As a fan of a wide variety of popular (and not-so-popular) music from the 1950s (and sometimes even earlier) up through the present, one of my bucket list projects for years has been to put together a list of my 100 favorite songs of all time. At some point I decided that, once I got around to figuring that out, I could put it out on a blog, for the infinitesimally small proportion of the Internet world that might be interested. So, here we are. While the Top 100 will be a major focus, I also plan to post on a variety of other musical (and occasionally non-musical) topics, in which you may or may not be interested. (If a particular posting doesn’t ring your bell, you’re only a few clicks away from a dancing cat video on YouTube.)
Sat in front (“Gold”) section, at a table somewhat to the
left of center.
Fantastic Cat definitely lived up to its adjective during an
energetic 95-minute set in front of an appreciative crowd.
Their 20 songs included 17 of the tracks from their two
studio albums, which made me feel a little bad for the 4 that were left out. They
also performed a heartfelt version of Warren Zevon’s “Keep Me In Your Heart” about
halfway in, did “Goodnight My Darling” (from a long-out-of-print live vinyl EP)
to conclude their main set, and encored with a rousing cover of “Band On The
Run”. It’s hard to pick favorites from such an outstanding litter, but I’d go
with “The Gig” (which opened the set), “Go All Night” (F-bombs and all), and “Sometimes
Your Heroes Let You Down”.
The band’s self-deprecating sense of humor – their album
covers portray them as actual felines, and both their liner notes and web site
are heavily tongue-in-cheek – was also evident throughout the evening. They’re
not totally modest, however, as they brought along a live digital clock that
counts down (to the second) the time until the band is eligible for nomination
to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
·The home team offense being blanked through the
7th by Jack Kochanowicz, who entered the game with a total of seven major
league innings pitched (and a 14.14 ERA).
·On the bright side, two hits (both of the
infield variety) by seldom-used but speedy shortstop Nasim Nuñez.
Unfortunately for the team and its frustrated fans, it was “bad”
MacKenzie Gore who showed up to pitch for the Nats, reprising the act that we’ve
seen much too often over the past several weeks: getting behind hitters (many
of whom wind up with free passes), running up his pitch count with numerous
foul balls when he does get to two strikes, and eventually giving up a big hit
or two with runners on base. He did manage to survive the first three innings,
despite allowing five baserunners. In the top of the 4th, however, the visitors
initially plated a pair of runs on a walk, a single, Tena’s error, another
walk, and a run-scoring double play. At that point, with two outs, just one
runner on base, and the deficit at a reasonable level, Bad MacKenzie promptly
walked the next two batters on a total of 9 mostly non-competitive pitches,
then served up a bases-clearing double to Kevin Pillar. He did not reappear for
the 5th, placing another heavy burden on the already-overworked Washington
relief corps.
Following two scoreless innings, Washington’s pitching woes
resurfaced. Jordan Weems, fresh off the IL, faced 6 batters in the top of the
7th, retiring just 2 and walking 4 until he was mercifully lifted.
The Nats did rally late, getting to Kochanowicz for two runs
in the bottom of the 8th (triggered by only the second major league homer from
Jacob Young) and another pair in the bottom of the 9th. They loaded the bases with
two outs in the 8th and with just one out in the 9th (with the winning run on
the base) but were unable to get over the hump.
Row M, Seat 1 – left section, on the left-center aisle
There was a torrential period of rain early Friday morning
in Rockville, and another short burst a few hours later. Fortunately, the effects
of ex-Hurricane Debby had pretty much vanished by mid-afternoon, so the weather
was fine for both the drive to Virginia (which was faster than usual) and the
show itself. The lower level of the Filene Center seemed to be mostly full, but
there was plenty of open space on the lawn.
Lyle and friends were in fine form as usual, with the
strongest crowd reaction for classics such as “Church”, “Here I Am”, “She’s No
Lady”, and “I Will Rise Up”. A new addition to the repertoire this year was “It’s
A Naked Party”, which was written with his two kids. (It was followed, appropriately
enough, by “Pants Is Overrated”). He also rolled out a few songs that I don’t
remember hearing live before – “Black And Blue”, “Give Back My Heart” (both
from Pontiac), and “If I Were The Man You Wanted”. He mentioned that
this was his 30th (!) show at Wolf Trap, and threw in a number of stories along
the way, including one about he and Robert Earl Keen co-wrote “This Old Porch”
(one of my favorites).
Since they now seem to have an opening act for all of their
shows, I do wish that they would start at 7:30 rather than 8:00, as the 11:00 Wolf
Trap curfew always makes things rushed at the end. They didn’t do an actual
encore, but finished up with the mandatory “If
I Had A Boat”, getting in just under the wire.
The 7-piece Preservation Hall Jazz Band started the evening
off with a scorching 45-minute set that energized the crowd. Highlights included
“St. Louis Blues”, “Keep Your Head Up” (the only track of theirs that’s currently
in my iTunes library), and the closing medley of “When The Saints Go Marching
In” and “You Are My Sunshine”.
