Father of Six

Several months ago while at a wine tasting at Vintner’s Cellar of Littleton with Tami, Tim, and Jeanne, the proprietor of the place was playing a CD by this guitar duo called Rodrigo y Gabriela that just knocked my socks off.

I bought the CD, fell in love with the sound and style and became very enamored with the pair and their story.

I saw a video of their most-played song, Tamacún, on “youtube,” and then was completely floored with this instructional/demo – especially the rhythmic technique employed by Gabriella. (Play the second video and the prepare yourself for a spectacular display at about 3:00 through the 4:00 mark. Watch her right hand while you listen to the sound she produces. Wickedly Amazing!)

I found their web-site and saw that they would be performing in Denver on May 1st at the Ogden Theatre.

I immediately bought tickets. And told anyone and everyone about the virtuosity of Rodrigo y Gabriela.

I was fired up and anticipating the live show for several weeks. The evening arrived, and Tami and I (me more than she) got geared up to go to the show.

Here is what transpired.

Parking
I knew beforehand that parking was going to be an adventure. I really didn’t want to park in an unsafe spot, nor did I want to walk several blocks in the rain. So we found a paid parking lot near the Smiley’s Laundromat, thus beginning the first ordeal of the evening.
1. Finding a parking spot in the “lot” where there wasn’t one to be had.
2. Paying the alternative lifestyle, Little Richard wanna-be $7 to park in a lot with no clear spaces.
3. Not being able to find a spot where our vehicle wouldn’t be subsequently hit.
4. Finding a spot, but being told by alternative lifestyle, Little Richard wanna-be that the spot wasn’t part of his lot.
5. Parking behind a completely different building with clearly visible “tow-zone” signs.
6. Being told by alternative lifestyle, Little Richard wanna-be that where I parked was indeed ok, and that area was park of his lot.

Venue
Have you ever been to a concert at the Ogden Theater in Denver? It Sucks, with a capital S.
1. There are “21” areas where alcohol is served, and to get into these areas you must present your ID and get a wrist band. Someone’s grandmother was staffing the access point and it took perhaps 10 minutes for Tami and I to get through a line 3 persons deep.
2. There was absolutely no place for us to position ourselves in order to see the stage. I’m 5’10” and Tami is 5’6”. I could find an area where if I stood on my toes and held myself very still I could see. There was no place for Tami to do the same.

The Show
I was hoping that things would improve once the show started, and we would be able to see the stage, and be entertained. So much for modest expectations. (I made these observations from the vantage point of - back of the room, standing on my toes, craning my head/neck to peer between two 6-ft-plus dudes. Not a pleasant way to spend an evening of musical entertainment.)
1. The opening act came out unannounced, picked up his guitar, sat down in a chair, started to play a miserable, sorrowful arrangement, enhanced by vocals that could be generously described as a harsh and irritating whine. The guy looked like he had been dragged in off of Colfax, handed a guitar, and was told – “just make something up, and do it for 30-45 minutes.”
2. His first song ended to a smattering of polite but unwarranted applause. He made a one or two sentence speech, whereby someplace in the midst of he probably mentioned his name, and began his second piece.
3. At which point I had calculated the period of time I would have to endure this trivial imposition on my senses to get to the intermission, wait impatiently through the intermission, finally to have Rodrigo y Gabriela begin their performance, of which I would not be able to see because of the terrible sight lines, and over-capacity crowd, and decided I had had enough.
4. We left and went home.

Fallout
I was pissed off beyond belief. I’m still angry as I write this bitch-fest missive. But I’ve learned some very important things.

1. I’ve finally acknowledged that I’m 45 years old, and have very little tolerance for standing up for several hours when the reward for doing such is negligible.
2. I will never, ever again buy ticket to a performance at the Ogden.
3. I will never, ever again buy tickets to a performance at a venue that doesn’t have assigned seating.
4. I really don’t pay attention to the live music scene as much as I did when I was younger, so why in the world would I think it would be a good idea to go to a concert now?

All of this complaining is very unfortunate, and a disservice to Rodrigo y Gabriela. I still love their music, and am still incredibly impressed with Gabriela’s technique. It is extremely disappointing that I wasn’t able to see them perform live.

(Once again I have multiple photos that I would love to post and make available for everyone to see - but I can’t find the time to follow my brother’s instructions a get a Flickr account. Someday.)

We celebrated Tami and Vern’s birthdays on Sunday by having a small BBQ at our house. Tami and I tried to insist that we celebrate Jeanne’s birthday too, but she did a good job of deflecting the attention away.

Here they are addressing the cakes. (Notice in the 3rd photo that Tami at least got Jeanne to assist in blowing out the candle on the second cake.)

We celebrated Tami’s birthday on Saturday night be going to Carmine’s on Penn with Tim and Jeanne. Tom Bostford made a surprise appearance and joined us for dinner. He was in town for a seminar. Tim, Jeanne and I knew he would be there, but Tami was pleasantly surprised.

The five of us, and a picture of the piece of cake we split.