A whirlwind weekend of music and art, a roadtrip, and a bicycle (Shows 1-3 of 2014).

The first weekend of 2014 brought me....

A late night Friday. The Ian Quiet Band was hitting the stage at AMP at Mojo's, which is a no-cover-charge, Jam-as-you-like musician's session thing.  The talent there has been great the few times I've hit it.  To hone their set for Saturday in Monroe, IQB did 4 songs as part of the showcase.  Coconut Donut, With or Without You, Mommy Got a Tramp Stamp, and.... oh. Something else. I cannot remember what the first song was!  They sounded great.  The other artists sounded great. We left when the very talented Blues guitarist who went up a few sets later was doing a great job of rocking us to sleep with his smooth riffs... very good, but we weren't ready to sleep yet!  So, we headed to The Boot.

Now, I'm not going to claim practices that I can't, but I was taking it very easy on the alcohol. I had two beers early in the evening, then was nursing water for the rest of the evening.  The Boot is not a bar that I've ever enjoyed soberly at 2 AM.  The Boot is also my Case-in-Point example for my belief that nothing good ever happens past 2 AM in Downtown Shreveport.  However, I was enjoying time out with wonderful people, and it was too early for the night to end.  We watched some horrendous karaoke and I watched a friend exercise a Machiavellian approach to flirting that was pretty damn adorable.  I wanted to stick around to hear Katrina and Ian belt out "Just a Girl" but I had to get myself to bed.

An Early Saturday. Well, I went to bed around 3:30, so 9:00 FELT early!  I fed myself a good breakfast then took out for a ride.  I wrecked my bike on the first and banged myself up a bit, but got the broken parts repaired pretty easily, so I didn't want to not ride on such a pretty day.  I logged 8 miles.  Highland is aptly named.... fucking hills. HILLS. Everywhere.  My ride took me into downtown, along Clyde Fant, and then back towards home via the neighborhoods around Shreveport-Barksdale.  It was a meandering route with no real intention other than to ride.  Came home, did a bit of sewing, and took a nap to prepare myself for...

A Late Night Saturday.  I checked out Ian's solo show at the Karpele's Manuscript Museum.  Now... as a museum, I'm not impressed with their current collection. I went to see it last weekend with a friend who was in town, and it was a little underwhelming. As a cool old converted church, though, it's tops.  The acoustics are great, and his show was good though it's my opinion that the audience didn't know whether to behave as though we were at church, or at a concert.  The crowd response was very muted and I think that the ambience turned everyone more introspective than a normal show would have caused.  They did a screening of The Hummingbird, a film starring Ian from the Louisiana Film Prize competition last year, and I really enjoyed it though I was expecting something FAR happier and lighter, for some reason.  Then he played a few songs on the pipe organ, and that was amazing.  More of that, please!
I then stepped in and acted as his Road Manager to get his adoring fanbase held at bay because we were on a mission.  We took off to meet the rest of the band, got everyone into cars, and headed to Sal's Saloon in Monroe (with a brief stop to pay homage to the Duck Commander Headquarters, because exercising free speech is important to us, too).

That's an album cover if ever there was one...

The show KILLED.  The introduction of a theramin to some of their songs was great, and well-placed.  The vocals were clear and powerful.  I can't tell you the setlist, but it was excellent, and was also laid down on a recording by the Very Friendly Sound Guy.  Prestor John was also a super-treat to see, and their set was likewise, stellar.  The 3rd band, Mailbomber... well, not my speed. Good, but not what I was in the mood for.  We took off, hit a What-a-Burger (best grilled cheese sandwich of my life, I swear), and I made it into my bed at 4:30 AM.  A car full of drunk people made the right home quite entertaining, and it passed quickly.

And then...

Seriously, Sunday morning?  9 AM?  9?????  No. Too early.  But, I was awake and the boycats wanted breakfast.  I had the great ambition of riding to the Line Avenue Brookshire's, but by the time I made it to King's had determined that I was just not going to get warm enough. I went to that Brookshire's instead, and only rode about 3 miles, round trip.  I took a nap. I sewed, and got my loom warped, and I spent the evening with friends all engaged in crafts in my tiny apartment listening to what James called the "Best of Roller Rink Music: 90s mix."  I wrapped up the night with a sweet cozy cat pile and a book before a solid night's sleep.

If all of the weekends of 2014 could be just like this one, I would not complain.