So, welcome to 2005
Jan. 3rd, 2005 03:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mellymellI know, I'm a few days late, but I just haven't felt like touching a computer for a few days. Now that I'm forced to sit in front of one for 8 hours today, thought I might update.
So, how was New Year's? Mine was excellent! Couldn't have been better. Well, I guess it could have, but would have been overwhelming if so. I've got some very optimistic resolutions, but I probably won't post about them. Something along the lines of when making a wish you can't tell anyone or else it won't come true.
The STS9 shows were incredible!! It was apparent they were holding out for the last leg of the NYE show, as the first night was pretty chill in comparison with the second. But all of the music was just superb. I fell in love with The Tabernacle, though I still enjoy The Fox better.
Tortoise was an excellent show as well. They opened both nights, and although there were a few repeats in songs between the two nights, I was highly impressed to watch their precision. It seemed between almost every song two or more of them would switch between instruments. Everyone seemed to have a knack for everything. And the two percussionists were incredibly in sync! Very entertaining watch and they have a unique sound that is just not comparable.
Also, can't remember the name they were using, but Jeff Coffin, Futureman and a bunch of other guys got together to play for the first time as an official band. We watched them the first night between the 1st and 2nd sets of STS9 and even on into the 2nd set actually.
The rest of the time there were DJs and freestylers downstairs and between sets. Something going on at all times. And as always, the chill rooms in the stairwells.
So as soon as we got to town, we checked into The Omni and settled in for a bit. Took a little effort to get used to valet parking and what not, but the hotel is incredible!
Then we headed over to Sweetwater Brewing Company for their last tour of the year (be there at 4:20pm on a Monday or Thursday for beer and a tour). We paid $5 ea. and got a nice pint glass and tickets for 4 beers. We each only drank one, so we blessed some guy on the way out with 6 tickets, with instruction to "have at it." He glowed for a moment. I wished they hadn't been so crowded though, because we had lots of questions about their equipment, but the only guys we could find that seemed to be employees were elbow deep in either serving people or brewing/bottling work. Was neat though, there was no tour, they just sort of let everyone have free reign of the brewery (except the bottling line where they were working at the time). Not a huge setup, a little bigger than Magic Hat in Vermont, but not as big as I expected.
We got in touch with Jason and wound up meeting them later on at Max Lagers next to their hotel. Excellent food, mostly good beers. Wasn't impressed with the barleywine or Dubbel, but the pale was great and the stout was pretty good. We headed to the show after dinner and that was that.
The next day, we hit up the beer store with Jason and Travis. We went to Green's on Ponce de Leon. My god that place was incredible! Thank you Ryan for the recommendation!! We maxed out our beer budget in the place (actually $10 over) but restocked our "cellar" and two fridges with stuff we've never tried. Got a few seasonal beers. List to follow.
Then we came back, got ready and hopped on the Marta to Midtown to eat lunch at The Vortex. They have the most incredible burgers and beer selection. I also found out they had the most incredible sweet potato fries too! Hopped back on the Marta and headed back to the hotel. It was nearing time to get ready for the show. We relaxed for a while and then got ready to go.
We didn't see anyone else until after the show. The place was so packed, they could have all been 10 feet away from me and I wouldn't have noticed. We walked in minutes before Tortoise went on, so we actually got to see the whole show tonight. As a result, we scored amazing seats on the front row of the second balcony all the way over to the right side of the stage. We were basically hovering over the drummer's kit. Was nice to see what the fire dancers were doing tonight.
Speaking of Rising Phoenix, they weren't terribly impressive and may have "danced" for a total of 30 minutes between both nights. I thought some random people we saw at Smilefest last summer did a better job and they didn't have a routine or spiffy costumes. Seemed these people's moves were extremely repetitive, like they knew 4 moves and just repeated those as needed.
Funny thing though, you know us, it's not like we keep up with football in the least little bit. So we get to Atlanta staying in a hotel adjacent to the Georgia Dome and after being there for about 6 or 7 hours realize the Peach Bowl is going on. D'OH! Timing couldn't have been better for it though. All the screaming football fans went to the game and were off the streets by about 7:30pm. Our show didn't start until 8pm, so the hippies weren't on the street until later. Then the game let out, likely by midnight, while the show didn't let out until 3am, when the majority of the football fans were well off the streets. So there was very little hassle (and thank god for valet parking at the hotel! granted we were paying $20/day, but there were people paying $20 for 5 hours near The Tabernacle).
On our way out of town, we found this little hole in the wall Indian restaurant in Little 5 called Calcutta (we opted for it rather than Planet Bombay). Was really great! It's always the little hole in the wall places that are it seems (well, I guess not always, *cough*India Palace*cough*). We stopped off for a cup of coffee on the way back to the car too. Bad coffee shop in Little 5 next to the pizza joint. Don't go there.
On the way back we took our time through Little River Canyon (next to DeSoto State Park). We made it back in perfect timing to pick up the dogs at the kennel. The people who own the place (Molly's Boarding Kennel on Ryland Pike) had gone to dinner at a friend's house and when I called to let them know when we'd be in, they mentioned it and when they expected to be back (hence the side trip). Those people are so nice!! We'll definitely use them whenever we board the dogs! And the pups are clean and I didn't have to bathe them. ^__^
Johnny and Rebecka (sp?) stopped by Saturday night for a bit. Funny that they were headed to the same place we just came from (Mentone) for their 1 year anniversary. They rented a cabin. That's a nice idea.
Sunday we were uber lazy, but Chris managed to make some great Indian food for dinner (butter chicken and rice).
It's been hard readjusting to normal life again.
So, how was New Year's? Mine was excellent! Couldn't have been better. Well, I guess it could have, but would have been overwhelming if so. I've got some very optimistic resolutions, but I probably won't post about them. Something along the lines of when making a wish you can't tell anyone or else it won't come true.
The STS9 shows were incredible!! It was apparent they were holding out for the last leg of the NYE show, as the first night was pretty chill in comparison with the second. But all of the music was just superb. I fell in love with The Tabernacle, though I still enjoy The Fox better.
Tortoise was an excellent show as well. They opened both nights, and although there were a few repeats in songs between the two nights, I was highly impressed to watch their precision. It seemed between almost every song two or more of them would switch between instruments. Everyone seemed to have a knack for everything. And the two percussionists were incredibly in sync! Very entertaining watch and they have a unique sound that is just not comparable.
Also, can't remember the name they were using, but Jeff Coffin, Futureman and a bunch of other guys got together to play for the first time as an official band. We watched them the first night between the 1st and 2nd sets of STS9 and even on into the 2nd set actually.
The rest of the time there were DJs and freestylers downstairs and between sets. Something going on at all times. And as always, the chill rooms in the stairwells.
So as soon as we got to town, we checked into The Omni and settled in for a bit. Took a little effort to get used to valet parking and what not, but the hotel is incredible!
Then we headed over to Sweetwater Brewing Company for their last tour of the year (be there at 4:20pm on a Monday or Thursday for beer and a tour). We paid $5 ea. and got a nice pint glass and tickets for 4 beers. We each only drank one, so we blessed some guy on the way out with 6 tickets, with instruction to "have at it." He glowed for a moment. I wished they hadn't been so crowded though, because we had lots of questions about their equipment, but the only guys we could find that seemed to be employees were elbow deep in either serving people or brewing/bottling work. Was neat though, there was no tour, they just sort of let everyone have free reign of the brewery (except the bottling line where they were working at the time). Not a huge setup, a little bigger than Magic Hat in Vermont, but not as big as I expected.
We got in touch with Jason and wound up meeting them later on at Max Lagers next to their hotel. Excellent food, mostly good beers. Wasn't impressed with the barleywine or Dubbel, but the pale was great and the stout was pretty good. We headed to the show after dinner and that was that.
The next day, we hit up the beer store with Jason and Travis. We went to Green's on Ponce de Leon. My god that place was incredible! Thank you Ryan for the recommendation!! We maxed out our beer budget in the place (actually $10 over) but restocked our "cellar" and two fridges with stuff we've never tried. Got a few seasonal beers. List to follow.
Then we came back, got ready and hopped on the Marta to Midtown to eat lunch at The Vortex. They have the most incredible burgers and beer selection. I also found out they had the most incredible sweet potato fries too! Hopped back on the Marta and headed back to the hotel. It was nearing time to get ready for the show. We relaxed for a while and then got ready to go.
We didn't see anyone else until after the show. The place was so packed, they could have all been 10 feet away from me and I wouldn't have noticed. We walked in minutes before Tortoise went on, so we actually got to see the whole show tonight. As a result, we scored amazing seats on the front row of the second balcony all the way over to the right side of the stage. We were basically hovering over the drummer's kit. Was nice to see what the fire dancers were doing tonight.
Speaking of Rising Phoenix, they weren't terribly impressive and may have "danced" for a total of 30 minutes between both nights. I thought some random people we saw at Smilefest last summer did a better job and they didn't have a routine or spiffy costumes. Seemed these people's moves were extremely repetitive, like they knew 4 moves and just repeated those as needed.
Funny thing though, you know us, it's not like we keep up with football in the least little bit. So we get to Atlanta staying in a hotel adjacent to the Georgia Dome and after being there for about 6 or 7 hours realize the Peach Bowl is going on. D'OH! Timing couldn't have been better for it though. All the screaming football fans went to the game and were off the streets by about 7:30pm. Our show didn't start until 8pm, so the hippies weren't on the street until later. Then the game let out, likely by midnight, while the show didn't let out until 3am, when the majority of the football fans were well off the streets. So there was very little hassle (and thank god for valet parking at the hotel! granted we were paying $20/day, but there were people paying $20 for 5 hours near The Tabernacle).
On our way out of town, we found this little hole in the wall Indian restaurant in Little 5 called Calcutta (we opted for it rather than Planet Bombay). Was really great! It's always the little hole in the wall places that are it seems (well, I guess not always, *cough*India Palace*cough*). We stopped off for a cup of coffee on the way back to the car too. Bad coffee shop in Little 5 next to the pizza joint. Don't go there.
On the way back we took our time through Little River Canyon (next to DeSoto State Park). We made it back in perfect timing to pick up the dogs at the kennel. The people who own the place (Molly's Boarding Kennel on Ryland Pike) had gone to dinner at a friend's house and when I called to let them know when we'd be in, they mentioned it and when they expected to be back (hence the side trip). Those people are so nice!! We'll definitely use them whenever we board the dogs! And the pups are clean and I didn't have to bathe them. ^__^
Johnny and Rebecka (sp?) stopped by Saturday night for a bit. Funny that they were headed to the same place we just came from (Mentone) for their 1 year anniversary. They rented a cabin. That's a nice idea.
Sunday we were uber lazy, but Chris managed to make some great Indian food for dinner (butter chicken and rice).
It's been hard readjusting to normal life again.
