Concert: Ivy @ Iron Horse Music Hall

A few weeks ago I bought one ticket to see Ivy, one of my all-time favorite bands, at the Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA. Today I left the house all shiny and clean at 3:30 pm for the 64-mile drive, with camera, book (Dewey Lambdin’s “King’s Captain“), bottles of water,an apple and a scribbled map of downtown Northampton all on the passenger seat beside me. After a pleasant 90-minute drive through western Massachusetts I arrived in town, and found a convenient parking meter just past the Iron Horse. I fed the meter with six quarters (enough to get me to the ‘free-to-park-after-6pm’ mark), grabbed my novel and wandered around the downtown area in search of the Northampton Brewery.

I spent an enjoyable two hours reading, talking to the spunky and very attractive bartenders, devouring my absolutely perfect Green Mountain Burger, and trying a trio of their beers. I had decided to avoid any IPAs since that is my beer style of choice, and so I began with their Altbier. It tasted like the intersection of an IPA and an Octoberfest. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t anything special. Next was the Magic Carpet Rye. It was lighter in color than the Altbier, and had a stronger scent. The aftertaste was good, the flavor complemented my burger, and it wound up being my favorite of the bunch. The last one I had was their Conundrum. I’ll call it a “Guinness Light” and leave it there. Unremarkable. Overall the beers at the oldest operating brew pub in New England were not bad, but rather disappointing nevertheless. However, the service was stellar (thanks Jess and Krissy!) and the burger (beef ground on-site daily from local sources) was easily the best I have had in years. At 7 pm I settled my tab, grabbed my book, and hoofed it across the square to the Iron Horse.

When I arrived the opening act, The Sometimes, were already in full swing. They sounded (most of the time) like a decent blend of Toad The Wet Sprocket and early U2. They had a lot of energy and I was pleasantly surprised with their set. Then, after a 30-minute intermission (and running into Dominique downstairs), Ivy took the stage. They kicked ass.

They played songs from all across their career, including “The Best Thing”, “Edge of the Ocean”, “Keep Moving”, and “Streets of Your Town”, with which they kicked off the show. They also performed several new songs, including “Fascinated”, “Suspicious”, and “Lost in the Sun”. They had a lot of energy, Dominique was as sexy as ever, and the band each had their shining moments (Adam is a killer bass player). Top it off with several good Long Hammer IPAs (home again, home again – jiggity jig!) and a super hot waitress (brown hair, fresh scent, black tights and a black skirt) smiling nearby whenever I needed a refill, and a seamless drive home, and this was the best Tuesday of 2011 by leaps and bounds…

A Three Hour Tour

I only had morning appointments at work, so when I got home (after a great lunch of chicken and corn bread shared with my cat) I packed my backpack and cooler and headed down to the lake.

Everything has been packed up for the non-summer, and the big wooden shed is full of everything that used to go in the smaller plastic shed. The hammock is down and the port-a-potty is gone. All the chairs & tables are stacked near the shed too. So I grabbed a chair from the shed, rolled the spool over, and set up camp. I finished the last 20 pages of "The French Admiral" with a Magic Hat HI.P.A. (goooood beer), and then slathered on the sunscreen so I could paddle out to the middle of the lake with another beer to bask in the afternoon sun. There were a lot of planes flying overhead. The lake was deserted except for some jackass mowing the lawn of annoying neighbors on the other side of the cove. I floated for awhile, paddled in for another beer, paddled back out, and headed in for good after an hour and a half of peace.

Later I started a fire and cooked several hot dogs, which weren't very hot when I ate them, and they tasted a bit too much like lighter fluid. I also called Erik, Jay & Brian to see if they want to hang out Saturday night at The Cactus Club. After I ate I began Harry Turtledove's "A World of Difference". It's starting off well but I am going to wait and read the next 'Alan Lewrie' adventure, "Jester's Fortune" first. I left around 7 pm after packing everything up. What a great day.

Saturday Night Part 1

I just got home from a night out in Boston.

A quick ride on the Red Line, and I sat down next to Jay at the bar at TOAD around 5:45 and snagged a Smuttynose IPA, and after we shot the breeze for a bit Gavin & Lili walked in. We all had one beer together and then headed next door to Christopher's for dinner (we got a table for six), and just as we had ordered beers (I decided to try the Ommegang Rare Vos Amber, which was quite good) & appetizers, Brian & Erik sauntered in. I had a chicken quesadilla and some fried calamari from the group plates (the group got 3 appetizers and shared them), and then my main course was an English Burger (cheddar and bacon) and fries. We all ate and gabbed, and it turns out that Gavin & Lili are indeed engaged, and they bought a 2-family house together (they have tenants too). And Brian has confirmed that Erik's sister Lindsay does indeed exist! We have known Erik for over a decade and none of us has ever met her, or even seen her except in photos. Once dinner was over and our bill was settled we headed back to TOAD to see Abbie Barrett and her band The Last Date perform.

The music is a lot different live & plugged in than it is either on the cd or just Abbie solo acoustic. A lot of the songs were cool jam sessions, and she even had me enjoying the Neil Young (who I cannot stand) covers. I was disappointed that they didn't play "Dying Day", or any other of my favorites from the album (what are the odds?), but it was a good show. I was very surprised that Jay, Gavin & Lili all headed home even before her set ended! So the main part of the evening was over, but the night certainly was not...

I suggested we head over to Joshua Tree, which has become 'our' (Brian's Erik's & my) bar in Davis Square over the last few years. It was the right choice.

Whattaday

Wow, today was a full and fun day.

I went to work at the Staples on Soldier Field Road in Brighton all day today, which meant i got to drive to, in and from Boston in the sunshine. It was SO nice to be back in my old stomping grounds. The Staples is in the same plaza as the IHOP that me, Jay & all my other old Circle Cinema friends used to hang out at on a regular basis. Not to mention Jeff, John and Darren, plus the rest of the Ann & Hope crew. What a flashback. I considered eating lunch there but I wanted to read "The Gun Ketch" in peace for an hour, so I went to McDonald's instead. Work flew by, and I got to work on my own most of the day while being helpful to many coworkers in a pinch. And best of all I got to listen to a lot of WZBC.

On the way home the sky was so blue with just the right amount of high white clouds that I couldn't stop staring. It was a great drive. I stopped at Depot Package to grab a 6-pack of Magic Hat #9, and after watching a wild turkey race across the road in front of me (!) I proceeded to the lake to float, enjoy a couple of beers, swim, and read my book. I had an apple to tide me over 'til I got home, and called several of the guys to see if they want to hang out down there tomorrow afternoon.

When I got home I made angel hair pasta with ground beef and Ragu to eat while I watched the latest episode of "Love Bites". What a great 'shared world' anthology. Each week there are three stories that feature and/or revolve around married couple Greg Grunberg and the delicious Constance Zimmer, and single surrogate Becki Newton (thankfully her character finally had the baby). They are short stories with interesting twists and satisfying endings, resulting in me constantly laughing and walking away with a good feeling.

I am glad I lived this day.

Lake Again

I mowed most of the lawn for Dad and then at 1 pm I headed down to the lake again today. It was basically a repeat of Monday, except the beer was Opa-Opa IPA (SO much better!), the book was "The King's Privateer", and my sketchpad lay untouched on the table between paddling & floating and reading. Another nice day. I am worn out!

Laketastic!

After working with Dad from 11:30 to 3:30 I went down to the lake for a few hours. Got down to the lot, unpacked all of my stuff, and popped open a Wachusett Green Monsta IPA (see my review here). Then I slathered on the
sunscreen and took a second beer with me out onto the lake. I paddled around and floated in the middle of the water, enjoying the sun (and to a lesser extent the beer), exercise, and white clouded blue skies for awhile, and then headed in for a bit, to read the tail end of "The King's Commission" and do some inking on my 'X-Men' drawing of "Colossus vs a Sentinel". After that I grabbed a third beer and headed back out onto the water for a second round of summer revels. However the beer spilled into the lake on my outward paddle, and so I enjoyed the sunny scenery and watched the other denizens of Wyman's Pond as they jet skied, motor boated, or party boated around the water.

As I lazed away my afternoon I aired out two old boxes of comics that Dad had stored in the basement and hallway. He had an old issue of 'Superboy and The Legion of Super-Heroes' that I hadn't read (#218, cover dated July 1976) and it was packed with characters and plot elements that are still relevant today (Absorbancy Boy, who grew up to be Earth Man on the team now, Infectious Lass and her futile second attempt at joining, and most importantly, new member Tyroc's final initiation test). What a great find! And the scent of old comics always brings me back to my childhood.

I could have spent the whole evening down there, but by 7 pm I was hungry for supper, so I packed up the car, satisfied with my combination of productivity and recreation, and headed home...

Darren Visit - Day 1

My old college chum Darren came east for the weekend to hang out and catch up while his wife and 2 little girls were off on a Girl Scout overnight.

He arrived around 5 pm, and we sat around for a bit with bottles of Opa-Opa IPA and caught up on things while we waited for our 9:30 dinner reservation to creep closer. After hanging out for a bit we headed off to Groton and our destination: Gibbet Hill Grill.

When we arrived the place was standing-room only. It's a good thing we'd called ahead to secure a spot, because there was no place to be comfortable for the 90 minutes or so before we were to be seated. So we headed back out into the rain and drove around Groton proper, and decided to grab a beer at Oliver's Grille & Pub, a little bright townie bar. They had the afternoon Sox-Jays repeat on the televisions, and Darren & I split some fried mushrooms and broiled calamari while we each had a beer (I had a Wachusett Country Ale). It passed the time most satisfactorily.

Then it was back to Gibbet Hill Grill just in time to be seated, and the place had emptied out a great deal by the time we arrived. What a place! It is a huge barn converted into a two-level restaurant, and they grow most of their vegetables and raise most of their animals on the farm proper. I began the meal with a Peak Organic Summer Session Ale, which filled my nose (and palate) with happiness. There was a lot to choose from on the extravagant menu, but Darren & I split a big bowl of Prince Edward Island mussels, and in addition he got an iceberg lettuce wedge, while I requested a bowl of clam chowder. Revelation! The combination of the chowder and my beer was indescribable. The flavors complemented each other in such a way that every mouthful was amazing. I intend to repeat the experience sometime soon.

(finish later)