big blue sky

for memorial day weekend, we decided to take a drive up to durango, co to see shawn mullins play at the iron horse bicycle classic. if i were a cyclist, i might have partaken in this cool event that has been going for 35 years, but let's be realistic - a 48 mile bike ride through the snow-capped mountains of colorado sounds awesome, but i think a 5700 ft vertical climb would kill me. literally.

instead, we loaded the munchkins in the car with bags full of snacks and set off through northern nm. i loaded the cd changer with a bunch of shawn mullins cds to warm up for the show. i tried to take pictures from the moving car, but there's only so much you can do through a bug-splattered windshield. at one point, the opening track on "big blue sky" came on and it was like serendipity.

"on a mantle made of oak wood,
there's a photograph from my childhood
it was taken in the desert early light...
there are canyons there are caverns
there are border roadside taverns
and i am held captive by the big blue sky above me..."





it's like these songs were made for this roadtrip.

"two lanes of highway stretched in front of me as far as i can see
the grass here's greener than most grass i've seen
the sky's a big gray hazy canopy up over me
nothing much here to do just keep my hands on the wheel and my mind on you..."




we pulled into town with time to spare and had dinner at the old tymer's cafe. all you can eat ribs? yes, please. durango has changed a lot since the last time i was there over 15 years ago. the main street is lined with locally owned shops filled with hip artwork and hippie shoes. sierra found a purple 1/2 size taylor guitar at a music shop, but i can't see spending $300 on a guitar for a 6 year old. maybe when she's older. we were lucky enough to see the durango & silverton narrow gauge railroad train coming back from silverton. it has been in continuous operation for 126 years. i couldn't pull my camera out fast enough to snap a picture, but it was something to see a genuine steam locomotive pulling up with the mountains in the background. i guess someone else's photo will have to do.


the stage for the concert was set up in the middle of main street and some people (ourselves included) were wise enough to bring lawn chairs to watch the show. everyone sat listening to the music for the first few songs, but once shawn started in on "beautiful wreck", people gathered at the front of the stage and started dancing with each other. it was beautiful and surreal.









we couldn't pull the girls away from the stage from the rest of the show. they had found a group of about a dozen kids and they were all swinging each other around and dancing. if durango is this cool all the time, i might need to visit more often.

Josh Kelley, Shawn Mullins & Gin Blossoms - Park West 10/19/06

a friend of mine had free tickets to the gin blossoms show at park west last night, and once i confirmed that shawn mullins would be there, i couldn't possibly say no to attending. when we got to the show, josh kelley was on stage. i wasn't terribly impressed with what i had heard of his songs on the radio (i have an aversion to songs which use the word "baby", as a general rule). i was pleasantly surprised with his set. he's really quite a good singer, not to mention incredibly charismatic and entertaining.



i don't think his feet ever stopped moving




shawn mullins came on next. let me clarify this to anyone unsure on the concept. i *heart* shawn mullins. i want shawn mullins to record bedtime stories so i can listen to them as i go to bed at night. he's got a gravelly, groovy, man voice that makes me all swoony.



he played mostly songs from his new album, 9th ward picking parlor. a highlight was when he played the classic "house of the rising sun." when he picked up his lakewood and started tuning, something about the notes sounded familiar, and i leaned over to my friend and said "i think he's going to play the song he wrote with glen." sure enough, the next thing he says is "i wrote this song with my friend, glen phillips" and played "beautiful wreck"



shawn was accompanied by clay cook for most of the set. and clay actually graced us with a song he wrote years ago in atlanta with his old roommate, some guy named john mayer, called "no such thing" - prefaced with "this is the way it was supposed to sound."


oh yeah. and the gin blossoms played too.

i have their first two albums. i haven't listened to them in years, even though they were part of my soundtrack of the early 90's. sadly, i was seriously underwhelmed by them. their lead singer kinda cheesed me out as he hopped around the stage like a cheerleader trying to get the crowd to clap along with every song. then there was the cell phone thing. people kept handing him their cell phones, and he would sing into them along with the microphone. wtf? one time is kinda cute and novel. after that, he just seemed a little like a circus clown jumping around to amuse the audience.


the music was okay. for some reason the sound was far less than stellar. maybe it was balanced for the two acoustic acts that had preceded them. i don't know. but the vocals sounded fuzzy and nasal (which is similar to a fuzzy navel, but not nearly as tasty). we thought the sound might be better at the back of the room as we were getting beat up by jesse's monitor, but no. not much better back there. i took pictures for laura though.
we actually wound up leaving maybe six songs into the set. we didn't even stay for "hey jealousy" - the money song.

in summary:
josh kelley - i would see again.
shawn mullins - did i mention i *heart* shawn mullins?
gin blossoms - meh.