Dude, where is everybody?

The view from the terraza at Saratoga's Mountain Winery. An empty patio scene, the twinkling lights of Santa Clara in the background. Pretty damn grainy, but it goes with the high ASA territory.  Not a soul in sight. Crickets chirping away, providing a bucolic soundrack to a warm summer evening...

Meanwhile, just a few feet away, we have the answer to this week's question:

Everybody was at the Jeff Bridges show!

Along with an appreciative (and mostly non-talking!) audience, TSG enjoyed a laid-back evening hosted by Lloyd and Dorothy's son.  Backed by a crackerjack band, Jeff played a too-short set of songs from the new album, "Crazy Heart", and his 2000 effort "Be Here Soon" (She Lay Her Whip Down from that CD being a highlight). He closed the show with The Man in Me, a nice treat for TBL fans in the audience.  (Strangely enough, we talked to several folks who were totally unaware of his work in the Coen Brother's 1998 film.)

Jeff's joy in being up there was obvious--which seems to be the point of his latest "career move". He won't be the next country super star, but he sings and plays well enough...and having charisma coming out of his ears doesn't hurt.  His funniest observation of the evening came when someone shouted out "FLYNN!!!".  Jeff paused for a moment and said, "Whenever I think of Tron, the first thing that comes to mind is sitting around in that damn dancing belt.  You know what that is?  It's like a g-string for men, a harness for special effects work. I had to stand around for hours wearing one of those things--so thanks for reminding me!"

Not Your Father's Flea Market...

...or maybe it is. Anything sold at the APAF has to be over 20 years old. Maybe that makes it your older brother's flea market. If you had one, that is.

Trash or treasure? You make the call.

FCA!A* (or, Winterland Reunion: Class of 6/14/75)

Yes, TSG and PF go way back...we were big fans of his even before that fateful night, still one of the greatest concerts we've ever experienced.  The show at Wente Bros Winery Tuesday night could of course never compare, but it was nice to spend the evening with Peter and the rest of the band (including fellow Winterland alumnus and bassist Stanley Sheldon--but we kind of missed John Regan).

What we could have done without was the constant yammering of the yahoos in the audience.  Do people go to concerts to LISTEN to the performance anymore?  Not in Livermore they don't.  If we had a lawn, those loudmouthed, smart(?) phone-poking hipsters would certainly not be welcome on it.

Oh, if only TSG hadn't fallen asleep at the wheel and missed getting tickets to the Warfield show. It still wouldn't have been the same, but we would've gotten to see another once-in-a-lifetime event.  Turned out that a fan from far, far away made a rather remarkable guest appearance:

*Again--this tour celebrates the 35th anniversary

of the-then biggest selling live album of all time.