Martians, Marshmallows, and Music

Saturday started off with one of my favorite events of the year, International Table Top Day.  

For those of you not familiar, Table Top Day, promoted by Geek and Sundry and their show Table Top, is a day for people to get together to celebrate and play board games.

As in previous years, I celebrated Table Top Day at AllThings Fun in Berlin NJ.  This was the first year that Shannon joined me.

The turn-out for Table Top Day was great. The place was jumping.

Lots of people were playing games.

We started out by playing a round of Martian Dice. 

Martian Dice is a slightly more complex version of Zombie Dice.  It was a quick, fun, easy game, made all the better by the fact that I ended up the winner.

Speaking of quick, fun, and easy games, next we played a few rounds of Tsuro.  We own Tsuro and love that it’s easy to explain and play.

We use Tsuro as a warm up game to give everyone a chance to turn on their board game brains before moving on to something more challenging.

We were excited to run into our game board enthusiast friends, Josh and Len, at the Table Top Day event.  They invited us to play a card game called Guillotine with them.

Guillotine was yet another easy to pick up, entertaining game. 

It was so fun, we ordered a copy for our ever growing game collection.  

Lastly, we played Batman Love Letters. 

I played original Love Letters before  and liked the game. Using Batman characters made the game extra special.  A shout out to Pete who was really nice and talked us through the game as we played. 

We probably would have stayed longer, but we had to jet to ensure a punctual arrival to our dinner reservation. Before leaving we placed the tickets we earned playing games into the red cups of winning.

During dinner we found out that I won a preview copy of a game called Dark Seas, and an exclusive Table Top Day set of Dix-it cards (I love Dix-it).  

Shannon also ended up winning the Dix-it cards too.We both put tickets in the cup with the hopes that one of us would win them. It was a terrific event, as always.

For dinner that evening, we made a reservation at Jamonera. 

We adore tapas and have wanted to try Jamonera for at least a year. We had-

Bizet

Complimentary Olives

Meat and Cheese Plate

Stuffed Dates wrapped in Bacon

Radish and Fava Bean toasts

Scallops and homemade Sausage

Meatballs

Sundae topped with a toasted marshmallow

White Peach Sangria sorbet with rosemary shortbread cookies 

Everything was wonderful.  We love stuffed dates and declared Jamonera’s stuffed dates the best we have had so far.  We look forward to going back in the future to sample more of the menu.

After dinner we made our way to Philadelphia’s Academy of Music.  

This was actually our second night in a row visiting the Academy of music. We were there the previous evening to hear the fantastic Sufjan Stevens.

We were back, this time to jazz geek out over Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea.  It’s hard to describe the amazingness that was seeing these two jazz legends playing together on stage.

Between songs they bantered, chatted with the crowd, and during their last song they encouraged audience participation.

It felt less like a formal concert and more like two friends hanging out, jamming together.  It was the kind of music event that made you feel like music is, and was, and always will be. That music isn’t something that was invented, but it is something that is inside everyone like blood and guts. 

It was a marvelous day.

The encore. The image is terrible, but the music is good.

Elbow at the 9:30 Club

I love the U.K. band Elbow. I use their music all of the time when I write. 

When I want to rock out, I put on Grounds for Divorce. 

On Fridays when the weather is nice, I roll down my car windows and crank up One Day Like This while I drive home from work. 

Their music weaves little threads into my soul. They are one of my favorite bands ever, and they do not tour in the United States often, so as soon as they announced U.S. tour dates, I excitedly began counting down the days until I could rock out and sing “there’s a hole in my neighborhood down which of late I cannot help but fall…” with a crowded room filled with fellow Elbow fans.  

The band was making a stop in Philadelphia, but they were playing at The Electric Factory, which is our least favorite Philadelphia concert venue.  We saw Elbow a few years ago at the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. and loved the venue, so we decided to trek to D.C. once again.  

Using our trusty friend Priceline, we booked a room at The Courtyard Marriott in Crystal City Virginia. 

The best part about the hotel, aside from the reasonable price, was that it was within walking distance of the Metro.

After checking in, we had a light lunch at a café around the corner. Then we took a lovely walk past shops, restaurants, and cafes to the Metro station.  While we were trying to figure out how to purchase passes, a very nice woman walked up to us and explained that she and her husband had purchased all day Metro passes. They were done using them and asked if we perhaps would like to have them. The passes were good for unlimited rides until midnight. Score! My cousin and I used the free passes while the boys used regular purchased passes. We hopped on the yellow line and road it to the U-street section of the city.

 We purposely arrived early so we could walk around for a bit. The weather was perfect.

We ate at Ben's Chili Bowl on our last trip

A picture for Vanessa

We met up with some friends at Zenebech Injera, an Ethiopian restaurant. 

Our meal was very yummy.

 I especially liked the yellow split peas and the Kitfo. It was also incredibly cheap. Dinner for two that included two drinks (mango nectar), a shared appetizer, and a platter of Ethiopian delights only cost us $20.

Once our meal was consumed, we took a brief walk to the 9:30 Club.  

If you are really into music and/or concerts, I recommend going to the 9:30 club at least once.  It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once inside, the vibe is really cool.

Since we stood in the balcony the last time we were there, we opted to mingle with crowd on the floor this time. 

This was Elbow’s first stop on the tour and Guy, the band’s front man, laughed that he didn't anticipate how scary the giant stone angel, used as the stage backdrop, would be. 

After he said that, several members of the audience yelled,

      “Don’t Blink!”

Guy, didn't know what that meant, proving that not all Brits are Doctor Who Fans (there's a song called The Night Will Always Win, that always makes me think of Amy and Rory. They played it at the concert with the angel behind them. I kind of geeked out).

The concert was amazing! 

 Usually when you go to a concert, you are happy if the band plays a couple of your favorites. 

Elbow opened with Charge and I was like

"Wow, I love this song!"

  

Next they played Bones of You, and I was like

"This is one of my absolute favorites!" 

Then Fly Boy Blue/Lunette was the next song and I was all, 

     

"This one is great!"  

When I saw the mirror ball hanging above the stage, I turned to my husband and said, 

"I bet they’re going to play Mirror Ball at some point,"

and I was right.

A lot of the awesomeness of the concert must be attributed to Guy.  He’s great at interacting with the audience and getting everyone involved.  He has a fantastic contagious energy that he gladly shares with the fans. He often shouted,

“Cheers everyone,” throughout the night. 

The crowd, including myself, went wild when Grounds for Divorce started. I was in full rock out mode.

While we were clapping and waiting for the encore I turned to my husband and said,

“I hope they do One Day Like This.”

When they came back out they went into Lippy Kids (which always reminds me of my childhood Blenheim crew hanging out on the corner of Highland and Cummings Ave) and then they played One Day Like This. It was magical with everyone waving their arms in the air, singing the chorus in unison.

There was such an awe-inspiring vibe and soul quenching vitality to the entire evening.

We made it back to Crystal City at 11:57 pm, with three minutes to spare before our free Metro passes expired. Once in our hotel room I plopped my head down on my pillow with the words

"So throw those curtains wide, one day like this a year would see me right ….." singing me off to sleep

March come in like a lion and goes out like...music

I'm pretty sure that I have mentioned before that March is my least favorite month of the year. It teases and taunts, leaving spring just out of grasp. The weather has been iffy, and most of March has been spent checking things off of our mundane to-do list, so we were looking forward to a wonderful treat at March's end, a concert at Union Transfer.

We decided to eat at Sazon because...chocolate. And also because it is conveniently located across the street from Union Transfer.

I tried an empanada this time.  It was super tasty.

Of course there was chocolate.

My husband kept talking about how amazing his chocolate drink was, so everyone wanted to steal a taste.

We arrived at Union Transfer just as Typhoon was getting ready to go on stage. This was the second time we went to a concert because we wanted to see the opening band (Typhoon) more than we wanted to see the headliner (Okkervil River). We really love Typhoon and look forward to them coming back as a headliner. Their set was great, and thankfully, Cassie and her friends were nowhere to be seen so there were no annoying violin twerkers at this show.

Typhoon was amazingly gracious.  The band members hung out in the lobby after they played and talked with  fans. They were even nice enough to sign cds and/or anything else people wanted signed.

It was fun getting to meet the band; being able to tell them face to face how much we enjoy their music.

On Saturday night we went out to see Sisters (Linsey, Julie, and Laurie). Keep an eye on these ladies, they are extremely talented musicians/songwriters.

picture courtesy of Scott Buchanan

picture courtesy of Scott Buchanan

Hot drinks and mellow music was the perfect way to spend a rainy Saturday night, and mellow was the agreeable way for March to end since April and May are gearing up to be crazy chaotic.


One of my favorite Typhoon songs

You Can't Twerk to the Violin- A Quiet Rumble

With our bellies full we were ready to head across the street to Union Transfer to see The Head and the Heart.  The Head and Heart is categorized at an indie folk rock band. 

 

Here is a little something so that you can get an idea of what the band is like. It may help you appreciate the story to come.

 

 

 Soul Mama (whose blog I love reading) loves the band and she raises sheep and then spins her own wool into yarn for homemade knitting projects so I think overall I was expecting the crowd to be mostly made up of crunchy types with some hipsters sprinkled in for good measure, but I believe my husband said it best,

“I feel like these people are at a completely different concert than the one we’re at.”

 

We found a nice little spot to hunker down in. A spot that we thought was fairly out of the way of craziness, after all you are not allow to drink alcoholic beverages on the floor of Union Transfer, so that should cut out at least some of the nonsense, right?

 

 

Things seemed fine when the first opening band began.  They were called Quite Life and they were good.  All of the members had great beards and hats.

 

 

The second opener was Thao and the Get down, Stay down. 

 She was kind of like if a member of Mumford and Sons had a daughter with Bjork and then that daughter started a band with Jesus as the drummer. She was very talented, but we weren't 100% on board with her set.  She did have one very catchy song that involved the banjo that I must admit I've been humming to myself all week.  When I checked out the album on iTunes it was pretty good, better than the live performance, so I may get it sometime in the future.

 

It was about the time that Thao was ending that Cassie and her crew showed up.  They were a rather friendly group of girls who decided to take up residence in front of us in our peaceful little spot.  Cassie taught her friends that when you go to the bar and order non-alcoholic beverages, your cup is marked with an X so that the security guards know that your drink has no alcohol.  Cassie brings her own Sharpie to Union Transfer, orders alcoholic beverages and then marks them herself with an X so the security believes them to be non-alcoholic.  One of the girls in the group brought her own flask, while others had tiny bottles of liquor that they added to their cups of soda.  That probably should have been the sign that we were in trouble.

 

Finally the time had come for The Head and the Heart to play. 

We were all very excited.  The girls were very very excited to see the band.  They loved indie folk rock music so much that they decided to have a full on dance party. 
Now usually at these types of concerts there are certain moves.  I'm a big fan of the sway bounce.  I usually sway bounce quite a bit a concerts.  There is also the sway bounce that includes some shoulder shakes and head shakes or there is your basic up and down pogo sometimes accompanied with a raised hand and finger point as though you are saying, "I love you band, you are awesome!"  Those are the usual moves found at these types of shows.  This was not the type of show, especially  a sold out crowed show, to show off your full out on the night club dance floor moves, but clearly Cassie and her friends were not aware of this information. They were very touchy feely and affectionate with one another, which made us wonder if there was more than just vodka in their systems. They did not seem to care that their dance moves resulted in them crashing into those around them.  I had to dodge an elbow to the face more than once.  A couple of times, one of the girls did some twerking moves.  One, it doesn't have quite the same impact when you are twerking in jeans and a flannel shirt and two, you can't twerk to the violin!  Indie folk rock is not twerking music. 

At the same time, we became aware that there was a guy behind us who did not have proper concert etiquette either.  He seemed to think he was in a mosh pit.  He was a big guy and was yelling and getting super rowdy, so much so that the guards came and talked to him several times.  At one point between songs he yelled out,

 

"Let's get ready to rumble!!!!"

Charity one of the band members replied, "It's a quiet rumble." 
Well rumble guy eventually stepped over the line when a guard asked once again that he calm down so he wouldn't hurt the people around him and rumble guy responded by saying that the guards should just kill him.   He got thrown out.
Between rumble guy and Cassie's group my cousin said,

"I feel like we are in crazyland."  Again, just to remind you this is an indie folk rock band.  Very mellow with contemplative lyrics, not crazy moshing music at all.

 

We were happy when the band started breaking out their slow songs.  Surely the girls couldn't dance to these songs, we thought.  We were right, they did not dance but instead formed a glob of bodies.  Now I have seen girls stand in a line with their arms around each other and sway, but this wasn't a line, it was a mass of arms, legs and heads.  They swayed violently, crashing into us over and over again and would sometimes do this move where they would all lean back, causing us to be in danger of receiving a head-butt. 
A few times my husband said to me and my cousin,
"You better watch out or you will get sucked into their love fest."  He also said,
"I think they are going for a record for longest group hug."
At the point when we had had just about enough of being smashed into by a group of swaying girls my cousin said,
"I am about to break out my karate moves." I said I would break my karate moves out too.

Thankfully towards the end of the concert the girls migrated to the left and further up so we were able to enjoy the last few songs unmolested.  Overall we had a good time at the concert, but we would have enjoyed the show more if it were not for the crazy people.  At least we have a good story from the experience.  I can see us in ten years still breaking out,
"Do you remember that concert with those crazy girls and the rumble guy? That was a fun time."


Here's the song I've been singing all week.  Sadly the drummer in the video does not look like Jesus.