This is a pretty vast digression from the concerts I’m normally going to review here. For one thing, I don’t normally patronize “the arts.” For another, the bands I see are normally “on tour” and after reading this review there is a potential that you can “go see them.” But the ticket cost fifty bucks (most likely to be paid for by my girlfriend, since she bought the tickets and at this point is still refusing to cash the check I wrote to her), so I figured I’d be damned if I’m not going to at least attempt to write about it. (more…)

Before heading over to the Troubadour for the Matt Nathanson show I took my girlfriend out for an “appreciation night” to thank her for enduring some horrendous traffic the previous Friday to pick me up at LAX, after I’d conveniently escaped the wildfires on a business trip to Reno and Phoenix. The sushi restaurant she chose looked halfway empty when we arrived, but we discovered with some dismay that the three gleamingly empty tables that had beckoned to us were actually reserved. Many restaurants in LA are leery about taking reservations, since the stereotypes about Californians and lateness are based on a true story, so we figured there was a decent chance it would be someone famous. The pair of somewhat scruffy couples that arrived for the nearest table didn’t necessarily look famous, but I noticed one of them was carrying a mandolin case. File this away for later. (more…)