Story #12: Eugene's Week of Music

This past week was a rare event in this small Oregon town where I live.  There were good concerts almost every night, and a few nights had too many shows to choose from.  I saw Ben Kweller on Monday, Stars on Tuesday, and Brightblack Morning Light on Wednesday.  Here is my quick recap.

1. Ben Kweller.  I hate country music.  Occasionally country music will be more folk or bluegrass than country, and then it is decent, but for the most part, I'm not a fan.  Apparently Ben Kweller's new music is country.  He began playing, and I thought, "oh man, what have I gotten myself into?"  Fortunately for me, he only played 3, maybe 4 new songs, sticking to his old stuff for the most part.  The crowd was pretty big and made up almost entirely of big Kweller fans.  Not big in size, but big in excitement, dedication, and most apparent, sing-along-ness.  Knowing his crowd well, Kweller pulled out his classics upon request (at one point directly stating that he takes requests, then playing songs in requested order for most of the show).  He played a song on the guitar that is normally played on the piano.  It was phenomenal to see him play the guitar like that.  And he just has this energy - you know he lives for this, loves it - he's just up there having a good time.  And my nostalgia came back in full-force when he played some of the old favorites, particularly In Other Words.  I am a huge sucker for the piano.
2. Stars.  Smaller crowd than Ben Kweller, although not too much smaller.  Much less into the music, or at least much less knowledgeable of the music than the Kweller crowd.  For the first 4 or 5 songs, I felt like they were trying too hard to be cool.  I felt a little embarrassed for them, as they sort of looked like the stereotypical aging rockers who are yearning to stay cool and young and "hip."  But after a while, they become more comfortable and lost the fake, forced "rocker" antics.  They became much more enjoyable to watch at that point.
3. Brightblack Morning Light.  This was perfect for a chill night sitting at a table with friends.  Unlike other shows in loud concert-hall type venues, this is music that you can talk over, and still feel like you're enjoying the show and not being rude.  I think it was probably a good ending to the set of 3 shows in as many days for that reason.

And completely unrelated: I am currently writing this from the window seat of a local coffee shop.  Outside is a car that instantly reminded me of my first real "date" in high school.  A Nissan 240SX.  My first date where a guy picked me up in his car and took me out.  He drove that car.  His was totalled a couple weeks later, so it's just this random one-date memory that this car sparked for me.  We went to a football game, dinner (although I can't remember where), and then went dancing at a local 18+ club.  I was not 18.  He knew the bouncer.  I thought I was the coolest sophomore in high school ever for being at this club.  The fact that I felt that excited is probably evidence of how lame I actually was.