Chris Isaak

So last night was the Chris Isaak concert-- we had tickets to see him last year in Boston but misplaced the tickets and then ended up having to work anyway (lame, I know) and tried (but not too hard) to make a last minute trip to see him at the Borgata in Atlantic City, then finally, he was actually scheduled for a date in New York. Booked the tickets in May, got 10th row (not bad) and it was at the Beacon.

While we were waiting to go to our seats (after having been browbeaten by the ushers for trying to enter the auditorium too early-- who knew 7:40 was too early for an 8pm show) I noticed two girls near me who were talking to an odd looking guy with a headset and a set list. I heard him say something about "Blue Spanish Sky" and the girls looked both confused and kind of excited and after he left they seemed to be wondering whether he was for real (turns out the girls were brought up on stage right before the final song to dance with the band.... now if only I had been wearing a flirty top instead of a cardigan maybe that could have been me-- my cardigan did have leopard print trim, shouldn't that count for something???)

Tristan Prettyman opened (in advance of the performance I had no idea who this person was so I was taking bets with the husband as to whether Tristan was a native american man... turns out Tristan is a 24 year old girl who can play a mean guitar!) She totally inspired me to get the guitar out of the hall closet and try again with lessons (ha! like I have time for that, one can dream...) anyhoo, the Beacon theater's not that big of a place and Tristan came out to the "merch table" after her performance and signed cds which was neat (and even more neat that her performance made you want to buy her cd!) Of course, as usual, the intermission was also punctuated by a call to the Job. Vacationing co-worker felt the need to call every possible number for me and leave blackberry messages in order to alert me to the fact that I needed to do something immediately, oh, no, wait, it can wait until tomorrow morning, but you have to call at 9:30am, on the dot, not a minute later, 9:30. Why not send smoke signals and call my mom next time too???

Finally, for the show-- Chris and the band looked like they were having a lot of fun and the audience size was small enough that it still felt intimate rather than a ginormous venue. The songs were mixed between full band with acoustic numbers thrown in and you know you're getting old when you prefer acoustic music because it's less loud. In true New York fashion I had to yell at two women sitting in front of us who were getting drunker by the moment and kept shouting through all of the music (interspersed with their constant getting up and leaving their row, much to the dismay of the four people who were between them and the aisle). I felt vindicated, however, when I was thanked by the woman who was sitting next to them.

All in all a great night, and how often can you say you saw someone perform in a suit made to look like a giant disco ball?