Rock Star Weekend

Thanks to Abby for helping me check off two birthday list items in the past two days. One was planned and one was not.

Chronologically, we’ll start with the unplanned one. We saw Guster on Friday night. We knew we were going to be on the guest list, but imagine our surprise when the box office person said “…and here are your after show passes.” We were going BACKSTAGE. Holy bleep. I’ve been following Guster since ’99, and Abby and I had met Brian the drummer once before in 2003. I just checked my book of concert tickets stubs and I have seen Guster at least 19 times. I say at least because I don’t see any stubs from 2000, and I must have seen them sometime that year!

So, I like the band. So, meeting them is surreal. I clam up when around celebrities, whether they be musicians, authors, actors, artists. How do you go about saying hello to a perfect stranger who has in some small way changed your life? Who in some small way has made your life more meaningful?

It was awesome to meet Brian again and meet Ryan for the first time. Dang, I feel self-conscious about using that adjective since seeing David Sedaris last weekend. He hates the word “awesome” and fines fans in the book signing line if they use it. I am so guilty of overusing it as well as “amazing.”

But I digress. The following day, Abby and I took to the open road and visited a brewery in the ‘burbs. We had tried the beer at a bar in Cambridge and liked it. And the brewery happens to have her name in it. If you like beer, there is nothing like visiting a local brewery…hanging out and tasting beers and talking with the employees (many times you’re talking to the brewers themselves). One of the brewers/owners gave us a tour of the facility. The brewery is only nine months old, but it seems to be doing really well. If you’re in the Boston area, it’s worth a visit. And look for Jack’s Abby in Boston and Cambridge bars!

Finally, although not on the birthday list, I had another fantastic experience over the weekend.  I was in the third row of a Death Cab for Cutie concert on Saturday night. I don’t even know where to begin. I love them to pieces. They make me want to move to Seattle. They invited a small orchestra to tour with them and the result was beautiful. Guster also had a violinist and a cellist on stage. I love this type of experiment—the mixing of two musical genres. It was like watching Yo-Yo Ma play bluegrass.

Now it’s time to shift focus from music to FILM. The Independent Film Festival of Boston starts in three days!