Yep! Turns out, Jess got quite a few tickets for the summer concert series at McMenamins… and her ears definitely perked up a bit when I mentioned that I liked the idea of getting to actually see Death Cab for Cutie in concert!
They’re not a favorite band of mine, but they’re definitely one that I know – I have a favorite song or two of theirs, and it’s something that comes across my top songs fairly regularly. A solidly good band, but not one that I knew much about… so getting to see them in concert was the absolute ideal option!
Let’s see…
We met up, took a nice walk, then headed to the show. We ate concert food, watched and listened, and appreciated the summer evening.
Afterward, we headed home, and proceeded to have a lovely and quiet weekend in Portland – Flowers, gorgeous skies, and even an excited kitty!
The last time I was at McMenamins Edgefield was… Ohh man, it must have been one of the “Worst Day of the Year” runs! So… 2019? Maybe 2020?
Interestingly, it was also the first spot I saw a concert in Oregon, if my memory serves – Brandi Carlisle, as one of the last concerts of Summer 2015.
Well, that was one of the last concerts of the summer… but this is the first! The National, one of Jess’ favorite bands, kicked off the Summer Lineup – no way I was going to miss seeing a new band as the start of the heat!
Not too much to say, aside from that it was super fun.
We relaxed (thanks to Jess bringing chairs!) We ate delicious concession food (A bavarian pretzel, pulled pork, and a burger!) and we appreciated the warmth and the Sun for as long as it lasted.
Ohh man… how long has it been since I’ve been to a concert?
Not… huh. Not actually that long, I guess? Looking back at the archives (yay having a searchable diary!), it looks like I went to a punk show back in March. So… four months? That’s not actually that bad, really. Maybe… maybe, just maybe, things are starting to get a little bit better?
We’ll see. But for now, they were excellent. Loud music, beautifully comfortable desert air, and a gorgeous sun setting behind the stage. I could get used to evenings like this, no lie.
I’d driven out to Bend earlier in the day, taking my time to enjoy the drive while listening to music and letting my mind wander. It was great – I’d taken the Southern route to the desert, instead of going North past Mount Hood, so the scenery was a little bit different than normal. The top was down, the AC was on (hey, it was literally 106 degrees, hush), and I had approximately a gallon of sunscreen on.
The drive was lovely.
I arrived at my AirBnB, checked in, took some time to cool off… and headed into town for the show. Easy peasy. Maybe even lemon squeezy, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The concert itself was great – not quite as angry as I was expecting (and hoping for, truth be told) but… we do what we can, you know? The music was great, I had an amazing time, and I’m absolutely ecstatic that I was able to go!
Unfortunately, the show did end a bit earlier than expected… Remember, Rise Against is a political band, sort of like a slightly tamer version of Rage Against the Machine in my mind. Their songs are about issues in the world, and what could be. About respecting people, and breaking down barricades between us.
The mosh pit took that a bit too literally, and broke down the barricade in front of the stage.
Yeah. They took 30min trying to fix it, before giving up and telling us they weren’t allowed to play any more angry songs… not that the previous songs were excessively angry, but… you know. So they played an acoustic song (one of my favorites, actually), and then signed off for the night.
But it was near the end of the set anyways, so not too much music was lost I guess. A bummer, to be sure, but not the worst in the world.
That evening, I lay on the picnic table outside the place I’d rented, and watched the stars. I took a lovely bath in the claw-foot tub, and I took the chance to finish reading my book.
