Encore!

What a fun-filled jam-packed weekend! Finally we had a few beautiful days and I took full advantage of it.

Saturday I biked the Minuteman Trail ("America's Most Celebrated Bike Path") along with Mr. V who rollerbladed the 24 miles proving once again that he is the pillar of physical fitness (except for the fact that I carried his heavy manly-man pack and gave him my much lighter girly-girl pack to carry so he wouldn't hurt himself) . I had a great time, and it was good to be out in the fresh air for a while. I was bummed to find out that my beloved bike needs some major work done on the gears, so I'll have to take her in soon for repairs. Or just ride this one into the ground and get a new one. Saaadddd....

I got home with just enough time to shower, change, and get my rock-and-roll mojo on to see Keane with Ann and Dabney. I didn't know much about Keane and could only recall one song that I heard a few times on the radio. I rarely listen to radio these days (thanks to my Ipod) so new bands easily slip me by. They have just one disk out, so their playlist is pretty limited. There were lots of pauses between songs and they walked off stage to encourage the faux encore after only 30 minutes of play (more about encores in a moment). But they sounded great-- amazing just piano and drums, no guitar accompaniment. The evening was warm with a nice breeze and a killer sunset, perfect for an outdoor concert. I wish I had been more familiar with their songs; I realized that concerts are much more fun when you can sing along, preferably at the top of your voice which is exactly what I'll be doing at the U2 concert next month in Amsterdam.

So about Encores: I don't like that encores are now built into every concert. I remember going to see Springsteen several years back; after 4 hours (!!) of playing he has every right to just be done with the performance. So when people start demanding the encore, you aren't really sure if he'll come back out and do one more song. He's Tired! He's Performed Almost Everything! He's Given Us So Much! BUT we want MORE! The anticipation is thrilling! But when you know the artists will come back out, with an "aww, shucks, sure we'll give you one more tune (especially in this case where they had only played 10 or so tracks) since you clapped real loud for us"...it seems so... fake. Well, it is.

Sunday was even warmer than the day before so I took a blanket, book, Ipod and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich down to the Esplanade to read, nap and people watch. It was glorious!! It was incredibly relaxing just to sit and enjoy the day. I finished off the day with a date with my favorite 80's cover band keyboardist at Solas, my favorite little Boston bar. And I swear that it isn't my favorite Boston bar because the bartender, Sean, is a god-like Adonis of an Irishman. No, that's not the reason at all.* It was fun to catch up with Mr. Keyboardist, who I hadn't been out with in a while. Sounds like the band is doing well and will be opening for Cyndi Lauper later this fall-- how cool is that?

*Yes, you all know that's the reason I keep going back. And because he gives me free drinks. A hot bartender and free drinks? Who would say no to that??