Hinds, Mamalarkey, Spooky Boys at the Aladdin, Portland OR

Nonagon et al at IBW (South)

Riot Fest at Douglass Park

Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe at Out of Space

A lovely evening in the park, even though the line was so long that we ended up hearing Nicole Atkins and the beginning of Nick Lowe's set from outside the venue.

Jon Langford at Tata's Tacos

We went to see Langford play at a taco place.  And I ate ceviche, because it came with the app combo Amy ordered but she didn't like it.  It needed salt.

Langford covered Strummer's X-ray Style.  The title track from the Mescaleros' first record, but still kind of a 'deep cut.'  I smiled.

Peter and Beth were supposed to join us (actually, we were joining them), but they were both sick.  Booooo.

Riot Fest at Douglass Park

Anoushka Shankar, Hollie Cook at Millennium Park

Waco Brothers at Schuba's

Riot Fest at Douglass Park

Nonagon, Cell Phones at Brinkman Haus

Tiny's 50th birthday celebration.  Did another band play that we listened to from the yard?  I think so - I seem to recall the singer sounded like Johno, but wasn't.

Eddie Palmieri at Millenium Park

A perfectly pleasant evening picnicking downtown.  I picked up banh mi for Amy and I on my bike ride down.  I got to bike over that crazy windy "new" bridge.  Amy and i also strolled over it to gawk at the climbing wall.  I also showed her where i broke Jonah.  Oh, there was some salsa music too (we even saw folks, mostly old or young, dancing).

the rutabega, Stomatopod at Township

This was Christy's 50th birthday party. It was a lot of fun.  I ate a whole bunch of some kind of dumpling or something (samosas, maybe?).  It was good to catch up with Jay and Diana.

Matt & Kim at the Riviera

Amy really likes the Matt & Kim, and they were playing right down the street from Tiny and Annie, so i thought maybe we could all go.  Then i found out how much tickets were.  And then it sold out.  Drat.

My friend Doug to the rescue!  Not only was he able to hook us up with tickets, but we got to watch the show from the VIP section.  Amy may never watch a show from the floor again.

And what a show it was.  Non-stop energy.  I think Kim spent more time dancing (and twerking) on her drums than she did playing them.  There were those among us, especially the drummer, who suspected the music may not have been as "live" as it could have been - and it didn't matter!  Did they drop balloons on the crowd?  I believe so.  Was there a crazy light show?  You betcha.

Seriously, i think i'm getting tired just thinking about how much jumping about they did.  Energy energy energy.

Both Annie and Amy saw boobs a-flashin' in the crowd.  Tiny and i did not.  Which is totally unfair.

Also, i suspect we substantially raised the average age...

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros at Summerfest

Amy and i drove up to see Strummer the day after i had caught him at the Metro.  She was 7 months pregnant with Emmett at the time (who we were calling "Lump").  How's that for love?

Strummer was good.  Not as good as the night before, but that might have been the venue (outdoors, etc.).  I did notice that he did, in fact, change the ad libbed parts of the songs to reflect the fact that we were in Wisconsin and not Chicago.

Warped Tour in the United Center parking lot

Pietasters, Checkered Cabs at Wetlands, NYC

Amy and i went to this show on our honeymoon.  We loved the Pietasters - on a lark, i sent them a letter (this was before email) seeing if for some reason they'd be able to play our wedding.  They could not, as their lead singer was getting married the same day (and, ya know, they live in Washington DC).

The show was great.  Though i don't remember seeing chris murray or the miggedys, the internet tells me they did, in fact, play.

The Soulskats in Santa Fe

Happened across a ska band playing in some park on our way to dinner in Santa Fe (on our honeymoon).  Don't remember much about it, only that it was a happy coincidence.  Here's what I wrote at the time (actually, 2 1/2 weeks later):

"We went out to get a nice dinner (Rich made some suggestions) + on the way we came across a ska band playing in a park!  Quite a scene - skaters + tattooed freaks!  The band was alright (Soulskats, I think), but it sure was an amazing coincidence!"

That sure was a lot of exclamation marks.  I must have been more excitable back then.  Also, I wrote this in the margin:

"BIG MAN WALKING A TEENY-WEENY DOG."

The Toasters, Dance Hall Crashers, Hepcat, Voodoo Glow Skulls at Metro

Fine Young Cannibals at the Metro

Jeff and i met the girls there.  This is the first time Amy and i met (she does not remember this).  Monkey Rhythm opened and was introduced as "the best band in the world."  Both Jeff and i wondered why, if true, were they opening?...

It took me a while, but i eventually found Monkey Rhythm's only record.  It took even longer, but i even found it digitally as well (especially because it took over ten years for digital music to even exist).

There was a crazy dancer in front of us for much of FYC.  This wasn't a big deal, as the Metro was only about 1/2 full.

Amy's mom's date gave us all a ride home.