This was honestly one of the best weekends in recent memory. It was diverse, full of fun, friends, and family, and about as loaded with awesome times as you can get. Plus, I entirely avoided the bar scene once again, which is something I've really been looking to do. What made it so great?
- Aces game with Hannah, Colver, and Lorna (amazing game, 7-6 Aces in overtime)
- Frost/Nixon with Hannah
- Battlestar Galactica blowing my freaking mind
- Coffee with my sister
- Laika rocking my world
- Dinner with my mom and dad
- Josh Ritter concert
- Drinks with Hannah, Kim, and Josh
- SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!!!
Dawn Landes: Precious Pop
The first highlight of the weekend was the Josh Ritter show. While you still can make a very solid argument that we do not get a very high volume of shows in Alaska, lately the quality has been really high. I suppose that's ideal, as if I was living in the lower 48 (yes I said that) I'd like to go to shows every once in a while, and I'd like all of them to be great.
No less, this show definitely fit that bill.
Opening for Josh was the female embodiment of Hannah and I's term "precious pop." That person was Dawn Landes, a NYC based musician who sometimes performs with Hem and occasionally captures my heart with her wonderful personality and bizarre sense of humor (don't even get me started about the way she runs/prances every where...she's too cute for words). Not only that, but her music was melodious and very well put together, although limited because singer/songwriter stuff doesn't really get me going. Still, she was a great opener for Ritter.
A guitar without an owner? Where's Josh?!
Up next was the main act, Josh Ritter. Now Josh Ritter was born and raised in Moscow, Idaho, the place where I went to college. This place is very small, very college oriented, and strangely artsy (with emphasis on the strange part of that previous sentence). This, at least in my mind, predictably led to Josh himself being a little strange. I don't mean that in a "this concert is getting uncomfortable" kind of way, but more in a "who is this guy and why isn't he my best friend" kind of way. Josh Ritter is truly one of the most entertaining musicians I've ever seen.
And I've seen a lot of musicians.
He's a total dork who admits to practicing in front of staged potatoes, he's honest to the point where you absolutely believe him when he says that it was one of the most phenomenal shows he's ever played, and he's talented enough to make the first song he ever wrote to be a rousing experience.
Josh Ritter: the man, the myth, the legend
In short?
Josh Ritter was the bees knees. The cats pajamas. The coolest of the cool.
Considering that it was just him and an acoustic guitar, I didn't think I'd connect that well. Yet he blew me away with his talent and with his personality that couldn't help but draw you in. Never before have I seen an artist entirely unplug in the midst of set, do a song in total darkness, or finish a show with an acapella vocal finale. But Ritter did, and he made it not only not cheesy, but special.
As we were leaving, my mom told me she thought it was the best of the shows we've seen at the Wendy Williamson over the past couple years (we also saw Cursive and Bright Eyes there, amongst others), and it really was a very special show. As I said in the beginning, what we lack in quantity, Alaska definitely makes up in the quality of shows. I highly recommend checking out Josh Ritter or Dawn Landes if they come around to your neck of the woods.
Which they will, because you live somewhere that this isn't such an unusual experience.
Lorna and I: friends show drink together, stay together
Finally, the other highlight of the weekend was the Super Bowl party. While it was far more sparsely attended than last year and then we originally imagined (shame on you Cate and Nick for not coming over), it was still an awesome time. While the Cardinals did not win as I'd hoped they would, Lorna, Colver, Hannah, Amy and I all had an absolute blast watching the game and flipping out towards the end.
Okay, maybe the last part was just Colver and I. At one point (after the safety), we were going to chest bump but instead I picked him up and carried him around my apartment in celebration, shortly followed by him reciprocating the lift. After my boy Fitz's intensely awesome 65 yard touchdown, I actually Olympic quality long jumped into Colver's arms like I was Spider-Man as we both yelled in sheer delight (it was way less gay than it sounds, or, in Amy, Hannah, and Lorna's eyes, way more gay than it sounds). It was pretty much an explosion of pure sports celebration.
No less, the party was awesome, the food was delicious (seriously, home made pizza with Moose's Tooth dough and sauce plus Kim's secret recipe "seven" layer dip is a recipe for pure awesomeness), and as per usual, the Crewnit was off the chain.
Besides when Lorna and I were handcuffed to each other. For that strangely long period, we were entirely on the chain. It was also awesome.