Stereolab

Two nights out in a row!

Jen and I went to see our old friends Stereolab last night.

I think it was way more successful an experience that is arguably about exploring the past than was the night before.

At least I can’t remember any moments where the only thing keeping me connected was the past.

And we even danced. At any rate, some of the people around us seemed to be responding to the same vibrations.

This is how it unfolded: first, I drove to West Seattle to pick up the child from her first junior high school dance. Then, she was dropped off at the neighbors.

A little bit later, Jen and I rode the endless bus ride downtown and, after buying tickets on the street from this guy, there we were, and before you knew it, the band was on stage, singing their greatest hit, I thought—until I just spent twenty minutes surfing around and was reminded of lots of others, but anyway—and people were swaying around, which isn’t so bad for Seattle, when you come to think about it.

Eventually, I came to feel that, in some ways, they were repeating their successes, and sometimes, even others, like when they played this song that sounded so much like the French version of the B-52’s “Rock Lobster,” that I thought it was a funny joke to call it “Pierre Homard” to Andrew, even though it was too loud to hear anything even the remotest bit subtle to its source.

All in all, though, I liked it, especially when we ran across our friends, which then led us to a shared adventure as we came upon a reggae DJ/self-proclaimed “glass artist” and his acquaintances in Post Alley, ultimately finding ourselves at a table in the Alibi Room, where I couldn’t understand why we were ordering food, but then, when it came, tasted really good, despite the fact that it was undeniably excess.