This past weekend, I did four things I've never done before. Prepare to be amazed...at how truly mundane my life is.
On Friday, I saw my first movie shown at the Bijou Theatre. I speak for movie buffs when I say we were excited that the Bijou would host screenings of films that are best contained by the "niche" category. Having missed previous showings of Amelie, among others, I was finally drawn in by Let the Right One In, a Swedish vampire picture from 2008 that was praised in certain circles but only screened for about a week in Knoxville during its original release (which occurred quite near its DVD release). The film certainly deserved another crack at the big screen; the Bijou's isn't the biggest, but the experience of witnessing a thriller in a small theater surrounded by your peers is worth pursuing. Especially when the feature presentation is proceeded by an oddly edited series of retro film preview snippets featuring no less than 150 breasts. Thanks, TAMIS. I no longer wonder about your mission....
On Saturday, I attended the tail end (insert a pun here that I'm too prudish to concoct) of Pride Fest in Market Square. I arrived just before 6:30 p.m. and observed a good handful of vendors and attendees. But Heiskell, whom I'd expected to be performing, wasn't on stage yet. Who was on stage? Apparently some karaoke singers trying their best to follow some kick-ass drag queens. According to the band about to perform, these two folks ran off the majority of onlookers. Well, it was dinner time. Anyway, Heiskell (who are Jeff Heiskell of Judybats fame, plus the Tim Lee 3 + Greg Horne) took the stage close to 7pm and played a rock-your-balls-off set of tunes from Heiskell's latest disc, plus an encore song by Hole. See here: I'm not unbiased by any means, but this band should play more often in front of an increased number of rock 'n' roll lovers. I'm not wrong about this.
Mere minutes until 8 p.m. I headed down to the Old City to enter The Catalyst (a.k.a. Club Catalyst, a.k.a. formerly Blue Cats) to see the third installment of the K-Town Country Carnival, hosted by The Naughty Knots. Greg Horne kicked off the show (sense a theme? Secret: he's my husband.), followed by some honkytonk by Andy Pirkle (who sold us our HVAC unit), Drunk Uncle Mike McGill and Josh Sidmon. Followed by the Naughty Knots who rocked my world with their amazing harmonies and choice of songs. Rock on, ladies!
And on Sunday, after not enough sleep and hosting my book club meeting, I went to my first house concert. Begrudgingly, of course--how awesome do I have to be in one weekend??!! "You'll thank me," Greg said as we drove to the home of Elam and Cassie, who hosted the show by three performers: Doug & Telisha Williams, Jonathan Byrd and Danny Schmidt. It was a round-robin style show in the living room, where the seats were a couch surrounded by folding chairs. It was remarkable. Amazing songs by extremely talented people. This close. I was outnumbered by greatness. That night was their last show of 13 in 13 nights. They were gracious and giving; I can't imagine performing that close to other people, without the slightest implication of a fourth wall. The closeness of a house concert would be claustrophobic to some, addictive to others. I'm not sure if I like being looked so directly in the eye by a singer as he's singing, but I do like the acoustics.
So many firsts in a short period of time! I think I'm allowed a few oldies but goodies for the next little while. For instance: Firefly on DVD and a weekend trip to Asheville.
On Friday, I saw my first movie shown at the Bijou Theatre. I speak for movie buffs when I say we were excited that the Bijou would host screenings of films that are best contained by the "niche" category. Having missed previous showings of Amelie, among others, I was finally drawn in by Let the Right One In, a Swedish vampire picture from 2008 that was praised in certain circles but only screened for about a week in Knoxville during its original release (which occurred quite near its DVD release). The film certainly deserved another crack at the big screen; the Bijou's isn't the biggest, but the experience of witnessing a thriller in a small theater surrounded by your peers is worth pursuing. Especially when the feature presentation is proceeded by an oddly edited series of retro film preview snippets featuring no less than 150 breasts. Thanks, TAMIS. I no longer wonder about your mission....
On Saturday, I attended the tail end (insert a pun here that I'm too prudish to concoct) of Pride Fest in Market Square. I arrived just before 6:30 p.m. and observed a good handful of vendors and attendees. But Heiskell, whom I'd expected to be performing, wasn't on stage yet. Who was on stage? Apparently some karaoke singers trying their best to follow some kick-ass drag queens. According to the band about to perform, these two folks ran off the majority of onlookers. Well, it was dinner time. Anyway, Heiskell (who are Jeff Heiskell of Judybats fame, plus the Tim Lee 3 + Greg Horne) took the stage close to 7pm and played a rock-your-balls-off set of tunes from Heiskell's latest disc, plus an encore song by Hole. See here: I'm not unbiased by any means, but this band should play more often in front of an increased number of rock 'n' roll lovers. I'm not wrong about this.
Mere minutes until 8 p.m. I headed down to the Old City to enter The Catalyst (a.k.a. Club Catalyst, a.k.a. formerly Blue Cats) to see the third installment of the K-Town Country Carnival, hosted by The Naughty Knots. Greg Horne kicked off the show (sense a theme? Secret: he's my husband.), followed by some honkytonk by Andy Pirkle (who sold us our HVAC unit), Drunk Uncle Mike McGill and Josh Sidmon. Followed by the Naughty Knots who rocked my world with their amazing harmonies and choice of songs. Rock on, ladies!
And on Sunday, after not enough sleep and hosting my book club meeting, I went to my first house concert. Begrudgingly, of course--how awesome do I have to be in one weekend??!! "You'll thank me," Greg said as we drove to the home of Elam and Cassie, who hosted the show by three performers: Doug & Telisha Williams, Jonathan Byrd and Danny Schmidt. It was a round-robin style show in the living room, where the seats were a couch surrounded by folding chairs. It was remarkable. Amazing songs by extremely talented people. This close. I was outnumbered by greatness. That night was their last show of 13 in 13 nights. They were gracious and giving; I can't imagine performing that close to other people, without the slightest implication of a fourth wall. The closeness of a house concert would be claustrophobic to some, addictive to others. I'm not sure if I like being looked so directly in the eye by a singer as he's singing, but I do like the acoustics.
So many firsts in a short period of time! I think I'm allowed a few oldies but goodies for the next little while. For instance: Firefly on DVD and a weekend trip to Asheville.
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