Beyond Swell

I'm yawning as I post this, even though it's approaching the late afternoon. We had a late night last night. Translation: we stayed up past 10:30pm. Fortunately, it was for very good reason. More on that in a bit.

First, some background. You might know that Peef's birthday is coming up on Sunday. If you're observant, you'll also note that he has the privilege of sharing the spotlight with all the mother's of the world. Now, Peef wouldn't begrudge anything of anyone (let alone his mum), so he's not upset at all about having to share his big day. But, it helps a great deal that we observe "birthday week" around our house.

Usually, birthday week isn't a huge production. But, we do try to take advantage of some small joys. Last night was the first night of birthday week. And we decided to do it up right. So, we went to a concert. We started off with a great little dinner at Comet Cafe -- one of our favorite hip little dives. Afterwards, we headed off to the Riverside Theater for what turned out to be a great show.

Swell Season wasn't just any concert. Nope. It was, hands down, the single best live performance we've been to in YEARS. And I'm not exaggerating. Not only were Glen and Marketa beyond fabulous, but the crowd was thoroughly engaged. As expected, the performances were passionate, and every song seemed to push some sort of emotional boundary. You'd swear that the room *sparked* it was so filled with energy. A height of the evening could well have been the band's performance of "Falling Slowly" with the 8th grade choir from WhiteFish Bay, WI. Those kids got the experience of a lifetime performing with the band onstage, and the audience got the unexpected opportunity to see young minds being modeled by the power of music. Truly fantastic.

Suffice it to say, we're exhausted but extremely satisfied.

Want more?
This review on JSonline doesn't do the show justice, but it gets the facts down.