Why would flushing cause toxic airborne droplets? Toilet bowl cleaner?
Anyway, on Thursday I was prepping to head to a conference. It was a four hour drive passing through Denver and then another hour to my hotel. I thought I wonder if anything is happening in Denver? I got online and got a ticket to Zappa Plays Zappa at Boettcher Concert Hall (home of Colorado Symphony). I saw Frank once and I've seen Dweezil twice, and I was psyched cuz I thought they were planning some of Frank's symphonic pieces (they don't usually do rock shows at that venue). Turns out, though, that it was his regular band. Absolutely no complaints. Maybe because it was Boettcher they seemed to step it up a notch, and they did utilize six horn players from the symphony for Peaches en Regalia and an out of this world extendd Grand Wazoo. If any of you know his catalogue, here are some other highlights:
Opened with One Size Fits All in its entirety
Status Back Baby
Baby Snakes
something from 200 Motels
Suzy Creamcheese
My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama
Closed with an amazing Sinister Footwear
Encore brought out the old hits after mostly obscure works:
Cosmic Debris
Dancing Fool
Moving to Montana Soon
Muffin Man
Amazing show. The one time I saw Frank it was an off night. He hardly played guitar and was just snide and off his game. His band was great, though. This show was a LOT better.
Anyway, when I was drinking I would not have risked having to drive more than an hour after driving several and seeing a show. I wouldn't have trusted myself to stay sober and get to my hotel. The perks of sobriety...
So, after five hours of sleep I endured a seven hour meeting (good lord) and then went to a little music festival with regional bands. I managed to catch five short sets before I couldn't take it anymore and went to bed. Great talent, and much more starting at noon today, so I'm just resting this morning and getting ready for more fun.
As much as I diss on AA, I think I'll go to a meeting here in a bit. I do this sometimes when I'm out of town and doing the music thing. It keeps me honest. Last night I was really tired but the bands were great and I didn't want to go to bed. One female punk band was awesome, but the venue was so small and people were spilling beer on me. Then I saw a Grateful Dead cover band at a brewery. Same problem... The smell of the hops and everyone all buzzed... I got a sudden intense desire to drink in order to get a short burst of energy and enthusiasm but I left. I sat down for some jazz at another venue and it was mostly over for me. When I stood up I realized I was exhausted, and no amount of Earl Grey was going to change that. I'm still gaining strength from surgery, and I'm not allowed to dance, so it's hard after awhile standing around. Earlier I had seen a pretty good metal/experimental/noise band, too, and another alt rock/hip hop thing with fiddle. Different.
Anyway, gonna go to a meeting, and then explore the musical world. I feel like I'm blowing off responsibilities, but hell, you only live once as far as I know...