The Beechtree To The Rescue

I guess this is what happens when Mother Nature gets mad at me, though I don't know what I did to make her angry. Maybe its the fact that I drive a 13-year-old car. Maybe its the fact that I don't always treat insects like they're my best friends. Maybe its the fact that after the Springsteen show Monday in Albany I didn't run after the napkins that blew away while I was eating my pizza. I don't know. But what I do know is that I was supposed to drive to Boston on Sunday for my first game at Fenway Park - Yankees vs. Red Sox, no less - but the plan was thwarted by an April rain storm. Now I have to hope that it isn't re-scheduled for a day that I'm at a wedding, or have a show, or any of the other things that I have to do this summer. Keep your fingers crossed.

So what does one do when you and your friend have plans to go to a baseball game in Boston and its raining? Well, obviously you go to the Beechtree Grill for dinner and drinks. Specifically, you start with a couple Brooklyn Pennant Ales, along with fresh mozzarella on crostini with tomato, fresh basil, aged balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil. Its quite glorious. Then you have your salad, and while all of the salad dressings are dynamite, the creamy garlic is definitely C4 caliber. And for your entree, you have slow roasted pulled pork with Carolina BBQ and french fries. It also comes with the chef's vegetable of the day, and on Sunday it was roasted rutabaga. Amazing. And then you are too full for dessert, but if legs were hollow you would get the chocolate peanut butter pie.

Now, the above mentioned food is what I chose to eat, but in reality you could order anything off the menu at the Beechtree and walk away wanting more. The tap beers are always changing, the desserts are always changing, and the specials are always, well, special. The food, staff, and atmosphere is truly remarkable, and I encourage you to stop in, get a meal, or get a drink, or dessert, or all of the above. On Sunday it was my plan B, but trust me when I say that it is a stellar plan A.

10

One word comes to mind when looking to describe my tenth time seeing Bruce Springsteen on Monday: endurance.

After seeing Bruce and the band two weeks ago the itch to go again was back, and thanks to eBay I was able to score my first GA tickets to a show. My friend and bodyguard Chris and I arrived in Albany around 2:45PM, got our tickets at will call, got our GA lottery wristbands, and then got lunch at the Pearl St. Pub ($2 drafts, hell yeah). We left the pub at 4:00 and walked back to the Times Union Center to get ready for instructions. We were soon told to head to specific spots to arrange ourselves in numerical order based on the number on our wristbands. My number was 0303, and Chris was 0305.

Once in line, we found ourselves standing behind three young European guys with higher wristband numbers than us who sarcastically blew me off when I tried to explain to them that everyone needs to be in numerical order. A little while later a woman in line explained to them the same thing and they finally relented and moved back to their spot. Leave it to a woman. We also met a couple from Canada (the husband had seen Bruce more than 60 times and they've met the man a couple times), a middle-aged asshole who wished Bruce would stop doing his whole "common man" thing (if you don't like what he does then why are you here?), and a 17-year-old girl named Cindy who had driven from Concord, MA, and was planning to drive back that night. Don't know if she did or not. It was during this time that I developed my dehydration headache.

We didn't make the drawing for the front pit, but were finally let in to the arena around 7:00. We hit the bathroom and made our way to the floor, staking out our spot about five people deep behind the second barricade just to the right of stage center. I could've throw a baseball and hit the stage if I wanted to. It was the closest I had been, and the people around us were great. Very territorial. If you had to go to the bathroom, they would save your spot, and they did not like it when people tried to squeeze in front after we were there. And there we stood until the show started at 8:30.

1. Badlands
2. We Take Care of Our Own
3. Wrecking Ball
4. Out in the Street
5. Death to My Hometown
6. My City of Ruins
7. Darlington County
8. Jack of All Trades
9. Murder Incorporated
10. Downbound Train
11. Shackled & Drawn
12. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
13. The Promised Land
14. The Way You Do The Things You Do/634-5789
15. Janey Don't You Lose Heart (solo/acoustic)
16. Backstreets
17. The Rising
18. Lonesome Day
19. We Are Alive
20. Land of Hope and Dreams
* * *
21. Thunder Road
22. Rocky Ground (with Michelle Moore)
23. Born to Run
24. Dancing in the Dark
25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

All in all, seven different songs from when I saw them two weeks ago, and at times during the show I was no more than ten feet from Bruce while he was on a raised platform. During "634-5789," Bruce was on this platform drinking a beer that someone from the crowd gave him. He then flipped the cup in our direction and Chris caught it. I got beer in my hair and almost dropped my iPhone as I was filming at the time, but how awesome is that? Chris wants to never wash it and have it framed. And big shout-out to the Times Union Center security team. In the middle of "Wrecking Ball," these two obviously wasted guys came charging through the crowd and stopped right in front of me. They were there for a few minutes acting wasted, blocking my view, and talking about how they had gotten past security, but pretty soon security arrived and my whole section made sure to point out who should be removed. I love teamwork.

When the show was over, we walked back to the car, then to one pizza place, then another, and we finally sat down in the car to leave at 12:08AM. That means we were on our feet, basically standing in one place, for over 8 hours. We were so exhausted and dehydrated on the drive home, and yesterday, too. It was a great experience, but not a relaxing one, and definitely not one that we would want to do outside in the summer when you have to deal with the heat and sun. Anyway, we like to tailgate before summer shows. Meadowlands in September? We shall see.

9

The best concert tickets are the ones that you stumble into; ones that you haven't been waiting months and months to use. Often times, this is how I come to see Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, and last Tuesday was no exception. I was initially on the fence about going to my 9th show, but after reading the tour reviews and seeing videos from the concerts, I decided I had to go. I'm glad I did. It was my first time seeing them at the Meadowlands arena.

1. We Take Care of Our Own
2. Wrecking Ball
3. Badlands
4. Death to My Hometown
5. My City of Ruins
6. So Young and In Love
7. The E Street Shuffle
8. Jack of All Trades
9. Seeds
10. Prove It All Night
11. Easy Money
12. Waitin' on a Sunny Day
13. The Promised Land
14. The Way You Do The Things You Do/634-5789
15. American Skin (41 Shots)
16. Because the Night
17. The Rising
18. We Are Alive
19. Thunder Road
* * *
20. Rocky Ground (with Michelle Moore)
21. Out in the Street
22. Born to Run
23. Dancing in the Dark
24. Land of Hope and Dreams
25. Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out

Seeing Bruce and the band is like a lesson from the professionals. It's like they're up there saying, "This is how it's done, everyone. Take notes." I always do. The highlights of the night for me were "Death to My Hometown," which is one of my favorite songs off the new album; "Waitin' On a Sunny Day," with Bruce pulling a young girl out of the crowd to sing the chorus and slide across the stage with him (watching him run for the slide was the only time, to me, that his age was visible, by the way); "American Skin (41 Shots)," which has become a part of the show again in the wake of the Trayvon Martin situation in Florida; "Thunder Road," with Bruce allowing the entire arena to sing the first verse; and "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out," complete with extended intro and mid-song Clarence tribute. And in additi0n to all that, one of the best parts of the night was the fact that I took a Bruce fan to his first Bruce show. My sax player in In The Pocket, Christian, is a huge Bruce fan, and Tuesday was his first experience seeing him live. Very exciting.

I'm not really sure what to say about seeing the E Street Band without Clarence. I think others were feeling a bit more bitter sweet than I was. The band goes on, and his parts are duplicated but he can never be replaced, just like Danny. I do like how they added an entire 5-piece horn section, though. It's like they need five guys to fill the void left by one. My former college jazz director told me that the trombone player on the tour is a friend of his named Clark.

But as great as last Tuesday's show was, I kinda wish I could have been at the show the next night if for no other reason than the band played "Racing in the Street," which is like the one song that I really want to hear them do that I have not yet. Apparently, they also added a video tribute to Clarence in the middle of "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out." I guess this means I have to go back, right? Albany on Monday night, anyone?

Don't Let The Idiots Get You Down

Friday night In The Pocket played at La Puerta Azul on 44 in Salt Point. If you've never been, they've got great Mexican food...but it can get a little pricey. So, being the poor musician that I am I decided to stop instead at Madison's Pizza Cafe in Pleasant Valley on my way to the gig. I figured I would grab a couple slices on the cheaper side, then make it to set up around 6PM.

Traffic was bad. I made it to the bank, hit the ATM, then brought my car to a stop where the bank parking lot meets the road. I look to the left, I look to the right - no cars. I start to pull out when all of a sudden there's a guy crossing in the middle of road right in from of me! I stop my car - he looks at me, I look at him, both of us, I imagine, in disbelief. I pulled the car around him, and as I did I looked at him and said, "They're called crosswalks," in my best condescending tone. And then as I pulled away, he threw something at my car! I'm not sure what it was, though I think it was wallet because he picked it up after he threw it at me. I stopped my car in the middle of the road and looked at him through my mirrors in disbelief. I was dumbfounded. This guy was pissed at me because he was too lazy to follow the law and use a crosswalk and almost got hit by a car as a result. I mean, those are the facts. Angry and hungry, I [redacted redacted redacted] and pulled into the Madison's parking lot only to find that he decided to walk through that parking lot, too. Well, I wasn't going to waste any more time on this guy and I didn't want to get into it with him in the parking lot, so I frustratingly dropped numerous expletives and drove off, not having gotten my pizza.

But I made it to the gig, ate some food at the bar, and we played a great show. Don't let the idiots get you down.

And by the way, if you've never been to Mohonk Mountain House, you've gotta go! We played there on Saturday night and the food is amazing. Way more expensive than La Puerta Azul, sure, but it was slammin'. And grounds are like a damn Disney World resort.