Best. Show. Ever.

I'll start by saying that it's been over a decade since I got caught out in the rain while in line to a concert.  The first time was in 1999 when I went to see the Deftones at the now defunct America Theater.  We showed up at 3pm.  Doors at 6pm.  It started raining at about 3:11pm.  It didn't stop raining for about an hour and a half.  The pit was slippery and humid.

Last night, Victoria and I went to see Social Distortion at Pops in Sauget.  We got there about 6pm with doors at 7pm.  It started raining at about 6:15pm.  We got soaked.  But, around 6:20pm I got a text from Benson informing us that all hell was breaking loose in St. Louis.  Then the sky went black.  Then the sirens from the nearby industrial complex started going off.  Then security freaked the fuck out and let us in early.  10 minutes later bedlam ensued, I drank a beer, and we were both cold because the air was on.

This adventure leads to, probably, the best show I've seen in forever.

Lindi Ortega led it off.  She's got a very June Carter-esque sound in the 3 piece she had on stage.  The guitarist was ridiculous good and she, herself, had a set of pipes on her...  She could just wail.

They closed the show with this Johnny Cash cover.  Think they should have opened with it, but hey... that's just me.

Next up:  The Toadies.  When I was in a band in the early 2000's we used to cover Tyler.  I first saw The Toadies in 2001 at Pointfest 13.  When we saw them tonight they looked old.  I was afraid it would be a disappointment and that my memories of this band would be tarnished by this self serving reunion of the forty-some-things trying to relive former glory.  I was so wrong and so happy about it.  Watching them play was like time travelling back to the 90's.  And when they played Tyler (second to last which was nerve wracking) I felt this epiphany and knew why I played music in the first place and wanted to go home and just write and write.

Finally:  Social Distortion.  Mike Ness and the boys came out hard, churned up a hell of a pit, and left everybody tired and sweaty.  From classics to new stuff they represented their 30 year catalog well.  Their backdrop was meticulously put together with what looked like antique mall finds:  5 foot statue of a dog, blue electro-light cross, lit pinwheel, etc.  And Ness spoke more than I remember him doing before.  Which wasn't a bad thing.  They closed with covers of Let the Jukebox Keep on Playing  (Carl Perkins) and Ring of Fire (Johnny Cash).  It was awesome.

Afterward we hit Taco Bell as we hadn't eaten supper and called it a night.

What a Shitty Week.

All I can say is that I'm just glad it's the weekend.  This week hasn't been the best and the cherry on top was dealing with Charter for the better part of the day on Friday.  However, we ended up getting a new modem and after they couldn't find the power cable that I returned with our modem back we decided to just get a new router (this one has wireless, so there's that).

Everest Cafe today with some people from work.  Snapped shots down in The Grove and played pool at the Handlebar.  Met a nice wandering gentleman who stopped at HB for a beer and left his dog outside with his pack.  Asked to take his picture, as I'm kind of into the street portrait (proper portrait, not just sneaking a street shot like I like to do).  He acquiesced, but asked why.  I had to think about that.  I assured him it was not for any monetary reasons, just art for the sake of art.  When he went back to his pack I saw he had a jar of instant coffee in it.  Coincidentally, it was the same brand that I use when I develop black and white film.  We had a talk about that.  His jar happened to be given to him by somebody.

Then the grocery.  Oh, the grocery.  Victoria and I had previously vowed to never, ever, ever under any circumstance to go to the grocery store on Saturday anymore.  Since we were in the city we figured it would be more fuel efficient to.  I now remember why we don't go on Saturdays.  I nearly had a nervous breakdown.  Not sure why, really, probably the abundance of people and that terrible feeling of being in the way or inconveniencing someone else... I came home and took a nap because I was exhausted.  Not sure what I actually did, but I was exhausted.

Developed the film out of the Fed3b and it came out great.  Even as old as it is, the rangefinder still focuses perfectly.  Found an adapter to use my m42 lenses on it so I can put off investing in a 28mm m39 lens for a bit. Looking more closely at street shooting with a TLR.

Have been looking at pictures by Vivian Maier.  Really enjoy her street shots of Chicago.  Her story is really interesting in that she was a nanny and had no close friends or family.  So, nobody knew she took pictures.  Some historian researching the neighborhood he lived in (coincidentally hers as well) found a bunch of boxes of pictures and recordings she'd left behind when she died.  Pretty interesting.

Got Camera Review of the Week at lomo this week.  Once I get all those piggies in, the LC-a will be just a few more articles away.  Still need to put together stuff for the series I'm supposed to be writing for them.

Scanning more film, drinking more wine, developing more film, scanning more film.  Sounds like a Sunday.