Date with Dad

Dad and daughter headed down to Philly last night, while Mom was at a company holiday dinner function. We popped in to Capogiro Gelato first. Lil' OWTK ordered a small Chocolate, as her first two options of Pink and Green (Strawberry and Mint) were not available. For some reason she did not wish to try the Clementine Sorbet, despite the fact that she would eat 2-3 clementines a day if we stocked that many in the house. Dad ordered a Dark, Bitter Chocolate that was so insanely rich I could barely eat half of it. From there we walked the 2 1/2 blocks to The First Unitarian Church at 22nd & Chestnut. We arrived about 10 minutes before the 9pm (sharp!) start time. The place was already packed. We squeezed our way up towards the front but could only get within 20 feet of the stage. My girl really wanted to be up close, to watch Amy play drums, but it was not to be. I held her up high so she could watch over the heads of the sweaty crowd.

The Evens had a simple stage set up of two very small amps on stands and two living room lamps. Ian played guitar seated on the left side (where we were positioned, against the wall). It was cool to see Mackaye in such a small venue. It has been more than a decade, maybe longer, since Fugazi played spaces this small.

We hung around for 5 songs, about 1/2 hour. It's ashame the show started at 9pm, as my girl is a slow starter. She was finally getting into the music during our final song - head bobbin', feet movin'. Had the gig begun at 8pm, she would have been dancing around the room by 9pm, for sure.

The music was pretty darn good. Like Fugazi, The Evens' lyrics have a political bent which I am very cool with. I liked the 5 songs I heard, which included "Dinner with the President", "You Won't Feel a Thing" and, I believe, "Everybody Knows". I would consider getting one of their 2 full lengths.

I would have liked to have captured some more images of the evening, but it was a bit difficult to manage a backpack, camera bag and a 2 year old - all in or around my arms/shoulder area!

Jeff