The People Now at the Baltic Room 11.21.2009

 

November 20, 2009

 Yay, finally another show. They have been few and far between this year. I’m almost glad to see the end of 2009. Never good to say that, though; I should savor every day, every moment!

Kyle’s band, The People Now, is playing at the Baltic Room on Capitol Hill Saturday the 21^st . We’re staying at the Paramount Hotel, also on Pine, just a few blocks west. I wasn’t going to go because I haven’t been sleeping well, and we have so much going on. But, everyone was buzzing about it at the office, so I thought maybe we should go. Kyle’s band is so good. He really appreciates the support, too. We finally get to stay downtown. We haven’t been anywhere overnight since February. Wow. Even better, his boss paid for the room on the company credit card!! Kind of a mini-bonus. He knows P’s been working overtime and traveling a lot lately, so that was a nice thank-you. We’ll just have to pay for dinner and admission to the show. Unfortunately, his show doesn’t start till midnight. We’re planning on shopping (oh yeah, the package deal included parking, $50 Macy’s gift card and $10 Starbucks!) and then taking a nice nap in the afternoon, I hope. The Baltic also has a late happy hour from 9-11. We can have an early dinner somewhere, then hit the happy hour (can you say Beecher’s Mac-N-Cheese for $5?) right before show time. Should be an interesting night. Hoping to remember to take the camera.

Saturday, November 21

Paramount Hotel

The Baltic Room

The People Now (Kyle Wimbish and friends)

We did it, we made it to midnight to support Kyle. I’m so glad we went because no one else from work made it, the wimps! After dropping off dog at his daycare, and confirming with the boy to lock up when he goes to his sleepover, we were off.

We checked in to the Paramount Hotel before 2:00 and were able to get right in to our room. In the lobby, we waited with a guy who must have been a roadie with the band Them Crooked Vultures, who were playing at the Paramount Theater across the street! [Another co-worker went to this show and said it ROCKED, so I was very disappointed we didn’t go]  He had long, curly gray hair, skinny jeans and a rugged face. He asked the hotel clerk for directions to I-5, so definitely not local. I love that feeling of knowing someone is famous or attached to someone famous!

Once checked in we took the elevator to the 4^th floor. We had a nice corner room with big windows on both sides. We could see the Grand Hyatt across the street and Von’s restaurant, a nice cocktail bar/eatery. We dined at Von’s before the Ryan Adams show over a year ago, I believe. We were also given our “goody” bag from the clerk, which included coupons to local restaurants in Pacific Place, and our Macy’s and Starbucks gift cards. Score!

We got settled in and decided to get a late lunch because we were starving. We walked a block or so to Pacific Place and ate at Mexico. Their mojitos do taste like Mexico! Really good food, very filling.

The weather was cold and damp, but not pouring yet, so we headed to Macy’s to spend the gift card. So many floors, and we’re boiling hot! After about ½ hour of browsing, we finally found the right department. I was stressing over finding the right top to wear to the show. After reading the website info on The Baltic Room, I assumed it would be a young, nicely dressed crowd.

Back to the hotel…we decided to stay in for a while and hang. It was only about 5:00 by this point; we had 7 hours to go!!

Around 7:00 we decided we’d better get some dinner. We went downstairs to Dragonfish, but too long of a wait. We looked outside, and realized it was pouring way too hard to run down to Von’s. We headed back to the room and decided to order room service. We got it within 10 minutes, I’m sure! We had delicious chicken in a spicy red sauce, edamame, and pot stickers. Just enough to tide us over for a while.

We watched some college ball – Oregon vs. Arizona – OR pulled off a win in double OT, which made us crabby.

I was getting sleepy, but we decided to leave for the show sometime after 9:30. We called for a taxi and took a wet and windy ride around the corner and over the freeway to The Baltic Room, just east of I-5. I thought we were a little late arriving, but there was hardly anyone in the place. It was more like the Tractor than a disco/nightclub. There was an older crowd, very laid back, nothing like I pictured. I thought it would be an upscale, young crowd. Now I had buyers remorse and foot remorse for not wearing my cowboy boots and instead settling for my high-heeled vinyl boots!

Kyle showed up close to 10:00. We greeted him, and left soon after to get food. There was no food at the bar that night. There was a wedding party upstairs in the balcony area, and if they served any food at all, it would be for them. I was disappointed, as I was looking forward to the Beecher’s Mac-N-Cheese. Oh well. Sometimes when a door closes, a window opens.

For example, we walked outside, took a right, and right next door, was a little Italian restaurant called Machiavelli’s. OMG, it was like we were back in Italy! Hand rolled gnocchi, fettuccine carbonara, bread and oil, deliciosso! Then we were brave and ordered dessert, El Diplomatico, like a tiramisu, only way better: all chocolate, with cocoa powder sprinkled on top, tons of whipped cream. Truly amazing; I wanted to lick the plate! We ate everything. I couldn’t believe it. P ordered a drink and later coffee. The total bill with tax and tip was $40!!! That’s it!!

Back to Baltic Room with full bellies. We tried to chat with Kyle when we could, but it was really hard to hear in there.

There were three bands that night. The first band’s music sounded nice, but we couldn’t hear the vocalist. I wasn’t too fond of his high-pitched voice. The next band was good, a real blend of genres from ska, rock, hip-hop [unfortunately, I did not get a bill at the door to figure out who they were]. Then a long wait till Kyle and his band set up.

Kyle’s band was tight, but again we couldn’t hear the vocals clearly. We could hear Kyle, but couldn’t make out his lyrics at all. He was dynamic and barefooted on “stage” (floor).  We rocked along. They played about 5 songs. He was so happy we showed up.  I felt like we were witnessing the birth of the next Big Thing.  They are so tight, so talented, so amazing.  His lyrics are deep and full of power.

After a very long evening, we taxied home. It was easy to get a taxi there, as they all come down Pine from Capitol Hill. We were just about soaked, though, after waiting only a couple of minutes. We zipped back to our hotel and had a piece of bread that P doggie-bagged at the restaurant! Yum!

Slept in till about 8:30 and lazed around after our Starbucks coffee and breakfast treat. Time to get back to reality. It was a nice weekend getaway. Never seems long enough.

 

The People Now 5.16.2009

Originally written as a diary entry Saturday, May 16, 2009

 

Well, we finally got to see another show. This time, it was free and was a reunion of sorts. My work buddy Kyle has a band, but he has always played during the middle of the week, so we haven’t been able to see him. His band, The People Now, was playing at the University Ave Street Fair this weekend. The music is very technically difficult, lots of tempo changes, rests, fast beats, with intense, sometimes dark lyrics. Progressive/Punk Rock, I guess you’d call it. Our son didn’t want to go, which is too bad, because he would have liked the music. He went to his friend’s house instead. So once again, P and I enjoyed a little afternoon date.

It was a perfect high-70’s afternoon. Kyle’s band played at 4:00 right on Brooklyn & 47^th. They had a little covered stage set up and people lined the street and carried their food from the adjacent food booths to the outlying tables. We were lucky and found two chairs in the shade behind the sound mixer. Kyle was so happy to see us, and mentioned other people from work would be there. We turned and saw first P’s work associate J, then other people from my work showed up, including those who had been laid off recently, but came out to support Kyle’s band.  It was really nice to see everyone again. We got caught up for awhile before settling in to watch the show.

He only got to play 4-5 songs, but they were so technically amazing. The 5-member band was very tight. Kyle sang lead, two guitarists (one looked like a Prep in plaid shorts, the other was a rocker with long hair and rock shirt), a bass player, and a very skilled drummer. They were just amazing. The sound was loud, which attracted as well as detracted the crowd. Many people left due to the volume, but others stayed and rocked, including these 3 homeless guys near the front. They kept stealing extra tickets to next week’s show. People were supposed to just take one apiece, but I’m sure they’re gonna try to scalp them for cash. Looks like they needed some money!

Anyway, it was good to see Kyle in action, see a live show, rock out a little, even though we were quite subdued, and spend some time with the work guys. M is getting married next Saturday, so it was nice to see him again. Kyle was very appreciative after the show, and thanked us repeatedly for coming out and supporting him.

We then stopped at the store and picked up tilapia for an awesome meal of bbq fish tacos and a cool beer on the patio. Ahh, the Perfect Saturday.