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lizabeth’s journal

Thanksgiving in B'lo

· · 🌡️ 83°F

So, did anybody go to the Old 97's Thursday in the Square thing besides @carolinian ? He posted a pic for me, so I am doing the requisite writhing in jealousy... ::writhe writhe::

Anyway, my brother-in-law ( @jbeatty ) has finally moved to Buffalo and settled in, and he met a bunch of you guys a few days ago, so now he knows way more of you than I do (since I know a grand total of exactly one of you, besides him). As of right now, my husband & I are planning to come up and visit him for Thanksgiving. Flying into & out of WNY in late November is always a dicey proposition, and flying around T-giving is always a gigantic cluster-fuck, but we've decided to give it a shot, anyway. If anyone is going to be around then and is up for a non-traditional T-giving (one year my husband & jb cooked up an Asian feast - we were eating for four hours straight and we didn't come close to eating everything they'd prepared), drop us a line.


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💬 4 comments

  1. jbeatty ·

    I want Tofurkey this year!

  2. lizabeth ·

    Screw Tofurkey - I'm ready for an all-Asian gorge-fest again! I'll fold the dumplings!

  3. chico ·

    Old 97's were fantastic. There was intermittent light rain and the crowd was not quite as large as it might have been but there was still a good vibe going. Rhett Miller was quite the showman, sporting tight white pants and a bright red shirt and doing this small-scale quasi-Pete-Townshend guitar-windmill move (from the elbow rather than from the shoulder) and repeatedly turning around and shaking his booty for all the ladies (and anyone else interested). He seemed to have a blast playing in Buffalo (he said a couple of times how surprised he was that Buffalo was so much fun ... "who knew?" etc.

    I don't know the song catalog very well but they played a bunch of good tunes and mixed things up nicely, switching from acoustic to electric and back again. The general tempo was upbeat and they seemed to have some catchy hooks and lyrics.

    Toward the end of the show, a girl tried to climb onstage and when the security guard "escorted" (read, dragged) her off, Miller went chasing after them telling the security guard to leave her. The next time a woman climbed up, they let her, and she danced around Miller for a couple of minutes. Then another woman got up there and they danced together with the band and then, at the end of the tune, grabbed each other and kissed a bit. Pretty amusing.

    They were generous with encores (the first was a Rhett Miller solo tune, "Am I Gonna Be Lonely for the Rest of My Life?" which gave the band a rest) and played 15 minutes over time, which is very unusual in my (admittedly, limited) experience (most bands quit before or right at 9 pm).

    Overall it was a blast, and I'd pay to see those guys the next time they're in B-lo. Or better yet, I'll pony up more cash for watery beer to see them in the Square next summer, I'd love to have them come back for that.

  4. lizabeth ·

    Chico, that is awesome - I'm so glad you went and had a good time!

    That sounds like classic Rhett - his little hip-shaky dances and guitar-strafing flailing are one of the best parts of seeing the Old 97's. I had forgotten how much fun he is to watch (the last time I got a chance to see them was 2001) until I saw him solo in February.

    Also, that's pretty standard with them and the encores. Most times I saw them, the solo song he did first to give the band a break was "Question" (which is on their album Satellite Rides, in addition to him re-doing it in French on his most recent album), though I can see how "Come Around" would work well, too.

    If you want, I can give you a compilation CD I made of my favorite songs of theirs (you might have to wait until around Thanksgiving to get it, tho'!). I am all about hooking more people into 97's fandom. :D

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