Too Much Fun

Busy weekend - went up to Lowell Friday night to see Buddy Guy at Boarding House Park. My friend had never seen him, so I bought tickets last week and off we went. Left @ 4:45pm figuring we'd be fighting traffic on Rte. 93, but it never materialized, so we were parked next to the venue by 5:20. We had an hour to kill, so we wound up in a place called the Blue Shamrock, which was a tad sketchy, but had Guinness on tap and therefore was acceptable. Got back to the venue @ 6:30 and it was already full up due to general admission seating. So we perched on the concrete wall at the back of the park and watched the show from there.

Buddy can be hit or miss, but he was on Friday night. Did a great version of Otis Redding's "Dreams To Remember". He did all the schtick too...plucking notes with a drumstick, playing with just his fretting hand, playing with his teeth. He's something to watch at age 72. At the end of the show, he brought out an 8 year old guitarist named Quinn Sullivan who was amazing for his age. He showed no signs of nervousness and traded licks with the master. I'll have to post some video of him when I get a chance. A fun night all around.

Saturday night I went over to the Abbey Lounge with my friend George - saw the Mess Me Ups, the Lyres and the Classic Ruins. Great bill - all 3 bands were good. George and I were talking about how we saw the singer for the Lyres (Jeff "Monoman" Conolly) at The Rat with DMZ over 30 years ago. Tempus has fugited, but his band still rocks. Stopped off in Malden on the way home and saw Bootleg Willy for an hour.

This week will see me getting my unmotivated self back to the gym...I strained my back last weekend, and I haven't worked out since then. I'm feeling better, and I want to get a week's worth of exercise in before heading out for vacation.

Speaking of vacation, it's almost upon me. Looking forward to it greatly...have my books picked out and will spend the time doing things with the family and just relaxing and reading. I've made up my packing list and will spend next Saturday doing laundry and packing up. We've made our list to things to do (horseback riding, Alpine slide at Attitash, perhaps some canoeing/rafting on the Saco River) and places to eat, so I guess we're as ready as we'll be.