Ann Arbor Folk Festival - Friday January 30

We have been members of The Ark for years. But we have never been to the Ann Arbor Folk Festival held at Hill Auditorium every winter to benefit The Ark before. Better we discover our loss now than five years from now, but I can't believe we've missed this gem of a concert for so long.

My perennial dining companion had to work, so we missed one or two acts. The format of the show is somewhat unique. Some artists play for 15 minutes, some for a half hour. One artist (and arguably the best of the evening) only played one song. Every artist we saw left us wanting more. The crowd was energized.

Important artists to investigate:

Joe Pug! Wow. I love strummy guitar music and this is some of the best I have heard (where are you, Paul Rader?). He played one song - Hymn Number 101 which I have played many times on Rhapsody since then. We have tickets to see him at the Ark in March. Get Tickets if you still can:

http://www.theark.org/

http://www.joepugmusic.com/home.html

Another very entertaining band was the Ryan Montbleau Band. Funky and smooth, hip and groovy. Music that makes it impossible to keep your shoulders still and your feet from tapping.

Great Stuff. We will be at The Ark in April to see him:

http://www.ryanmontbleauband.com/

Perhaps my favorite band of the evening was The Old Crow Medicine Show. It's hard to describe the energetic spirit, tight musicianship, and pure stage presence this band exhibited at the festival. Plus, they pandered to the crowd, as this band from Nashville discussed "The I 94 Corridor" and other pure Michigan terms. I was impressed and you will be too:

http://www.crowmedicine.com/

The Old Crow Medicine Show had a member of another truly amazing act, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, sit in on a few songs giving us a taste for what was to come. I can honestly say I have never seen anything like this band. The crowd loved them and I did too. I don't even know how to label them. Roots music. Old School. I can just say that you should try to get a ticket when they play The Ark October 2 and 3 this year. You won't be disappointed.

http://www.carolinachocolatedrops.com/


The whole reason we bought tickets to the Festival was Jeff Tweedy. I have loved his work from Uncle Tupelo to Wilco to now. While he didn't play Box Full of Letters or Pick up the Change, he played some fan favorites as well as new material. Perhaps the most amazing thing was his ironic and brilliant transformation of Ann Arbor's Iggy Pop and the Stooges "I wanna be your dog" into a folk song. The rendition was almost showing off and smug, but the crowd was impressed and I was amazed. He could have just mentioned the I 94 Corridor or the Red Wings. But, no. He had to take a punk song from a local band, turn it into a folk song, and make it 100 fold better. Way to do your homework. Tweedy has aged, and so have I, but his voice and his songs are eternal and I will go to see him every opportunity I get. He may be the greatest living singer songwriter of my generation (with apologizes to Bob Mould and Stephin Merritt).

If you haven't seen Jeff Tweedy before, you should now:

http://www.wilcoworld.net/

We will be back to the Ann Arbor Folk Festival next year, but for both nights.

Tord Gustavsen Trio

On the coldest night in the year, my perennial dining companion and I ventured into Ann Arbor to the University Musical Society's presentation of the Tord Gustavsen Trio, a three piece jazz ensemble from Norway. The show was stark and warm at the same time with soft melodies and very talented musicians. Great stuff.

http://www.tordg.no/trio/

15 Most Played Songs of 2008

1 - The Magnetic Fields - Three-Way -26

2 - Josh Pyke - Memories And Dust - 24

3 - Unrest - Isabel - 14

3 - The Zombies - Whenever You're Ready - 14

3 - Ian Hunter - Fuss About Nothin' - 14

6 - The Magnetic Fields - California Girls - 13

6 - Harry Nilsson - Rainmaker - 13

6 - Buckcherry - Crazy Bitch - 13

9 - The Flaming Lips - Turn It On - 12

10 - Whiskeytown - Drank Like a River - 11

10 - The Undertones - Teenage Kicks - 11

10 - Grant Lee Buffalo - Change Your Tune - 11

13 - Band of Horses - Is There a Ghost - 10

14 - Liz Phair - What Makes You Happy - 9

14 - Joy Division - Transmission - 9

Yum Burger

I haven't had a burger and fries in months. I hadn't even thought about one when my perennial dining companion suggested a trip to Mason's, a small bar in Livonia. We both had a burger and split an order of chili cheese fries (what a treat). Good food, good prices and good fun. We watched the first period of the Wings/Blackhawks hockey game (Wings win 4-0 I think) and had pints (served in Mason Jars) of Labatts. Great night out. Mason's doesn't have a website, but you can click here for directions and reviews:

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&q=mason's+bar+livonia&fb=1&view=text&latlng=3912726036668338911

Drop in Hockey

The folks at Suburban Ice in Farmington Hills saved me from a sports-free weekend by opening up one of their rinks to Women's Drop In hockey this morning for an hour and a half. We played four v four and had a great workout and a good time.

Running Outside in Shorts in Michigan in December!

Running outside in shorts in Michigan in December is worth noting. We had 57 degree temperatures in southeastern Michigan yesterday and the sun felt WARM! All right, you folks in California and Florida may be able to run in shorts year round outside, but I bet we in Michigan appreciate it lots more!

Wicked Snow, Wicked Food, and just Wicked Good

We bought our tickets to Wicked at the Opera House in Detroit months ago and have been looking forward to the show for weeks. As the day drew near, the weather forecast continued to look more dire. And go figure, the first real blizzard of the season was destined to fall on my most anticipated night in December. And fall with a bang it did, dumping 10 inches of snow (beautiful stuff if you aren't driving) on the metro Detroit region and potentially inserting a snag into our evening downtown. But I got out of work on time and worked my way home to change clothes and let my perennial dining companion navigate downtown. The city looked festive, with holiday lights everywhere and the fresh layer of snow covering the ground.

Our first stop was Angelina's, an Italian Bistro next door to the Opera House. I had heard only good things about the restaurant and rightly so. We had a wonderful experience. The interior is modern and brick, but with an eclectic chandelier in red and yellow hanging in the corner that I asked the host about (it turns out some of the restaurant staff made the piece and it's in the style of a famous glass artist I haven't heard of). The service was very good and efficient and moved us along at exactly the right pace to arrive at the Opera House on time (we had been asked when making our reservation if we were seeing a show that night). The food was excellent. We started with the La Angelina appetizer, which was a wonderful assortment of house-made items such as a fish sausage, pickled cauliflower, cheese, balsamic-dressed greens, and smoked salmon. I had the butternut squash ravioli, which was perfect and served with rapini and coated with a beautiful almond amaretto sauce. My perennial dining companion had the linguine with little neck clams which he enjoyed as well. We ended the evening with coffee (very good) and the gelato sampler. We will be back. The bar looked like a great place to sit and enjoy an appetizer and glass of wine and I think we need to try that soon. This restaurant is worth a drive through the snow. Visit soon:

http://www.angelinadetroit.com/Angelina_Italian_Bistro/Angelina_Home_Page.html

On to Wicked! We had seen Wicked a couple years ago at the Majestic, and while we really enjoyed it, we weren't expecting the show at the Opera House to so exceed our previous experience. The Opera House is an amazing venue for this type of a show and the performers had their A game on. Glinda was performed by an understudy, but we wouldn't have known that without the program insert. She was terrific, both comically and vocally. Elphaba was tremendous as well. The songs I had heard so many times seemed fresh and new. The show was magical and I highly recommend seeing it, if tickets are still available.

http://www.nederlanderdetroit.com/engine.cfm?i=34

Great food and great entertainment in a city lit up for the holidays and covered with snow. Take a trip downtown and enjoy the season!