I had some INS business to attend to that went rather quickly because our lawyer gave us some good advice to schedule an appointment instead of just showing up at the INS building like some ham-and-egger off the street. We were done within fifteen minutes. But it would have been sooner because The Little Lord almost had the security come down on me like the Taliban on a woman driver. She brought a book (which was in my bag) and apparently her metal bookmark looks just like a switchblade on the x-ray. I came thisclose to being pepper-sprayed when we went through the x-ray!! But disaster was averted and like I said, we finished quicker than expected which was great.
After that we did some window shopping and had an early dinner while we waited to see The Mountain Goats at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. This was our first time seeing John Darnielle live and none of us could wait! Unfortunately, circumstances beyond anyone's control ended the evening on a disappointing note. But that's for later.
First of all, we were first in line so we were right in the front! The opener was a duo called The Moaners. They were great. The guitarist played a very bluesy but crunchy slide guitar technique which was about ten kinds of awesome rolled into one. But it was the drummer who stole the show. Everyone around us was pretty much crushing on her. She played an aggressive yet playful set of drums. She was mugging for the camera every time someone took a picture but never missed a beat.
As for The Mountain Goats themselves, it was a little bittersweet for the three of us. We were glad to finally see them at a show but John Darnielle was extremely sick. He looked pale and by the end of the show, I was afraid he would pass out on the stage. He had to call the set short because he just couldn't go on. It was a wonder they actually played. According to all the other previous show reviews for this tour, Thursday's show was definitely an anomaly. It wasn't as energetic because John really didn't have the energy to do the louder numbers from Heretic Pride. Even "Dance Music" was a very subdued affair.
Even though we all enjoyed the night, it wasn't quite a true Mountain Goats experience because of John's health.
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Friday morning:
FINALLY!!!
Four and done!
