dinner + rock music = strange combo

Last night was the Aimee Mann show I've been waiting and waiting for. It was both weird and awesome at the same time.

Erika and I got to The Birchmere about a half hour before the show started. The tickets were general admission, and I figured not a lot of people would care about getting there early enough to see Ben Lee. (I did) Anyway, neither one of us had been there before, so it was a bit of a shock when we walked into the room with the stage, and there were tables set up everywhere and people eating dinner. I asked someone if the tables were removed for the show, and I learned that no, they were not, and I was informed "there's no mosh pit." Ok, whatever, not what I was looking for. Erika snagged a spot right in the front table off to the side. Apparently people in the front center had been there for hours. People were also quite a bit older than us. I feel like Erika and I were a good fifteen years younger than the median age.

Ben Lee opened. About half way through his set, he turns to our table, and says, "you guys OK?" which of course made us giggle. It was really cool to be that close up, because we could see everything he was doing, which included checking his set list on his cell phone, which he kept on the floor.

After Ben Lee's set, but before Aimee Mann came on, I went out to talk to him. I bought a CD that I already have so I could get him to sign it, which he did, and we had a (short) conversation.

me: I saw you last month, too, at the Black Cat.
Ben Lee: yeah, that show was great. very different from this one.
me: yeah. I've never been to this place before.
Ben Lee: me either. It's kind of weird. Very grown-up.

but of course, all the Ben Lee dialogue is said with an Australian accent. Which we all know is way cuter than my American accent.

Anyway, Aimee Mann was great, too. She played a lot of stuff off her newest album, The Forgotten Arm. Thank goodness I bought that one when it came out a few weeks ago. The audience, however, was super sedate. Since everyone was crowded in to these weird table configurations, there was no dancing. People seriously looked like they were at church. No head bopping, no singing along. Bizarre.

Aimee Mann played 2 encores. The second encore, she took requests. Erika and I were yelling for That's Just What You Are, but to no avail. People were requesting really calm music, and at one point, she said, "I can't do that! You guys will fall asleep." Then she suggested people write songs down and fly them in via paper airplane. Which some people did, and she ended up agreeing to play Til Tuesday's Voices Carry, which surprised me, but in a good way.

I'm seeing this same show next month in Baltimore. I think it will be a totally different show. That place is also GA, but no tables and chairs. It will be more like a rock concert, at least I hope. The music was great here, and I liked being able to see, but it was a little too tame for me.