This past weekend was a bit of a whirlwind. Friday night we hit up our favorite little pizza place in town (Shout out to
The Pie Factory). Originally we said "We need to conserve money, and we probably shouldn't go to happy hour." That lasted all of three days into a long, ass, week! Sometimes you just have a week that nothing but a few slices of pizza, craft beer and great conversations with friends and bartenders can cure.
We had some sips and then went to hang with one of our dear friends AK. Enjoyed some brews, and conversation. We brought along some vinyl to listen to. I almost feel like my parents probably did back in the day - carrying my bulky records to someone's house to listen to. Then again - I can remember bringing an even more bulky catalog of CDs to a friends house for a party, and then fearing I wouldn't get certain ones back.
Saturday was a laid back night - we knew we were going to Nashville on Sunday so we stayed in, cooked some dinner and watched Bad Grandpa, and laughed our asses off! I adore Johnny Knoxville and this movie was awesome! If you watch it, my favorite part was probably the strip club. Hilarious!
Sunday / Funday!
Sunday mid afternoon we headed to Nashville. Mike purchased Pixies tickets for me as a Christmas gift. I was SO SO excited.
We arrived in town and went directly to Mike's favorite joint,
The Broadway Brewhouse & Mojo's Grill in West End. It's a staple in Nashville. Don't get confused and go to the one on Broadway downtown, I mean you can, but you'll miss out on some awesome Mexican / Cajun combos that are only available at the West End location. Namely Mike's favorite, the Cajun Burrito. He's never gotten anything different at this place in the almost 10 years I've known him. Why mess with a good thing right? We also scored 2 for 1 drinks as well. I went with a tame Big Daddy Quesadilla. I didn't want to eat anything heavy, but I wanted to be full enough to be satisfied the whole day. Mission accomplished. I was happy, and satisfied for the rest of the day.
The forecast was absolute crap. Rain, rain and MORE RAIN. So we didn't get to really HANG downtown. Instead we hit up
Grimey's to browse the vinyl. I really LOVE this store. (No disrespect to
Pegasus Records here locally, we love you too!!) Mike scored a White Stripes record he wanted and The Strokes vinyl as well. I was so floored when he found RH*CP's Blood, Sugar, Sex, Magik - it's sort of been my White Whale for a while now. If you asked me what my top 5 all time favorite albums are, that is definitely a BIG one. I was SO excited. I also scored a Record Store day release of some Public Enemy tunes on a picture disc. It was a toss up between that, and B-52's Cosmic Thing. Something I've wanted for some time but in the interest of being a bit conservative early in the day with my money I went with PE, since it was a bit more rare. I hope I will be able to get my hands on Cosmic Thing again soon.
With the weather STILL being shit, we opted to head out to Opry Mills for some window shopping. We hadn't been to the outlet center since the huge flooding that happened a while back. It's not as large as I remember it being the last time we were there but I bet I was WAY more tired the last time. We burned just enough time there to head back downtown to find parking before the show and to snag a quick snack.
Note to all: Margaritaville is sort of annoying and not worth the price, at all. The beer selection is lame (read: Mostly Budweiser products or Jimmy Buffet approved), and anyone that charges $10.99 for frozen spinach dip warmed in a microwave and bagged chips should be kicked extremely hard in the nut sack or vag-sack. Just saying. Not impressed at all and we ONLY chose it because it was within a quick darts distance from the Ryman Auditorium AND our Jeep. It fit the bill I guess, we filled our stomachs, dried off, and avoided the rain. (Had I know there would have been snacks and beer once the doors opened AT the Ryman, I never would have stepped food inside Margaritaville. Sorry JB, I love your music, but your food is lame!). And P.S. to our bartender, you're working at Margaritaville in Nashville, not in the movie Cocktail - the bar was empty, let's take it down a notch, MMM-kay?
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| The Pixies // via |
Doors opened at 6:30 pm - we got right in, ran upstairs and got our t-shirts and a limited print poster for the show. I'm always happy to score screen printed posters at shows I go to. Eventually Mike and I will need to do a gallery wall of these.
We were escorted to our seats and settled in... only to be slightly disappointed in the fact that while the tickets said "Obstructed view" and it wasn't a lie, there was an EFFING POLE right in Mike's line of vision. Thankfully once the show started he could move a bit to see while standing up. I think instead of just saying "Obstructed view" they should say - there will be a POLE in your face, are you sure you want to click and pick THESE seats. Note to all, and to self: Next time we'll know NOT to sit in rows T or U (if you're in row T you will need to straddle said pole if you're in seat #2 - heads up!)
I was so excited - the Ryman is a very old building, famous for being the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. All the seats are literally church benches (pews). Not the most comfortable but very, very cool. Our view was a bit obstructed but our spirits weren't ruined by this at all.
The opening act was AMAZING! I'm sort of kicking myself or not snagging their vinyl at Grimey's earlier in the day. They are the
Cults. A band out of New York and I HIGHLY recommend checking them out. (Link above has a video). I am now obsessed with them and want to get their album. And also learn EVERYTHING I can about them. The lead singers voice is awesome. One moment she's deep, throaty and almost very spooky - the next song she's happy upbeat and wish you wore your best saddle shoes to dance to every song! I highly, highly recommend them to everyone!!!
During the opening act no one really stood up - but it was sort of nice to sit down and enjoy the music. The room is pretty small at the Ryman, the crowd was COMPLETELY into this band. I loved the intimate feel and the mellow vibe. You can sip your cold beverage and eat your snacks IN the auditorium which BLEW my mind.
After a short intermission to get the stage prepped the PIXIES took the stage and didn't slow down until it was over. They played for a full hour and a half, possibly longer. Thankfully the entire crowd stood up during their performance and swayed and bopped to the beat. Patrons up front were rocking out and it was perfect. I hate to say we left after their bow, and I'm not sure if they did an encore but I had heard all but one song I wanted to hear [They didn't play Gigantic]. They opened the show with Bone Machine and finished on a high note with Where is My Mind. Mixed in were many songs I remember from my youth and a few I wasn't familiar with. We only dipped out early because I felt like they might NOT come back onstage, we had a 2 hour drive home AND there was sleet in the forecast. We have to drive through the mountains in TN to get home, SOOO we wanted to be responsible.
You dream for years of seeing your favorite bands, and sometimes in my case you have to wait until you're old enough to drive yourself because your parents won't take you to these shows. I've been wanting to see The Pixies ever since I discovered them in the late 80's. Most of my friends back home didn't listen to them so I was sort of alone when it came to some music, and/or having people to go with to said shows. Now at age 37, I can do what I want. I can see what shows I want, when I want and damn it I plan to see as many as I can before I'm old and gray and telling my kids, "No, I'm not talking you to see freaking [Insert One Direction's descendants here]!" Then I'll teach them what REAL music is, just like my parents did for me.
Where was I? Oh yeah, so I've waited YEARS to see this band and let me tell you - it was SOOO worth the wait. Frank Black sounded amazing - just as I hoped he would. They all enjoyed every second they were on stage. And even though Kim [original bassist] wasn't there - I will say their new Bassist Paz Lechantin was pretty damn amazing, and her voice - she sounds a lot like the original recordings so it was alright with me. Everyone was on point and every bit was absolutely enjoyable, even though I was too short to see over some dudes head in front of me for half the show, I could sway and catch of glimpse of each member at any given time.
I am so happy Mike did this for me. What a great Christmas Gift!!! Even with the extremely long feeling 2 hour drive home, on a "school night" it was all worth it. I can't wait to catch another show there, and possibly might try to get seats up in the balcony if possible, you know, to avoid the poles.
I honestly would go see them again and again if they come back this way. If they are in your area and you LOVE the Pixies it's certainly a show you don't want to miss.
I will say sorry for the lack of photos - during the show we were instructed not to use phones or cameras. That didn't stop people but I was trying to be respectable!!! Lets just say it was intimate and amazing!!!
I hope you all had a great weekend. I'm still recovering from lack of sleep Sunday night into Monday!
