Send me on my way...

Well, Thursday came and went, and it was a hella long day! Dana got back from Wilmington at about 12:30 and met me at work. We put her stuff into the car, and off to Myrtle Beach we went!

The drive down was pleasant. The day was warm, clouds kept the heat down and we were able to get to Myrtle by about 4 PM. We spent a bit walking around Barefoot Landing going in and out of stores.. well, Ok, SHE went in and out of stores while I sat outside, not wanting to really venture into shoe stores and places that smell all funny and stuff.

After a bit we headed out and had dinner at Bennet's Calabash Seafood which had a great buffet! There was quite a bit of fish, clams, crab cakes and prime rib there, and tons of crab legs. I had a bit of everything and it was quite tasty! The fried flounder was awesome, as were the fried clam strips... mmm... Thinking about that is making me hungry. I think I am gonna go get some fish for dinner.

So we eventually got back to Barefoot and went to the House of Blues to see Rusted Root and the Salvador Santana band play. I had never been to the MB HOB before, and I am glad I went. Next time we'll have to eat there before the show and see if it is as good as the one in Las Vegas was.

So after finding a place to hang out on the upper level that gave us a great view of the stage and was right in front of the upper level bar, the show started with Salvador Santana opening. This was an interesting group and we were lucky to catch them as this was their last night with Rusted Root on tour.

They were led by, you guessed it, Salvador Santana who could sing as well as rap, believe it or not. Their music was a poppy mix of hispanic, rock, rap, folk and other such genres and thus they really defy description. Think Eminem meats Carlos Santana meets Rolling Stones meets The Grateful Dead, with some wailing Saxaphone thrown in for good measure.

They were also selling a CD (6 songs from a European tour they just ended recently) for a dollar. Proceeds went to some charity they were supporting, which was just keen, so I got a nice CD with some great music and helped out some less fortunate souls as well.

After Salvador Santana finished up, there was a break for about 20 minutes or so and then Rusted Root took the stage. I was upset a few years ago when they split up, or more apropriately went on a group hiatus while all the members went off to work on their own solo projects. Now that they are back together, they are just as good as they were before, maybe even a little more mature.

One thing that I did notice was that they had changed the style a little bit. There was more electric in the music than the last couple times I saw them play, which was a little disconcerting, since I fell in love with them primarily because of their acousitc energy and enchanting percussion.

The percussion was still there, but Jim Donovan spent more time playing electric guittar than before. Michael Giblicki had as many guittar changes as I have ever seen, and Liz and Jenn were there in all their vocal glory giving each song a rather haunting lilt that made me shudder.

The energy was there in excess and I was soon taken up by it, jumping and dancing with abandon and just having the best time of my life. It was just like seeing them at the Boathouse in Norfolk or that theater in Richmond that I last saw them play. Everyone cheering, singing, dancing and sweating. This wasn't like most other shows I have seen, it was really a full audience participation kind of event.

I was able to hear some new songs, one of Michaels solos numbers, and all of my favorites like Cat Turned Blue, Martyr, Send Me On My Way and others. And of course, I got the Drum Trip -> Ecstacy that is nothing but pure energy and got the entire building to its feet.

On the down side, I really wish I could have heard more of the solo work from Jenn Wertz, Liz Berlin and Jim Donovan. I really would have liked to hear some of Jim's percussive talent as well. But the Salvado r Santana band came out and played a number with them and it was pure gold.

The only other complaint I had was with whoever was running the sound board. That person apparently had never done a RR show before, as he/she had the guittars and bass turned way up, too much treble all around, and had the percussion mics turned down too low. Also, the vocals seemed to be too loud then too soft. I can't blame Rusted Root for that, I just hope that the next time the end up at the House of Blues, they get a sound board engineer who knows what the hell he/she is doing.

I managed to also pick up Cruel Sun, which they had re-issues. Cruel Sun was their debut CD back in 1992 that they recorded and pressed themselves and released as an Indy disk. I had been trying to find a copy of it but had had no luck and thanks to the re-issue, I now have it as well. Of course there are still a couple that I need to get, as well as some of the solo stuff also, but I have nearly all of their albums now. I am such a freaking fanboy.

So the show ended about 1 am and we headed back home. That is no small feat, mind you, as we live about 3-3 1/2 hours away from Myrtle Beach. IT was well after 4 am when we finally got home. Dana had to drive the last bit back as I passed out driving a couple times and nearly ran us off the road. Not good. I guess I am getting too old for the one day road trip.

That really sucks... I am not that old, but Thursday really put a hurting on me. I am still sore from all the dancing and jumping, and I had to call out of work on Friday because there was no way I was going to be able to get up Friday morning to go in. I ended up sleeping all of Friday, except for about three hours I was up to get dinner, then all Friday night too.

Geez I am getting old.

All in all though, it was worth it. Dana got to see them for the first time, I got to see them for the third, and they still have the magic that made them so special the first time around.

I have to thank Reba for turning me on to Rusted Root, way back when, on the trip that ended up with me laying with a girl named Amber on the floor between two beds, making out and stuff while a bunch of hippies slept on the beds, and all over the place in the room we had gotten for free with her dad's frequent flyer miles... heh, good times...