Music
Concert notes, set lists and personal impressions fill this category. From the dreamy Americana of Lord Huron to Coldplay’s stadium spectacle and intimate performances at the Dakota jazz club, I share what moved me in the moment.
Fabulous performance from The New Standards at Crooners Supper Club tonight. It is so great to see live music!
Brandi Carlile at the Ryman Auditorium
We were excited to watch Brandi Carlile stream her first live show tonight from the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Brandi and the Twins have done a number of streamed shows from their home during the pandemic. But this was the first show with the band, on a professional stage, and a limited number of vaccinated folks in the audience. It was amazing! 🤩
Carlile started with her powerful cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”, just her and a guitar. She was then joined by the Twins, and then the band on the third song. She hit every song you would want to hear. The whole band was filled with so much energy, so excited to be playing together on a stage for the first time in over a year, that it came all the way through the Internet and out the TV in our family room. ⚡️
We’ve been seeing Brandi Carlile sing for years now and we only get more impressed with her. She is an amazing performer, songwriter, and musician. Our whole family enjoys her music!
She finished the evening with an incredible performance of Amazing Grace. It was so beautiful I was wiping the tears from my eyes. If you haven’t seen Carlile, you really should. Her talent is amazing.
The Cactus Blossoms at First Avenue
Tonight we streamed The Cactus Blossoms as they played live to a limited 50-table audience at First Avenue. It was great to see them play live, and the production from First Avenue was really good with multiple cameras sweeping through the room. I hope that they continue to offer streaming options for shows. I like the idea of having an option to see bands live in the main room, but also being able to see them streaming opens up a lot of additional options to see live music that otherwise aren’t available.
Today is the longest segment on our drive back home.
Over an hour driving through extremely dense fog.
5:31a MT Left Moriarty, New Mexico as of on Central Time.
5:55a Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show. 🎶
8:55a CT Entered Texas.
9:58a Gas stop at Loves with crazy wind.
11:49a Enter Oklahoma.
4:19p Enter Kansas.
8:10p Drive-thru at Culver’s in Liberty, MO.
8:15p Check-in at Home2 Suites in Liberty.
Long day! One final jaunt tomorrow to home!
Driving to Tucson for the day and introducing the kids to some country music with Hank Williams Sr., Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and even The Cactus Blossoms. Tyler declared it “not modern” and I fully agreed. 😊🎶
Kicking off our family New Year’s Eve with a French 75 and getting the fondue started! 🥂 Sinatra, Brubeck, and the New Standards are on shuffle. 🎶
Fondue is our tradition for New Year’s Eve. Cheese Fondue to start.
Then the Tenderloin fondue.
We also play Clue every New Year’s Eve. This year Mazie won!
Brandi Carlile’s Campfire Singalong
Streaming Brandi Carlile’s Campfire Singalong. Love the intimate feel, like joining them for a jam session around the fire. 🔥 It’s great to get some live music; warms the heart. 🎶
“The Twins” playing Homeward Bound by Simon & Garfunkel is amazing. Sounds great.
The acoustic cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” amazing as well. We need a Brandi Carlile cover album!
I could listen to Brandi and the Twins singing “The Eye” over and over, and never get tired of it.
Brandi is intent on going on and on, but we are calling it a night after “The Mother”, two hours in. Will have to see tomorrow how long it actually does go!
Travail Rooftop Patio Cantina
Tammy and I went to the opening night of Travail’s Kitchen and Amusements Rooftop service tonight. We were lucky enough to grab tickets right when they went on sale and it was a southwest tasting menu that looked absolutely delicious to us.
Travail did a very good job managing social distancing, keeping everything outside with fresh air, and making sure that people moved through promptly but not too fast. I love seeing that restaurants are figuring out how to adapt to the pandemic.
Watermelon Slurpee with Tajin
Pinto Bean & Cannellini Bean Salad
lime creme fraiche, roasted pepper salsa, gustavo romero’s nixta tortilla chips
Ceviche
coconut lime marinade, lime segments, almonds, avocado, green tomatoes, king crab, smoked swordfish, basil, fresno, cilantro, taro root
Mezzo
piña colada slurpee with coconut cream
Mexican Curry Corn & Roasted Poblano
oaxaca cheese tamale, herb and lime crema
Pescado ala Talla
cage-grilled mexican striped bass: morita chile sauce, grilled vegetables, gustavo romero’s nixta tortillas
Mezzo
Strawberry cardamom creamsicle pop
Stuffed Smoked Chicken
herbs, mesca bbq sauce, green mole, crema, mexican pickles
Mexican Chocolate Mousse
coconut cream, cinnamon waffle round
Dessert
tres leches cake, strawberry flambe, strawberry jam filling, whipped cream
Take home
churro ice cream with chocolate
Drinks
I had some delicious drinks along with dinner.
Paloma
Repasado Tequila, Spicy Grapefruit Cordial, Fresh Grapefruit & Lime Juice, Highball Soda Water
El Valiente (The Brave Man)
Tommy’s Margarita, the simple and famous blend of Tequila, Agave, Lime
Music
To top off the beautiful evening on the rooftop patio we also had delightful music from Riverside Unplugged. They played a wide variety and were seemingly ready to play anything. We requested Prince and Brandi Carlile and they did both without hesitation. 🎶
Brandi Carlile celebrated her 39th birthday with a streaming concert from her home. It was great, and a wonderful time to embrace some beautiful music in these troubling times.
(mini) Minnebar
Attending (mini) Minnebar this morning, the very first online Minnebar! It is awesome to see minnestar pivoting to further its mission during the Covid-19 pandemic. 👏
Dan Lew’s opening session on “What Tech Can Do About Climate Change” was a great way to get started.
Of course very proud that SPS Commerce is a terabyte supporter! 💙
This is my first time using Crowdcast and the experience is very good. 👏
Joe Karlsson with “An Introduction To IoT (Internet of Toilets 🚽); Or How I Built an IoT Kitty Litter Box Using JavaScript”. Fun to see the interesting projects he’s doing. Predicts we will see this continuing to grow. For sure! 👍
Having Minnebar online is an interesting tradeoff. Something I could never do that I just did, was send the link to a number of friends, none in the Twin Cities, and suggest they sign on. There is a big inclusivity win with events moving online. 🤔
Kisha Delain with “Pair programming: Supporting Your Jr Devs Right”. It is so great to see #TeamSPS presenting at Minnebar! Kisha brought some great observations on what works to make pairing work well, which is one of the most critical ways that developers learn. 💻
It is interesting to me that online events tend to have a structured method for facilitating Q&A from the audience. This is one of the things that seems to work way better in online events. Asking questions in an auditorium with 500 people is almost always a bust.
… due to other commitments I had to cut out after the first three talks. I really enjoyed this Minnebar and can’t wait to see the next iterations of events from minnestar like this! They even made the playlist available if you dug the tunes! 🎶
See also Minnebar collection.