JM's set list saved from the show! Really, its more of a guideline than a set list....Oh Reaaaallly?!?!?
So at the Tin Mill Brewing Company we tried the Pilsner (meh), the Hefeweizen (good), and the Dopplebock (good). Not much in the way of food, but the beer was cold and Mr. Lacubrious got to use their garage door (at the back) to get inside...a la...the handicapped accessible entrance!
So...LacubriousToo and I headed to Galesburg (brrr-ass-cold), Illinois for a Javi show and a chance to get outta dodge!
The drive was only 4 hours, which is just about my limit these days for travel by car.
We "blew" into town around 3pm, checked into Comfort Inn where we found our room to be a sweltering 98 degrees! The 120 degree temp difference between the minus 30 wind chill and that was a bit much.
We chilled for an hour or so, then headed our to find some dinner. We went to the Packinghouse, but ended up with appetizers and salad bar because we were pressed for time to get to the venue.
The Orpheum Theatre
We got to the venue at 6:30 (Thanks TomTom!) amid a brisk winter wind that practically blew us across the street. (Did I mention it was COLD!)
Javi had arranged for tickets so we hit the box office and were efficiently escorted to the correct seats...which happened to be in the middle of the theatre. We were lucky enough to get seated behind Jaime and Sue. Darrin overhead them discussing Javi and the band so he interupted to ask them if they would mind if he shot photos of the show between them and that if he got too annoying them should just let him know.
As fate would have it, Jaime worked at the Orpheum Theatre and he offered to go ask the manager is we could move down front for a better vantage point. While he was gone Sue mentioned that Jaime was her theatre student (she teaches at Carl Sandburg College) and had gotten to go backstage and meet the band.
Theatre Manager, Kate Francis, came by and said it would be no problem to move up to the handicapped seating area.
Check out that architecture!
The show started out with Kate introducing Javier and the band. This time the "band" was Carl Glad, Dave Aholt, Joe Pastor, and Eric Grossman.
The set was:
You can read a bit more about the show highlights on my post to JavierTrueFans.com.
It was a fantastic show, check out more of L-Too's photos below...
After the show, we hit a local bar. (Did I mention the smoking ban in Illinois?) Can you say "breathing easy"? I can!
Anyhow, it turns out the theatre manager, Kate was once (20 years ago) a member of Mr.Wizard, a cover band from St. Louis! We also learned a bit more about the history of the Orpheum Theater, built in 1916.
We finally wrapped it up and headed out into the bitter cold, and agreed to meet Javi and the gang for breakfast at the Cafe & Creperie. Yum!
L-Too and I drove around Galesburg a bit the next day to check out the college, and some of the older buildings...then we headed back home.
Thanks again to my Bro' on Pup Patrol!
Javi's Christmas Show(s) were rockin'! He played a lot of our favorites, rarities like Selle El Recuerdo & Corre La Mente!
We had a great time, met some new people (Basilio & Christine, Javi fans transplanted from Columbia!) and got to say adios to the venue.
Yes, Finale is closing...the building is going "Senior Condo". Bummer, because the place was great for intimate concerts and has fab sound. Rumor has it that it will reopen in another location, but it could be a year before that happens!
The most important thing...Javi had his Christmas Album for sale so we bought two! One for us and one for Mom.
I think we'll need to pick up a few more at Brandt's this month!
We listened to it on the way home and there's a surprise track! But you'll have to pick one up, cuz I'm not tellin!
You can buy one here: http://cdbaby.com/cd/jmband9
LacubriousToo and I took a quick trip to Columbia on Friday night to see Javi and Carl play at the place where it all began (for us anyhow) the Cherry Street Artisan. We grabbed dinner at Flat Branch (and filled up the growler - Irish Red baby!) and headed over to Cherry St. The place was packed to hear this guy, Brady Didion.
He plays "tapping" guitar. He was accompanied by a viola player and a cahon player and it was very good. Check out his myspace site at:
http://www.myspace.com/bradydidion
He's a local musician and has a pretty big following. He even jammed with Javi on a song.
A bass player we know from Javi's band, Eric Grossman, plays a full time gig with another artist by the name of Sarah Bettens. She's originally from Denmark (lives in Nashville) and does mostly European tours, but she had 3 US concert dates recently and Eric really wanted us to see her show when she came to STL.
We were not disappointed! She was great! Great voice and a rocking show. She has a great stage presence.
There were some very loyal fans on hand to see her. I spoke to one woman whose family drove in from Ohio! She had first seen Sarah in California and lamented that she had not been able to see her show since because she rarely plays in the US.
We picked up her latest CD, SHINE and what the heck, I had her sign it for me. She was super nice and made time for every one that came by, posing for photos and answering questions.
I also downloaded a prior CD release called SCREAM from iTunes and I have to say that I really like that one too.
I would definitely check her show out the next time she's in town...a road trip wouldn't be out of the question either!
Visit www.sarahbettens.com
