Dining in the Dark
Published June 4th, 2007No, not completely pitch black like in some restaurants, but pretty close. Especially when your dining companion puts out the candle providing the only light at your table! (In her defense, she did prevent me from buying books earlier in the night. Barely.)
Saturday night I went with said friend to see Laura Veirs at a little dinner-show place, Largo. (Warning, first Laura link will resize your browser. Bad Laura!!) Largo was a rather snooty hipster place, what with the outlawing of all electronic devices (they will harrass you if they catch you using one) and no talking during performances. But that’s OK, it’s such a small place it’s a good idea. And worth it. Apparently Aimee Mann and Fiona Apple have both played there - what I would give to see them at a place like this! Largo has an interesting system, where you call for table reservations, and if you don’t get them, you line up outside. No tickets. First 10 get a seat at the bar, the rest…if you get in, you get in. If not, too bad. But they support small musicians that deserve some recognition, so I can’t really complain too much. And the food, while somewhat expensive, wasn’t all bad. I think I could make the items myself, but they weren’t bad. They happened to have one table left after everyone was seated, and since we were nearly first in line we got to get a table. We had to share with some strangers - but they were all very nice folks. Charles was a huge Lake fan, and you could tell. Shawna and Steve were fans of Laura - Shawna especially. I like seeing true fans of musicians, because they truly like them - not just because that’s what’s hip at the moment. Enthusiasm like that is a good thing.
Opening for Laura was a little quartet (well, only a quartet was there, I guess there are more members) called Lake. Ms. Juniper said they were “twee” - I know not this word, and I’m not sure I quite understand how it is applied. What did I notice? Well, the folks in Lake are apparently approaching multi-talented. They often switched off who was playing what instrument. But I wasn’t really impressed with any of them on any one instrument. Nor were they particularly on-key while singing. But you know what? It didn’t matter. They were having fun, and it was infectious. You could tell they were just hangin’ out, havin’ fun together in a band and havin’ fun with the crowd. And that was cool. Nothin’ wrong with a little fun. The guys were goofy and the girls were cute. And I’d swear one of their songs ripped some riffs from the Sesame Street Theme.
And so on then to Ms. Veirs. I thought she pretty much kicked ass. She’s smart, exceedingly attractive and can really play the guitar and sing. Her bandmates, The Saltbreakers, were friendly and a little goofy too. Their coordinated outfits were hilarious. I approve of suits with cephalopods on them, frankly. Laura, at times, reminded me a little of Kate Bush or Bic Runga, but only in certain moments or songs. For the most part she is only who she is, and she’s pretty good at that. I am tempted to buy a CD or 2 of hers. It’s a shame I don’t really buy CDs.
All in all a fun time. I really enjoy being exposed to new music, especially if I like it. I tend not to find much music myself, I need people to introduce me to it. Finding music just isn’t one of my strong talents. I’m not sure what’s more fun - seeing a band you love and can sing along with every song, or seeing a new band live that you end up really liking. I guess they’re both good things, and shouldn’t really be compared.
And and to my readers who are fans of Louis CK, he was at Largo the day after I went. Go figure.
oh my god! why am i always the one to get the blame! i did get the guy to re-light the candle for us and i moved it in your direction so you could see your food! what else does a girl have to do! :o)
i am glad you liked the show. the first band was very “twee” which is/was a style of music named such for their preciousness factor. the style is common in england and belle and sebastian were at the forefront of this genre. there were many other bands with a similar sound in the early 2000’s. i went to a show at a small place in shepherd’s bush (london) and the guy sitting next to me was wearing a t-shirt that read “fuck me, i’m twee!”. ha ha!
i have both of laura’s most recent cds (which is what she played from at the show) of you want to borrow them. you will have to help me choose features for my new computer in return!
j.j