Yes, another road trip. What can I say? I’m in that kind of mood. I caught Enter the Haggis again at the Sun Music Hall in Floyd, Virginia on April 24 and again at the Sedalia Celtic Festival the next day.

Sun Music Hall is a small, relaxed venue in a picturesque Blue Ridge village. The crowd was young and energetic. I suspect many students from Virginia Tech made the trip from nearby Blacksburg. The guys played what’s becoming their pretty standard two sets, heavy on material from the new CD. Having seen them four times now, it’s been interesting to see the new songs evolve and begin to have a life of their own beyond what’s been recorded. And speaking of that, some of the “old” songs are taking on breathtaking new life. Specifically, “Long Way Home.” This tune has gone from one that I really didn’t think that highly of when it was recorded on “Soapbox Heroes” to one of my absolute favorites. I think a lot of that is due largely to Trevor’s growth as a musician (that’s Trevor Lewington, ETH’s guitar player for the uninitiated). It’s obvious that he’s gained a ton of confidence and technical skill in the last few years. Any semi-skilled guitar player can do a standard blues progression, but it takes real soul to pull it off the way he’s been doing lately on “Long Way.” I also got to hear “Death of Johnny Mooring” for the first time at Floyd. It was every bit as dynamic and exciting as I expected it to be. Brian (Buchanan, the fiddle player) has a lot of fun on this song, coaxing sounds out of his fiddle that are heretofore unknown to man.

The next day at the Sedalia Festival, the sets were much the same. Very, very solid, lots of material from the new CD. “Murphy’s Ashes” continues to be a standout. I simply love the way this song builds in intensity, backs off, and builds again to its nearly ear-splitting conclusion. It’s one of the ones I can feel right under my sternum, if that makes any sense. The crowd, however, could not have been more different than the previous night. It mostly resembled Sunday morning at a Southern Baptist Convention. People were appreciative to be sure, but simply would not get up and dance. The rest of it was everything a festival day should be. Warm, sunny weather. Good friends. Great music. Decent beer. It was a real treat to get to know some people I really hadn’t had a chance to hang out with before.

Look for a focus on local and solo musicians coming up here in the next few weeks as the Oklahoma Renaissance Faire begins and I start reviewing some faire band CDs and performances.

I figured I should establish my cred as a reviewer of live music by giving some history of the shows I’ve gone to over the years. This is part one of two, and will deal with everything but the Grateful Dead shows, which need their own post.

Since I was a tiny kid, my parents took me to all kinds of live music. Symphony, folk music, musicals, things like that. I always loved it but I didn’t understand the full power of live rock music until 1984. That year, I went to what I now call my first real concert: Van Halen on the 1984 tour when David Lee Roth was still with them. OK, yeah, I’m kind of old. Whatever. I will never forget perching on the back of my folding chair, in heels, 20 rows from the stage, dead center. The music was ear-splitting, the crowd was wild and intense, the air perfumed with joyful sweat and marijuana smoke (what *do* people call it now?). I was 15, a social outcast, and I left the Philadelphia Spectrum that night with the sense that I’d finally found a place to belong, even for just a brief span of time. As a historical footnote, the video for “Panama” was filmed the night I was there.

The next year, I saw U2 on their “Unforgettable Fire” tour, again at the Spectrum. To this day, it is still in my top ten list of live music experiences. The CD hadn’t been out for very long at that time, but I was enough of a fan to know all the new songs. That same year I saw Bryan Adams (*cringe*) about two weeks before Live Aid. To this day, I can’t believe I missed Live Aid. I was *right there*, an hour from Philadelphia. Watched it on TV though.

During my college years, I saw quite a few prog rock and punk shows. Dead Milkmen, Marillion, Butthole Surfers, stuff like that. As well as many, many nights of listening to my college friends “bands”. I also saw U2 twice more for “Joshua Tree” during that period of time. Of all those, Marillion stands out the most. They were *huge* in Europe at the time, selling out soccer stadiums, but we saw them in teeny tiny bars in places like Poughkeepsie and Albany.

After college, I almost immediately discovered the Grateful Dead, which will be covered in a separate post. In my 20s, I saw all kinds of music. Jam bands, jazz, classic rock, pop, bluegrass, blues, anywhere and everywhere I could get. I haunted the clubs in Baltimore and saw bands like The Counting Crows way before they were well-known. I had a friend who had a band, jammy jazz influenced original stuff and for a while, every Saturday night, we’d go hear them. It was during this time that I discovered some of what remains my favorite music to date. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, Blues Traveler, Eric Clapton, Phish and more.

Then I got married and immersed in real life and it all kind of…stopped. For a period of several years, I didn’t see any live music at all. I’d lost interest in standard radio music. The local alternative station in Baltimore changed formats. I was in grad school and broke. I got divorced somewhere in there. Then, one of those random, life-changing things happened and I managed to discover Great Big Sea while living about 1,000 miles from Newfoundland. I met my now-husband, which is a story in and of itself, and started seeing all kinds of East Coast bands, celtic rock bands, etc. when we lived in Toronto.

After moving to the cultural wasteland of South Florida, my primary exposure to live music came at Ren faires. I was still missing that bone-shaking, full-body, rock concert experience. We moved to Missouri. More bluegrass and Ozark folk music. Then…then I saw Enter the Haggis at the Milwaukee Irish Festival in August, 2007. I’d seen them before, more than a few times, but for some reason the experience of standing out in the pouring rain, drenched, freezing and singing my heart out, resonated with me in a way few live performances had ever done before. I bought “Northampton” at that show and I was gone. Never looked back. It was *exactly* the kind of musical experience I’d been missing so much. Adrenaline rushing, ear-ringing, bone-vibrating, and alive.

So…that’s my concert history. What’s yours?

Sorry for the belatedness of this review. It’s been a week.

The Dublin Pub…nice venue. The owner was awesome. A true publican who made sure everyone was comfortable and having a good time. It was already packed when I got there around 7:30 and I ended up in the back by the bar among the people who preferred to talk rather than listen.  Most of the crowd seemed to be people who came to their favorite bar and, ooh, look, a band!

I would like to say for the record that I was not the only crazy person there. I met a guy, Dan, who had flown in from Alexandria, LA! We debated who was nuttier. He’d come farther, but I had driven the whole 10 hours. I think it was a tie.

OK, the show. The first of the two sets was…interesting. The first two songs were great (The Litter and the Leaves, Lancaster Gate). Then it got sort of uneven. Not bad, just not as tight as I’ve come to expect. The guys seemed to be having trouble finding and holding a consistent groove. I’m not sure if it was something technical going on, or the odd crowd, or what. Or maybe it was just me in my vantage point among the talkers.

However, things changed in the second of the two sets. Not only did the guys find the groove, they caught it, wrestled it to the ground, kicked its ass and showed it who was boss. It was the best single set of Enter the Haggis I’ve heard in the ten years I’ve been seeing them.

A thunderous version of Murphy’s Ashes opened the set followed by Ghosts of Calico which is catchy and haunting all at the same time. Apothecary with a gorgeous new intro…I love it played this way! Couple more solid tunes then Craig played “Amazing Grace” as the intro to “Long Way Home.” Apparently, a Dayton police officer had fallen the day before and this was a tribute. That few minutes alone would have been worth driving 10 hours to hear. It was moving and technically spot-on. Some more really solid stuff, then Broken Line. It is not hyperbole to say this song is a masterpiece, both live and on the CD. Lanigan’s closed the set and Brian had fun playing with his new toys (violin effect pedals), much to the delight of the crowd, who finally seemed to get into things. Particularly, when Trevor decided to be a rock star and jumped up on one of the tables to close out the tune!

The encore was Lights and Cars which never fails to move me, Congress and Gasoline. Trevor had to get a bit acrobatic for the drum-guitar bit during Congress because the stage was so small. All in all? Completely worth the 20 hours in the car. Completely. Bravo, guys!

One of the things I love most about travelling is finding cool and quirky places to stay. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll stay in a corporate chain if I have to, but I far prefer hostels, guest houses, and bed and breakfasts. On my lightning overnighter to Dayton last weekend, I stayed at Inn Port, in the Oregon District in downtown Dayton, OH. The Oregon District is Dayton’s oldest neighborhood, dating back to 1829 or so. I strongly recommend reading more about the history of this funky little neighborhood, as it’s a real urban revival success story.

Inn Port is actually two separate buildings on the same street. The building where I stayed was a stately old beauty of a duplex, built in 1855. Lovingly restored by owners Jeff and Leslie Gonya, the building is a glory of hardwood floors, soaring ceilings, gorgeous woodwork and quirky Caribbean themed decor. Jeff and Leslie greeted me at the door after helping me find the place via cell phone.  I’ve stayed in quite a few B&Bs over the years and Jeff and Leslie are among the friendliest, most down to earth folks I’ve had the privilege of guesting with. They made me feel right at home in the cozy Key West room.

The Key West room has a sort of tropical, Jimmy Buffett theme. There’s a vintage record player with a bunch of Buffett albums, beachy decor, and a fabulously comfortable bed. It occupies the top floor of the house, sharing space with the New Orleans room, a shared bathroom and an inviting common area with sky chairs, a television, fridge, etc. Jeff and Leslie’s own apartment is also on this floor which was comforting since I was travelling alone.

Breakfast is a serve yourself continental affair in a spacious breakfast room. I’m not a morning person and this suited me better than some places I’ve stayed where the owners sit right down and eat with you. On the whole, Inn Port is a gracious, comfortable B&B with welcoming, laid-back owners. What more could you ask?

I took off on Friday for some badly needed me-time and headed up to Dayton, OH to see Enter the Haggis. Why yes, I did make two 20-hour round trips in six days to see these guys. They are that good. People often don’t understand the lengths I will go to to hear good music. At some point, I’ll post about the total lack of a music scene where I live.

Anyway, took off around 6:00am and headed up I-44.

So, I’m driving up I-44 south of St. Louis. I’m doing just over the limit, listening to Arcturus by ETH and feeling happy. I see a cop in the left median, so I pull into the right lane, cause that’s what you’re supposed to do. He pulls out, gets behind me, then pulls around and ahead of me, then alongside. Then he drops back and puts on the flashers.

I’m utterly confused at this point and running through the mental checklist. No lights out. Registration up to date. Not speeding. I got bupkis. He comes over to the passenger side and motions me to open the door. So I do and he says, “Did you know that your front license plate is missing?” WTF??

I said, yes, it’s in the trunk. I don’t have a front mount and it’s not the law in MO that you have to have a front tag, just a recommendation. He taps my cooler, which I have sitting in the passenger seat so I can get at it, and says, “Whatcha got in here?”

You have no idea how tempted I was to say, “Illegally harvested internal organs. There’s a Russian crime boss who’s gonna be pissed if this heart goes bad before his transplant.” But I didn’t. I said, “soda, mostly.” He kept questioning me about where I was going what I was doing, etc. Finally I just clammed up and handed him my license. He was flat-out hassling me and I was sick of it.

Of course I didn’t have my insurance card. He gave me a warning for that and told me to have my husband take care of that for me when I got home. Sexist bastard.

To make matters worse, he interrupted Arcturus. Even my *husband* doesn’t interrupt me when I’m listening to Arcturus.

So that was my cop adventure on this trip. It felt like old times. On the road to hear music, getting hassled by the cops! I still haven’t the foggiest idea why he pulled me over…