Yesterday was the second Tuesday of the month and that means John Platt’s On Your Radar. I’m a friend and a fan of two of the three acts, Emerald Rae and Low Lily; the third was All Types of Kinds.
I meant to get there a half an hour before doors to give me schmoozing time but somehow lost fifteen minutes on the trip down. It didn’t feel like a slow trip but it was. I did get to talk to Emerald. Fortunately they sound-checked out of order and she was finished but had not yet left the room. ATOK were on the stage.
The show was not quite a sellout but close, there was a nice turnout of regulars;. As usual I sat with Fred, there was also Gail, Perry & Beth S. Beth K. and her daughter Dena who somehow is old enough to get into a 21+ show. I will never understand how time works. She was 14 two days ago. Who else? Marty, Dan & Phyllis, Richard & Viki, Jeff & Carol, Ellen, Jamie, Katherine, Joe, and the people sitting with Marty, right behind me, who I can’t see in my mind’s eye. Maybe once I have my cataracts repaired I’ll be able to make them out. That’s how it works, right? I have trouble with time and memory.
There was a small world connection in the show. Emerald used to be in Annalivia, the band that evolved into Low Lily. This proved lucky as Lissa, Low Lily’s fiddler couldn’t make this show and Emerald sat in on a few songs from the Annalivia days. I find all these names quite euphonic.
I’ve raved a lot about Emerald this year since first seeing her at the New Bedford Folk Festival in July. It’s funny how these things work. I first saw Annalivia at New Bedford but rarely after that. I loved them but they never became part of my musical life. Emerald has, She hits my regular places, Falcon Ridge, NERFA, and On Your Radar. She came out of Celtic music but is now a singer/songwriter, albeit one with Celtic influences on many songs. She has a fiddling style all her own. She plays a fiddle more different ways than anyone I know. You can do more than pull the bow across the strings.
Low Lily also comes out of Celtic music but the influence is less obvious. They are usually a trio, sometimes a quartet, Corey DiMario plays bass on some shows. This as a duo show with Flynn Cohen and Liz Simmons. I also know Liz from when she played in EVA with Kath Buckell and Nicole Zuraitis. I didn’t see her but Nicole was in the audience. This was old bandmate day for Liz. What does Low Lily do? They make beautiful music together, duh. Sometimes it’s about harmonies, sometimes about songs. They will stimulate different parts of your brain and heart and leave you happier than you were before you heard them.
The crowd loved All Types of Kinds but they didn’t connect with me. They are very high energy, I do love that. Every band isn’t for every listener. I made a conscious decision to be honest about this earlier in the month. I’m not a neutral observer of On Your Radar, I help to promote the shows. That doesn’t mean I have to love every artist equally. I’ve been told that I’m a taste maker, I am certainly part of the buzz, but I know that I march to the beat of a different drummer, mine drummer sometimes plays with polyrhythms and likes 5/4 time.
I stayed around and schmoozed longer than usual last night then went off to dinner at Rosario’s. It’s nice that my favorite pizza place is right down the block from my home away from home. Their pizza is special.
I’ve had more adventures with the post office. Something was supposed to be delivered on Monday. I wasn’t home. Instead of leaving it at the door like they are supposed to; instead they took it back to the Post Office and I had to call them and arrange for redelivery on Tuesday. They didn’t redeliver it. It never left the post office. I contacted Amazon last night and it took several times but I thought I finally had it taken care of and was assured it would come today. This morning I did not get the text saying that it was out for delivery. Amazon customer service has fallen off the last few months. I don’t mind using call centers outside the US but I do mind when the representatives have trouble with English. After talking to Amazon and the USPS I had to call my local post office to get anything done. They had no explanation of why it wasn’t sent out yesterday. They had no idea that I’d want them to find out what was happening with my package today. I finally got the guy to track down my package and luckily for me the truck had not headed out yet. He said he put it on the truck. It would not have been put on if I hadn’t called. Because it wasn’t delivered yesterday it would not be delivered today unless I made a specific request. When you go to pick up your package it can take as long as two hours. It has never taken me less than an hour. I have no plans for today. I hope to edit a plethora of photos and videos.
Wise Madness 