So the main reason for the trip to Santa Barbara this past weekend was a concert, a concert by an artist whom Van wanted to see but whom I knew very little: John Splithoff.
Yes, that's three concerts on three consecutive Fridays. And it's a lot, and with more to come in December. But it's also cool to do. I so seldom went to concerts in Chicago. Maybe one a year if we average it all out, or barely more than that. And even after the move to LA, we didn't go to a lot, though we did attend a handful a year at the Disney Hall and a few at the Hollywood Bowl. But with Van (he and I, or all three of us, and even me alone), we've ramped up the going to concerts part of our lives. I love that we've done so - this is what living in a big metro area really should be.
Anyway, the concert this past Friday....
The venue was an interesting one. On the second floor of a plaza, SOhO (why the spelling, people?) consisted of two wings. As you enter, to the right is the concert space - a stage up front, open floor, some chairs on the perimeter reserved for the elderly and those needing seats otherwise. To the left is the restaurant and bar with screens showing games until showtime when they had the performance on instead. There was also a large patio outside of the performance space where people sat in the cool night air and watched the performance on screens.
Van and I had dinner reservations, so we were shown to a table on checking in. The meal was, well, a meal. You don't go there for the food. The service struggled with the onslaught when the doors opened. But it was fine. We each had the same cocktail, the Empire State of Mind,
and ate and watched most of the set by the opening act, Evann McIntosh.
The opening act was a curious choice. I don't know enough about them to comment on their body of work, but as a performer, they were very very low key. Accompanied by a guy on an electric guitar (bass?),
they delivered their songs in a sort of folky/mumbly thing that reminded me of the 90s or something I might hear in the background of a Buffy episode. We left the restaurant and joined people on the floor by the end of McIntosh's set, but it didn't set the mood for the main act, I have to say. An odd pairing.
By contrast, John Splithoff - who is, let's be honest, older and more seasoned as a musician and performer - has chops. He sang very well. He played guitar very well. He had charisma on stage. He's hot - you bet there was a reaction from the women (and me and Van) when he removed his blazer after a few songs and the biceps came out. He was excellent. It made me want to seek out his music afterward, and I have streamed it a few times in the days since.
All that said, however, we left early. It had gone 11, and we had been standing a goodly while, and at our ages, it's just not as comfortable to do that at concerts any longer. Also, other people are jerks. Two drunk women to my left kept yammering away throughout the performance, and I wasn't the only one bothered by it, from what I could see. After putting up with it too long, I grabbed Van and headed to the back of the small crowd. And then we left not long after that. A nice walk along State Street before turning off to head to our hotel.
We went to bed and fell asleep promptly and hard!
Splithoff was great. I have him on as I write this. I may not go back to that venue, but I'd be happy to see him in concert again.
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