I coudn't help overhearing you because I was eavesdropping...

I've been getting into the music scene a little more actively lately. I got to see Ben Folds on my birthday which was probably the second best performance I've ever seen by him. He played plenty of Lonely Avenue opening with "Levi Johnston's Blues" and even more plenty older songs (skipping most of Way to Normal as expected) and songs from The Five, finally ending with "Philosophy" and "Kate". He spoke to the audience as if we were sitting in his living room and did a great cover of Ke$ha's "Sleazy." Some songs that I was totally stoked to hear him play:

Luckiest

Army

Belinda

Landed

Zak and Sara

Still Fighting

You Don't Know Me (the audience provided Regina's part)

This past Friday, Matt took me to see the Old 97's. The crowd was great, and we were able to sit with some of our trivia night rivals who ended up being great concert companions. The first opening act was a band from Texas called the Whisky Folk Ramblers. They were fantastic. The lead singer looks like Jack White but has a voice like Johnny Cash. They played some old style, rolling, country music. They had an accordion too which often made it feel like Cash fronting the Decemberists. After the show we found out that they made friends with another local band of our buddies Kentucky Knife Fight who convinced them to play The Stagger Inn in Edwardsville in May. So Awesome

The actual opening band was a girl band called Those Darlins. An hour before they played we were sitting (unwittingly) about two feet away from them at a Thai place across the street from the venue. Three girls and a male drummer. They were wonderfully twangy with catchy songs. They reminded me of The Runaways meets Loretta Lynn. One of the girls looks like a young Martha Plimpton but way cuter. Weird.


The Old 97's were on par with Rhett Miller providing all of the hair and energy. There were two women in the crowd who had made shirts that said "Whett for Rhett." Both women were later reported going home by themselves despite their efforts in the front row.

Other than that, my nephew Griffin turns 1 on Sunday. I can't believe how much babies grow in a year. He's pretty cute and just started walking a few weeks ago. Some of his favorite things include the book Are You My Mother?, sitting on my Grandma Mac's lap, peekaboo, clapping, and crumpling up documents. And the park . . .

So "Hello" to all the Chicago babies, and "Hello" to my pals. Please let me know what kind of concerts will be hitting Millennium Park this year so's I can coordinate a visit!