Living in the Moment

Thursday was a very. long. day.  

Jason was out of town and I had to work, so I got to wake up extra early to get Amelia ready for the day.  Work was especially challenging and included a "vomit situation".  Traffic was awful coming back home.  

But shortly thereafter things started looking up.

You see, Thursday was the day that Jason and I had planned on driving to Columbia to see Mason Jennings.  Maybe you know Mr. Jennings, maybe you don't. He's been described as "one of the best kept secrets in pop music" and you may have heard Christian Bale lip sync two Bob Dylan songs that Jennings sang for the movie, "I'm Not There".  If you don't know him at all, consider checking him out. Seriously, I love this man.

Okay, so, with Amelia at GG and Papa's house, we were Columbia-bound by Thursday evening.  We stopped for dinner and rolled into town with only about 20 minutes to spare before the opening band took the stage at the Blue Note.  We found my college friends, Lynn and Debbie who had scored some front row balcony seats.  And from the balcony, we could clearly see my brother-in-law, Dave and his friend, Travis who were also in attendance at the concert.  They were the ONLY people on the floor by the stage, staking their shot smack dab in front of Mason's microphone.

Now, the "opening band" consisted of one Zach Gill, perhaps best known as Jack Johnson's pianist.  Over the summer, when Jason and I saw Jack Johnson in KC, Zach sang a song or two and we both thought he was really good.  When we heard he was opening for Mason Jennings we were excited, and Mr. Gill did not disappoint!  Not only did he sing and pay the keyboard, he also used the ukulele and accordion to enhance his vocals.  My favorite song from his new CD is one called "Bettina", a true and colorful description of a past landlord of his.  In fact, he was so great that my Dave decided to buy his CD following the show.  But, more about that later.....

After a short intermission, Mason took the stage and was outstanding.  I enjoyed about 2 seconds of his performance from the balcony seat, another 45 seconds from the floor near the back, before shimmying my way up to where Dave and his friend were located and enjoying the rest of the performance about 28 inches from Mr. Mason Jennings himself.  Despite my earlier teasing of Dave for staking out his spot so early when no one else was around, he was kind enough to let me get in front of him.  I was so close that I could have touched Mason's size 15 shoes.  I rested my beer on the stage.  I could lean over slightly and read the set list hidden behind the speaker (and blab it to anyone who would listen behind me).  

The best part of the evening was when Mason sang my favorite song, "Crown" followed by my second favorite song, "Jackson Square".  After a quick bathroom break and urging my friends to join me up by the stage, Mason belted out "Be Here Now" which reminds me of my days in Chicago.  

(Warning, Flashback Ahead)  

Mason's CD, Boneclouds, did not leave my car's CD player during our entire stay in Chicago.  Since I always started the CD at the beginning (on my favorite song of the CD), by the time I hit Lake Shore Drive, "Be Here Now" was right in the meat of the song and I will forever associate it with beautiful Lake Michigan and feelings of adventure mixed with homesickness.  Once the possibly of moving back to St. Louis came up, the song became even more powerful to me.

"the point"--our favorite spot to hang out by the Lake

(As a side note, I am about 85% sure that Mason Jennings winked at me during this song.  It could be that he had something in his eye at the exact moment he looked at me, but I prefer to think the former.  Never mind that he really didn't smile, wink, or make eye contact with anyone other than his band members during the entire performance.  Well, the band members and me, that is).

After Mason's 3 song encore, the place cleared out super fast.  Dave and his friend took off to another bar, while Lynn, Debbie, Jason, and I chatted a bit.  Within minutes, Zach Gill appeared from a side door and was immediately accosted by a group of young ladies.  We immediately called Dave, who I know would want to have his CD signed.  Dave reemerged, Debbie and Lynn went to grab a late dinner, and the rest of us waited for Zach to finish signing the ladies' CDs, ticket stubs, t-shirts, and whatever else they could find.

In the meantime, Dave decided he would have Zach sign the CD to me and I would buy a copy for him at a later date.  When it was our turn, Zach was great about signing the CD and taking loads of pictures with us.  We talked to him for about 15 minutes about a wide range of topics: like the age of his daughter (he sang a song about her at the concert), his wife's desire to "make another baby" when he returns from this tour, his feelings about Bonnaroo and the embarrassing moment he had backstage with Eddie Vedder, Mason's size 15 shoes (this was initiated by looking at the size of Jason and Dave's shoes), what it was like for his family to tour with him this summer, and how he sees Mason's current tour like a "Men's Retreat" since all of the musicians are about the same age and have families and children.  It was more like we were talking to our next door neighbor or an old high school friend instead of a multi-millionaire musician who has rubbed shoulders with some of my favorite artists. Very cool.

By then, it was a little past midnight and Jason and I decided it was time to head back to St. Louis.  Stopping only twice for bathroom breaks, we made it home and in bed shortly before 2 AM.

Long day, indeed!  But it was definitely worth it!

As a side note, if you choose to check out Mason Jennings' music, might I suggest:

Crown

Jackson Square

Be Here Now

Your New Man

I Love You and Buddha Too

Butterfly

Lemon Grove Avenue

If you Ain't Got Love

Living in the Moment

(I could go on and on, but I will spare you)