!).

The other musicians were multi-talented as well.
Margie, who's one of the co-founders of the group, played a wide variety of instruments throughout the evening (tin whistles, recorder, bodhrán , a Celtic style harp, spoons - 'the bones', guitar, etc.) as well as performed vocals on I believe every single song that evening. Her father apparently was an Irish Tenor, and she learned many a song from him. Paul, the other co-founder of the group, played guitar and sang most of the songs, but occasionally he'd break out another instrument. Occasionally he'd use the Mandolin, and for at least one song he used a banjo and for one or two others an accordion made an apperance. :)

It was hard to choose which cd to purchase, since they had a bunch of them available (including a new one they just put together called Celtic Love Songs), but I eventually settled on their "Songs of Scotland" cd and got their autographs on it. :)

The crowd had thinned out a bit by then, so we all chatted some more. (Though Kathy was drawn off by some people in attendance from the Ross clan, who apparently wanted to interview her since she had some ties to the clan :). Margie told me that she really appreciated my enthusiasm in the audience. (Hey, we were 2nd row, front & center - and the youngest people there - easy to spot :). When you're at a Celtic concert, you gotta clap (and sing) along whenever possible. (And smile at the performers....there's nothing worse than performing and staring out at a sea of deadpan faces. I know! :)

Soon, though, @Candai & I called it a night as we had to drive back to my work (where I we left my car) before either of us could drive home. Great night of music, overall! YAY! :)