Skeletons of Steel

Unless you've recently met me, or do know me and have been hiding in a closet for the last few years, you'd probably know that Dallas Green of City and Colour is my favorite musician.  I've found a joy in sharing his music (something that is very near and dear to my heart) to people who have never heard of him.  I've probably listened to his album 'Sometimes' more than anyone else, and probably more than any other album I own.  Over the last couple of years I've had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with him through our mutual friends.  Those times being some of the best I can recall, and will remember for the rest of my life.  The highlight of them all would be him playing Sam Malone for me in the summer of 2007.  At this time Dallas had never played any solo shows in California.  That being the case, he was nice enough to  play a song for me of my request.  Best part about it, the only people around were the two of us.  Truly one of the best moment of my life.  Getting to know Dallas a bit has only enriched his music for me.  He's one of the more genuine people I've been around.

Since that summer, he's played LA a few times.  Each time he comes back around he sells out a larger venue.  It's nice to see the progress of his music being spread here.  It also comes with the frustration of bigger crowds, which entails more people talking during his set.  He played in Hollywood this weekend.  I was especially excited for this show not only for his set, but to see everyone else I knew that would be going as well.  I love that music brings so many people together.  To make things even better, Cancer Bats were in town and their show had been cancelled, so they came as well.  Talk about Canadian overload!

City and Colour's set couldn't have been any better.  Adding the twist of a live band with songs I've listened to religiously as just acoustic made me feel like I was discovering the songs for the first time all over again.  He played every song as if I would have written the set list myself with the addition of a couple new songs (which were amazing!)



The night ended on a high note.  Vagrant threw an after party with a delicious taco bar.  Said my goodbyes to everyone with hopes of seeing them all soon.  Both Cancer Bats and Alexisonfire should be back sometime around May.  That's what I'm hearing, and keeping my fingers crossed on.

A Heart Floats in the Bay

I think I love the idea of living out of a suitcase too much.  I hadn't even unpacked from London before my closest friend, Kassi, invited me to San Francisco for the weekend.  So on a Friday night, barely home for one week, I find myself packing another bag to head a few hundred miles up north.  We only drove a few hours to Bradley where her lake house is, saving the rest of the drive for the morning.  Despite a few sharp right turns, listening to Jets to Brazil, Death Cab, Mumford & Sons, Nada Surf, and Third Eye Blind made the drive whiz by.

The drive in the morning seemed to go by quickly as well.  Taking the 101 for a majority of the time, then switching over to the PCH in Salinas for the last stretch.  We made it to an overcast San Francisco by lunch time.  We made a couple of pitstops (Golden Gate Bridge, the house from Full House) before heading to Haight-Ashbury area.  Most important stop of our trip, Escape from New York pizza and Ameoba.

We stopped at Alamo Square, put a blanket down, and sat in the park for a bit until we could check into our hotel. Once we were settled in we walked over to Union Square and Market Street. I enjoyed a nice Chai Tea and found an awesome jacket that I've been on the prowl for. By the time we were done shopping the rain moved in on us. Found shelter and dinner at a really good vegan restaurant referred to us by my friend Alex, called Golden Era. The food was amazing. Afterwards, we decided to go to a few bars around town, all of which were a bit of a disappointment. We found a pizza place open late next to our hotel and retired in around 2. As non eventful as our night seemed, I think I laughed more than my body could handle.

  

We started our morning off with bagels, then headed to Fisherman's Wharf. Finalized our trip with a Ghiradelli sundae, which may I add was delicious, and headed on the road for a rainy, rainy drive. Bon Iver was the perfect soundtrack for the weather. Although London is a tough act to follow, and there seemed to be constant reminders everywhere, it would be selfish to ask for anything more than the past weekend consisting of a great city, great drive, and a great friend.