It seems concerts always come in waves. We had a whole string of them earlier this summer, and now we’re starting another one.

We saw the Old 97’s on Friday, and Suzanne Vega tonight.

I’m surprised I haven’t written about Suzanne before. If I have, I forgot to categorize it so that I could find it again! Anyway, we’ve been fans for years, and have seen her quite a few times at our favorite local venue, the Rams Head Tavern.

This time around, she wasn’t promoting an album (her latest, Beauty & Crime, came out last year), so the setlist was a great combination of songs spanning most of her albums.

I didn’t go overboard with photos this time because of the venue. Everyone is seated at tables, and nobody was taking photos. Near the end some folks started snapping, so I pulled out my camera. I kept the flash off, and had to zoom a bit so it’s not that great …

We got to meet with Suzanne after the show — a chance to chat for a minute, get some autographs and take a photo.

(No, I haven’t grown since last year. I’m in heels, and she’s wearing flats.)

We’ve got more concerts scheduled for late August / early September, so stay tuned!

Our local radio station, WRNR, hosts “Rock N River” cruises every summer. They get bands to perform on a three-hour cruise aboard the Harbor Queen as they travel along the Severn River.

After living in this town for over seven years, they finally booked a cruise with a band we wanted to see that didn’t conflict with something else.

The Old 97’s!

We were a bit annoyed that there was an (unannounced) opening band, and around 9:30 the Old 97’s finally took the “stage.” (It was more of a platform than a stage.) Being short, the only place I could see was right by a speaker. It was worth the pain!

I just brought my point-and-shoot camera. I had the flash off because it felt rude being so close, so everything is a bit blurry.

(Oops, wrong camera setting … but I kinda like it!)

Eventually, I decided I didn’t care about the flash anymore.

The band would have continued playing, but the folks in charge cut them off as soon as we started to dock. Hubby was a bit disappointed in the setlist — a lot of deep cuts that we weren’t familiar with. (We don’t have their first few albums.)

While there were a few songs I would have liked to hear, I didn’t mind so much. But then again, I got to gaze at Rhett Miller all night. That wouldn’t be as appealing to hubby 🙂

As people were starting to leave, I noticed Rhett was chatting with some people so we wandered over. I think he knew them, but we weren’t the only fans standing around — we just got there first. He’s a really nice guy. We chatted for a couple minutes, got album covers signed, and snapped some photos!

http://www.vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=1537386&server=www.vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=748D58&fullscreen=1
Old 97’s – WRNR Rock N River Cruise 8/15/08 from merrymishaps on Vimeo.