venue: swedish american hall (downstairs from café du nord) artist: beach house
who: ro & lou
when: 28 september 2008 (sunday)
show starts at 7:30p
we arrived in the city early for dinner. remnants of the folsom street fair (earlier in the day) were still pretty obvious. i've never gone and have only heard about it. if you've never heard about it, think kink and leather. or just google it.
we ended up at this sushi restaurant on castro, called osaka. it was pretty good. i got the sunomono which was a cucumber and seaweed salad with tako that was particularly delightful. we also ordered a bunch of special rolls that were unique and flavorful. i hadn't had sushi in a while so it hit the spot.
this was a first time to the venue for a show for all of us. i'd been to the swedish american hall for a wedding back in october of 2004. wow, that was nearly 4 years ago. that was the only time i'd ever been upstairs. i am no stranger to the downstairs venue at café du nord. we are the type of friends that see each other once or twice a year. but also the type i'd love to see more often if given the chance. it was there that i met one of my most favorite bands ever, the trashcan sinatras. we had dinner there and were guaranteed prime seating. our waitress was so cool that i couldn't help but tip her generously. she even came by to thank me for it. and when we stayed past closing, she didn't kick us out like the rest of the crowd. that's when we went to the back room and met the band.
back to upstairs. it was set up like a middle school auditorium. there was this tiny make shift stage that wasn't really a stage. it was packed. there were no seats left when we got there. we ended up in the balcony upstairs standing to the side. note to self for the next show there: go early to get seats. despite the cold temperatures outside, it was quite warm inside.
the beach house are a duo from baltimore. in rhapsody, they are filed under the dream pop category along with the smashing pumpkins and feist. which doesn't seem right. their music is indeed very dreamy and ambient. but as a live band, you get their passion and splendor. victoria legrand who is the singer, was lovely, sweet and funny. i found myself enjoying them much more than i expected. thanks ro!
rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
