Dinner and a Show

It begins...
So we saw Brett Dennen Wednesday night at The Blind Pig in Ann Arbor. We got some mixed signals regarding showtime. Brett's website listed it as 7:00pm. The venue's website listed it at 9pm or 9:30pm, whenever you happened to look. No matter, our plan was to get there around 7pm, buy our tickets then grab dinner at Grizzly Peak (we call it Bear Mountain - I'll explain someday). We arrived at 7pm and checked inside the 8 - Ball Saloon where the tickets were to be sold. The bartender informed us that there were only 30 tickets left and they would be sold at the door when they opened at 8pm. Okay, now we were worried about 2 things: 1. Will they sell out? and B) Do we have time to eat?

Dinner plans
Bear Mountain is about a 2 block walk away. We decide to chance it, hoping we can sit and eat at the bar quickly and make it back to the venue by 8pm. It was about 7:15pm when we arrived at the pub and took our seats at the end of the bar. We conferred with the bartender and decided to move forward with the plan. See, we were safe as long as nobody ordered a well-done burger. So I, um, ordered a burger. Hey, I'd been looking forward to it all day (great burgers at Grizzly Peak - there I said the real name). At least I didn't order it well-done. The food was prompt (and good) and we finished according to our agreed-upon schedule. Oh, during dinner we were asked to move our seats. Apparently, we were blocking some guys view of a TV with a basketball game on. I think he didn't want us eating in his line of vision. I can understand that. Anyway, we surmised he was a gambler that had some serious stakes in the game since he was onthe phone and all much of the time. Yeah, we'll go with that.

To the venue
We could see the venue shortly after beginning the walk from the pub. We could see the door. No crowd. No problem. It wasn't until we got much closer that we could see the line stretching down the block toward the corner. Crap. We were discussing our dilemma (no tickets) as we got in line. A2Karen (her Twitter name, we learned), was standing directly in front of us and overheard our predicament. Turns out she had 2 extra tickets. What? This was too easy. But it was true. Two of her friends bailed on her and she would sell them to us for... Schmoe interjected, "five hundred dollars!". No. Face value. Deal.

Don't interrupt
Upon further discussion with A2Karen, we learned that the artist we came to see was a guest on local radio earlier in the day. She was telling us this as the line was moving closer to the door and the crowd was increasing. A super tall guy butted into the conversation right at that point saying, "it's true, I was there this morning". Ok. It wasn't until we got past our initial reaction of being interrupted when we realized it was in fact, the artist we came to see. Yes, Brett Dennen was greeting fans at the door on the way in and we nearly shushed him and moved him along. Smooth.

iSchmoe camera
After chatting briefly with Brett, A2Karen asked Schmoe to take a photo of her and Brett with her iPhone. She started the camera for him and handed it over. Schmoe masterfully framed the photo. It was perfectly centered and well lit. He then proceeded to turn off the camera. Without actually taking the photo. Again...smooth.

The show
We actually got some bar stools near side stage. Great location. This was an elevated area and we could see over folks standing in front of the stage. Nice. A band called The Little Ones opened. I liked them. Nice upbeat tunes. Very melodic. On one tune they played ukeleles! Really. Brett's show was also very enjoyable. It "rocked" more than I expected. This guy is a unique talent. He has a distinctive style. This music is going to find its way into a movie soundtrack somewhere and he's going to take off. See him at a small venue while you can.