Garage a Trois @ Highline 8/14/08

That was an awesome show! I really needed to dance my butt off and that I did.

Mike D. had a flight fiasco coming from TX, so he was late. I got there around 9:30 and they weren't on yet and it seemed a little weird. They came on around 10, but told us their opening band cancelled without telling them. I was surprised because there was no opening band listed on Highline's site and they are usually good about that. Then they tell us Mike D's plane just landed and they are trying to get the traffic gods to get him here quick. So, this trio is going to be our opening band.

Now, I was pretty happy about that. I was remembering how they started as a trio. And, the music was pretty good. But, it was a little lacking and I didn't give Mike any credit at the time. I knew I would like to see him play,but thought they could pull it off if any one of them didn't show. I attributed any lack to the musicians really missing Mike and the crowd thinking they needed him.

Well, he showed up right at the end of that first set, I guess around 11 and brought his drum on stage. Boy did that change everything and bring it to a whole other level! OK, so I was wrong and it doesn't work quite as well without him.

But, it you think of it as an opening band, it was awesome. We are the only ones to get that because now they are all together for the tour, so it was special.

The band came on at about 11:30 and played until 1:10. It was absolutely phenomenal. Mike was thrilled to be off the plane and playing, the others were thrilled to have him with them, and it was awesome. We got some improvised rapping where we heard some of the story of him sitting on the tarmac for 6 hours or something.

I was in another zone for that show. They also seemed to like the venue. It was too bad there weren't more people, but it wasn't empty either. And, the other people that usually come are the talkers. There were some talkers, but it was easy to move and be back in the music zone.

Stanton was the one keeping the groove and had me dancing my butt off. Everyone was amazing and all the solo/feature parts were right on.

I'm leaving the day before they play SF to come home. Now I'm wondering what possessed me. I had lower expectations this time. I will say that I loved the new material this show. It was either way better than at the Megalomaniacs Ball at the Wolf during jazzfest or I was way more into it. I thought the cd would be out, but it's not. I think that's a marketing thing these days, tour to get up hype about the new material. I hope it means another tour when it comes out.

I do get to see at least one night of The Duo at a tiny space in SF next week. It's the night before my big presentation, but I think I do better on those when I'm a little tired.