Friday was pretty tame, Jill was out late due to a school related reception and I beat her home, we had leftover fajitas for dinner then she went to bed while I caught up on newspapers and surfed a little. I planned on getting up early (at least for me on a weekend) because I’d gotten this in an email from Wolf Trap about the start of sale of tickets for the summer season on Saturday:
Arrive by 9 am for a special live performance by an artist from the 2007 summer season!
I’d studied the schedule and decided it had to be one of the artists playing this show. Sure enough, it was confirmed late Friday in an email from the Pat McGee Band:
If you go to the Wolf Trap Box Office to buy tickets on Saturday, you may see our good friends, Stephen Kellogg and The Sixers, who will be playing for folks in line.
So I headed over there first thing, getting there about 10 minutes early. They had set up a stage under the canopy at the Wolf Trap entrance and were finishing soundcheck. I’ve been a fan of theirs for a couple years, so I knew they could play to an audience that wasn’t very receptive (like they did at the Herndon Festival last year). They played for a good 45 minutes, and as much as I like their own material, the highlight for me was an a cappella version of Queen’s “Fat Bottomed Girls”.
a cappella
Afterwards, I chatted to Cerphe from 94.7 (The Globe), who was handing out a very recyclable chotchke: a baby evergreen. My friend Linda was there and we talked for a while as we walked back to our cars, then I headed over to Best Buy to pick up the new CD from Mika, then Trader Joe’s for some dried fruit and beer (they’re the most reliable distributors of Magic Hat around).
The afternoon was pretty light for me, read the paper on the porch, took Illa for a long walk in the woods, and cooked a pork loin for dinner. We headed over to Ned Devine’s in Herndon around 9:30. It was packed. At first I wondered if people were just there to see Georgetown in the Final Four, but all the TVs got rolled up or turned off when the Device took the stage around 10. With familiar faces (Chuck and Eric from Quitter UK) they played a good set, many new tunes before culminating in a cover of Rancid’s “Ruby Soho”. emmet took the stage after a short break, and played two sets. The setlist was close to the January show, with a couple additional songs thrown in. Once again, David Strickland joined them on accordion for several songs, and Derrick Decker stepped in on skins during Tamer’s solo. The bar was smoky and packed, and reminded me of shows in Fairfax. No encore, as they played right up to closing time. Maybe next time we’ll hear Tamer sing again. Jill had taken off before midnight, but my buddy Norm had come to catch the show and he gave me a ride home.
Today I’ve been busy making some DVDs and finishing and starting more auctions. I’m starting to make a real dent in the comics I don’t want, have to see if I can keep doing it every week. I made shrimp tacos for dinner base on a recipe I found in Parade. Not bad, but not a keeper. I haven’t gotten to see much of Jill this weekend, as she’s got big tests tomorrow and Wednesday. Hopefully my busy work schedule will lighten enough to not stay too late Wednesday, as Thursday she flies to her mom’s for Easter (I decided to skip it this year).