Santapalooza

Last night Winnie and I attended the Santapalooza concert at the Norva Theater. On the bill were Leigh Nash (formerly of Sixpence None the Richer), Sister Hazel, and Barenaked Ladies.

All of it was great. I would have appreciated hearing more from Leigh Nash (her set was only about 5 songs). I have "all two" SPNTR albums, and really enjoy them. I went down and bought her new album (and got her Christmas album, gratis), but missed getting it signed. Rats!

Sister Hazel was quite the deal with the guys playing so hard that guitar strings popped. I'll probably be shopping around for their stuff too.

The Barenaked Ladies were awesome. I wouldn't have thought these guys, who are all around 40 now, could show that much energy on stage. They didn't play everything I might have hoped for, but if they had they would have been up there a long time. "The Old Apartment", "One Week", "It's All Been Done", "Alcohol", "Call and Answer", "Brian Wilson" were all in the set, and in their three encores they finished off with "If I Had A $1,000,000." There were more, but I don't remember them all.

The Norva is kind of an odd theater. Their website notes that there is some seating, but the best view is standing. Wrong. The only view is standing. The seating is all clustered around the three full service bars in the place. We weren't drinking, probably to their financial detrement. I'm sure they make a lot that way.

As we entered, the ground floor was really crowded already. I suggested we check out the upstairs. We did, and eventually found us a place off to the side where we had a really good, unobstructed view. It was kind of hard on us old farts (no chairs, etc.) but most of the rest of the crowd was of a "similar" age. Most of them were getting really well lubricated though.

By the time BNL were a couple of songs into their set, the bouncers decided we weren't looking too dangerous, and let Winnie and I right up to the rail, where we really lean over and watch. Didn't figure we'd throw any beer bottles or anything. These photos are absolutely indicative of the sort of spot we had. It was great.

The trip home was 'something' too. There was some sort of major accident on the Interstate, which they entirely closed. We were left driving around a part of Norfolk or Virginia Beach, where we had no idea where we were. Eventually we made it back to the Interstate in an open section. Then, when we're almost home we got stopped again. This time right at the foot of the Coleman Bridge, only a mile from home. Sobriety checkpoint. Hmmm, maybe it was fortunate we weren't drinking after all.