Two Seats for the Crooner Please
20/08/17 07:46
When Nancy told me that we were going to see Chris Isaak in Portsmouth on Saturday night I thought to myself I think I know one or two of his songs that date back to the nineties. They were good tunes to be sure but can I sit through an hour or two of stuff I'm not even familiar with? I was dubious to say the least. I even listened to a few other tunes he's done and thought to myself I can't say I'm a big fan of these songs I've not heard before and now that I'm hearing them for the first time I'm still not on board. Nancy tells me that she bought these tickets some three months ago and I have to say that was a little surprising to me. Why would she want to surprise me with a concert performed by a guy I hardly know, whose tunes I hardly care for, and whose prospects for turning the music industry on its ear are a long shot at what appears to be the twilight of his career. What does she know that I don't about this Chris Isaak fella? What is her fascination with his music that would drive her to buy tickets three months in advance to go see him on a Saturday night in Portsmouth in the month of August?
All of that said, the show was outstanding! The guy is a rockabilly crooner and an entertainer of the first order. Who knew? On stage, he conjured up images of Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash all rolled into one. Listening to his music without the benefit of his showmanship was a mistake. I now have a newfound respect for the man and his music and will gladly see him if and when he returns to the Seacoast for another show. As to what Nancy sees in the guy and his music it may well have less to do with the music and more to do with the man. While his crooning ways were somewhat lost on me, I think maybe they were not lost on the Mrs. His glittering suits, his boyish good looks, and his strutting ways on stage had a certain allure to the women in the audience and keeping women in their seats during his performance was difficult if not impossible. His music at times was better suited to a raucous dance hall and not the staid assigned seats of the Music Hall in Portsmouth. The fact that the man and his music was clearly at home in a place so far away from the heart and soul of rockabilly is a testament to the power of his performance and the nature of his craft. I've never been to Nashville but if Chris Isaak and his band is any indication of what I might find there I'm all in.
There is a lot to consider when you come to the point in time in your collective married lives when you realize it's now or never. I'm talking about renovations here. Renovations long overdue. Renovations long discussed but not planned. So now we're going to do it. We're jumping in with both feet. Before we cast that net too far and too wide just understand that we're talking about a bathroom here. Nothing more. Nothing less. I'm not even doing the work and it's overwhelming to me. I think it's overwhelming to Nancy too but she seems to be taking a methodical approach to things and that seems to be working for her. I'm getting hung up on silly things like choosing certain plumbing fixtures and not feeling comfortable that either I can't find a review or there are too few reviews or maybe there are no reviews at all which really gives me the heebie jeebies. In a day and age when you make no decisions without first referencing Yelp, Amazon, etc., for reviews before pulling the trigger there is clearly a case to be made for the value of such things.
The party gets started in earnest in September so we're tidying up now in anticipation of everything coming down the pike. We'll most likely move out for a few weeks just for simplicity sake and to clear the decks for the men coming in while they tear things down and then build things up again. Alternative accommodations haven't yet been nailed down so that is one more thing to add to our already very long and getting longer list of to-do's. I think this is all survivable but I could be wrong. I've been wrong before.
All of that said, the show was outstanding! The guy is a rockabilly crooner and an entertainer of the first order. Who knew? On stage, he conjured up images of Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Hank Williams, and Johnny Cash all rolled into one. Listening to his music without the benefit of his showmanship was a mistake. I now have a newfound respect for the man and his music and will gladly see him if and when he returns to the Seacoast for another show. As to what Nancy sees in the guy and his music it may well have less to do with the music and more to do with the man. While his crooning ways were somewhat lost on me, I think maybe they were not lost on the Mrs. His glittering suits, his boyish good looks, and his strutting ways on stage had a certain allure to the women in the audience and keeping women in their seats during his performance was difficult if not impossible. His music at times was better suited to a raucous dance hall and not the staid assigned seats of the Music Hall in Portsmouth. The fact that the man and his music was clearly at home in a place so far away from the heart and soul of rockabilly is a testament to the power of his performance and the nature of his craft. I've never been to Nashville but if Chris Isaak and his band is any indication of what I might find there I'm all in.
There is a lot to consider when you come to the point in time in your collective married lives when you realize it's now or never. I'm talking about renovations here. Renovations long overdue. Renovations long discussed but not planned. So now we're going to do it. We're jumping in with both feet. Before we cast that net too far and too wide just understand that we're talking about a bathroom here. Nothing more. Nothing less. I'm not even doing the work and it's overwhelming to me. I think it's overwhelming to Nancy too but she seems to be taking a methodical approach to things and that seems to be working for her. I'm getting hung up on silly things like choosing certain plumbing fixtures and not feeling comfortable that either I can't find a review or there are too few reviews or maybe there are no reviews at all which really gives me the heebie jeebies. In a day and age when you make no decisions without first referencing Yelp, Amazon, etc., for reviews before pulling the trigger there is clearly a case to be made for the value of such things.
The party gets started in earnest in September so we're tidying up now in anticipation of everything coming down the pike. We'll most likely move out for a few weeks just for simplicity sake and to clear the decks for the men coming in while they tear things down and then build things up again. Alternative accommodations haven't yet been nailed down so that is one more thing to add to our already very long and getting longer list of to-do's. I think this is all survivable but I could be wrong. I've been wrong before.