Spectacular night

Friday nights are usually quiet affairs at our place, often involving a takeout dinner, some jazz on the old streaming audio, and a nap on the couch. As a rule, Carrie and I are pretty fried at the end of a work-week. (As someone once observed, it's amazing how much "mature wisdom" resembles "being too tired.")

Last night, we shook off our usual end-of-the-week exhaustion and, after an indifferently-prepared-and-served meal at an Upper West Side joint (future blog topic: why are there no really good restaurants in this neighborhood?) we went to a concert at the Beacon Theater.

The Beacon is one of my favorite places to hear live music. It's a lovingly-restored vaudeville theater dating from the 20's; the acoustics are terrific, the seats are big and comfortable, etc. They literally don't build them like this any more.

Appearing at the Beacon last night: Guy Clark, Joe Ely, John Hiatt, and Lyle Lovett.

I could probably just stop this post right here and leave the details to your imagination...

I've always been a sucker for the singer-songwriter thing, and every one of these guys was "alt.country" (a genre I particularly enjoy) long before that term was even coined--in fact, you might say that writers and performers like Guy Clark and Joe Ely (especially with his first band, The Flatlanders, recently reunited and touring again) shaped the alt.country template.

They are all very different performers, but what they've got in common is a storytelling tradition, tuneful music and a winning way with a smart lyric.

Here, for instance, is the irresistable Guy Clark, placing Doc Watson in the proper artistic and historical perspective in "Dublin Blues":

I have been to Fort Worth
I have been to Spain
I have been too proud
To come in out of the rain

I have seen the David
I've seen the Mona Lisa too
I have heard Doc Watson
Play "Columbus Stockade Blues"

Indeed, indeed.

The performers took turns playing songs, one at a time. As Lyle observed, "This is a pretty good deal... three-quarters of the time, I'm part of the audience."

What a spectacular night. Fatigue and post-meal heartburn instantly forgotten; we were walking on air on our way home.

And this morning, I surveyed my music collection and concluded that I need some more Guy Clark albums. Ordered.