Virtually Home

Phoebe and Harrison in Saint Paul I decided these shows can share one post: Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers at the Palace Theatre, Saint Paul, 9-7-17 Phoebe and Harrison in Milwaukee Saint Paul was a no-brainer. The Palace only recently reopened after having been closed a few decades, and it was my first chance to see the venue. It's an old-fashioned theatre with a standing-room-only pit and a balcony with seating. The vibe is an interesting mix of ornate and run-down that appeals to me. It has a kind of annoying series of ramps and staircases to get to the stage, which the venue implemented so they can check tickets before people get to the pit, but is annoying when everyone is trying to exit at the same time through bottlenecked passageways. "Lua" trio Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers at the Pabst Theatre, Milwaukee, 9-8-17 The Pabst was cool because I had never been to Milwaukee before, and it's the middle of downtown, with a "secret...

Gogol Bordello, from really far away I went back to the venue Ryan Adams played Friday night to see Modest Mouse last night. I've seen Modest Mouse a handful of times, and I have generally thought their performance can be kind of uneven. Once, they played Norman and they were stumble-drunk and belligerent. Once, they played Sasquatch Fest and I thought it was one of the most incredible shows I've ever seen. I'm glad I went, but I think we got both worlds last night. I confess I missed the first act. Gogol Bordello played second. I had seen them a festival once, and what stuck in my mind about that performance was how absolutely on their frontman is. He didn't disappoint this time, either. The band comes across as incredibly engaged, intentionally quirky, and borderline manic. The frontman is singing, slinging his acoustic guitar around on his back, and waving a bottle of red wine so enthusiastically it's spraying everywhere when it's not being drunk by var...

Cory Chisel's opening set I couldn't not see more dates on the  Prisoner  tour. I was kicking myself for not buying tickets for Chicago, and trying to figure out exactly how much wriggle room I had in my work schedule to take a road trip (honestly, bad idea). But then I found out that Ryan was, after a swing through Europe, a break, and a UK tour, coming back to the Upper Midwest....to do a show with the legendary Emmylou Harris. Emmylou has been on my concert bucket list for a while, so I can't tell you how excited I was for this. The show was outdoors at Breese Stevens Field, in the busiest part of Madison on a Friday. Music started early, at 5:30 p.m., when the laser sun was right in the performers' eyes during the opening set. Cory Chisel opened with Adriel Denae on backup vocals and tambourine, and a bassist. He's a Wisconsin native who's apparently been gaining notoriety in Nashville (and by the way, you have to hear Emmylou pronounce "...

Female cricket at my field site. January started in the back lot of a Lutheran Church in Hilo, Hawaii. I recorded and captured crickets with my colleagues, counted invasive cane toads, and collapsed into bed sometime after midnight Hawaii time (hours after my friends in Europe and the continental US had finished celebrating). I spent as much time as possible on that trip snorkeling and reveling in the warm weather. Grand Canyon is Grand February was pretty quiet, but we saw the Wild play the Islanders in Saint Paul, and the Gopher men's gymnastics team take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Minneapolis. I caught Josh Ritter and Guster on tour. I tried not to freeze to death. My life as a lab rat in the spring In March, Jacob and I took a massive trip to Arizona. We visited his family in Phoenix, camped for three nights on the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, and roadtripped to Canyon de Chelly, Walnut Canyon, and other places. We saw a lot of amazing Pueblo dwe...