Another night with Nickel Creek

Still basking in the memory of my night with Nickel Creek last week, I took advantage of the bonus tonight.

I've just finished watching the boys and girl perform nearly the same set -- between-song banter, story-telling and all -- again, thanks to the wonders of the internet. Austin City Limits offered a live stream tonight of its recording session with Nickel Creek for an upcoming television episode. ... It was my turn to put Faye to sleep tonight, and you better believe I got a headstart, knowing the live stream began at 8 p.m. I refused to be late to the show.

The show, of course, was fantastic -- even if they had to use half of their encore to perform re-dos of "Where Is Love" and "Don't Know What's Going on" because they weren't satisfied with they how they performed the songs earlier in the set. ... Didn't matter one bit to me. I enjoyed all two hours of it. Again.

My night was made. ... And, for the record, the click wheel on my iPod hasn't moved away from Nickel Creek since last Tuesday. I think it will remain there for at least a couple more days.

If only the Royals had beaten the Yankees tonight. Pheebs and I watched the first couple innings before our bedtime routine got underway. A check of my AtBat app when the game was in the eighth inning informed me it wasn't good, and now the Royals have lost two straight for the first time in a month. ... Here's hoping we're not heading for a repeat of that All-Star break swoon.

Here's a couple good Royals reads ...

• Davis' emergence in pen gives Royals leg up in big trade
• Posnanski: Royals might actually know what they are doing

Resolving

Over the weekend, while I lay on my deathbed, Kates and I caught a PBS showing of an "American Masters" episode featuring -- drum roll -- "Troubadours."

Don't know it? Watch the trailer ...



Annnnnnnnnd I've been on a Carole King/James Taylor kick ever since.

I stumbled on the documentary as I was flipping through the TV channels Saturday night. When I discovered it, it was already half-finished, but I was instantly mesmerized. I looked through the channel guide to find another showing in hopes of catching the whole thing. ... 1 a.m. Bam. DVR. Record. And Kates and I watched it in its entirety Tuesday night.

To hear Carole, James and the array of Laurel Canyon musicians tell the stories of the world famous Troubadour and their rise on the music charts was fascinating. Their stories added a whole new dimension to the songs, with a heart and freshness I hadn't heard before.

The documentary also made me wish Kates and I could do our night with James Taylor all over again. It's sad how those kinds of memories can blur and fade so fast. One of the reasons I blog and journal.

My vinyl of "Tapestry" has never sounded as good in my ears as it has these last couple days. And hearing Carole's daughter talk about the impact "So Far Away" had on her as an 8-year-old while her mother was gone for months touring -- it's a wonder I didn't listen to it more during those months two years ago that I spent away from Kates and Phoebe. And yet, hearing the song now rekindles the emotions of that time, not to mention the frustrations now of being hundreds of miles from our extended families.

So far away
Doesn't anybody stay in one place anymore
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn't help to know you're just time away

Keeping with the music theme, I also caught Coldplay's special New Year's Eve performance on "Austin City Limits" this week. Their first round was an instant classic, and their latest stood up just as well.

I've read a lot of mixed reviews about Coldplay this last year, about "Mylo Xyloto" (which I've not yet heard in its entirety) and the band's so-called identity crisis. This passage from The Washington Post is one that's stuck with me ...

Every Coldplay album seems a battle for its soul, between the stirring, philosophical, electronic band its members want it to be and the stodgy, sappy, British band it is. More than anything Coldplay has done, “Mylo Xyloto” exemplifies that push-pull.

Admittedly, the reviews have shaken my interest in the band a bit, and their recent SNL performances left me a little disappointed in the midst of an otherwise classic showing by Emma Stone.

So the ACL performance will go down as a redeemer that showed Coldplay, at its heart, is a great rock band. All the goods were there -- from "Yellow" to "In My Place" to "Paradise" to "Clocks," which maintains a place on my list of greatest songs, ever --  and every song kicked with more emotion and energy than the one before it.

The chemistry among the band members and with the audience was most striking. By the time the boys fired up "Viva La Vida" and had the crowd pumping its fists and chanting the chorus, I was practically doing the same in our living room.

Here's a couple good reads about the show ...
a In Defense Of Coldplay ... You can call me ball-less for liking Coldplay, too. I don't care.
a Paste: Coldplay New Year's Eve: An Austin City Limits Special

You can watch show in its entirety here ...

Watch Coldplay New Year's Eve: An Austin City Limits Special on PBS. See more from Austin City Limits.

I did a lot of rambling to get my point for this post, thoughts that have been bubbling in me for weeks. And the music, as always, seemed to be the perfect kick start to putting it on paper, if you will ...

I haven't been myself these last few months, with pressures of work, grad school and family life all mounting and stretching me too thin at times. Our move to The 'Ville has changed me in many, many ways. Some for the better, some for the worse.

But in 2012, I resolve to get back in touch with who I am. To do a better job of living in the moment, and embracing it. To not sweat the small stuff. To laugh more. To be more spontaneous. To be more grateful for life's blessings. To get back to doing some of the things I really enjoy but have been lost in some of the chaos of these last two years. To reconnect with family and friends. To do better job of living and letting go.

So here we go, 2012. Let's rock 'n' roll.

Crazy-quiet

The baseball season is over. Most of the good TV shows are reruns this week. Aside from the whole washer and dryer thing, it’s been a pretty crazy-quiet week. … What’s a blogger to do?

Yes, the washer and dryer. … See, we bought the house a year and a half ago with a washer and dryer set that were virtually antique. Well, late ‘80s models. They worked well … at the time.

But Kates started getting on me last spring about getting a new set. Being the man, I was in denial. ‘They’re fine,’ I said. …

That was until a couple weeks ago, while doing a couple loads of laundry, I took note of the waterfall of water gushing from the bottom of the washer. …on top of that, it usually took about two 70-minute cycles in the dryer just to get our clothes dry.

So after talking it over with the elders, we declared the ol’ washer and dryer defunct. On Friday night, we purchased a new set. And it was good.

Today, they arrived …

I think they might be the most beautiful appliances I’ve ever seen …

* * *

I’ve never really been able to put my finger on why -- but very few things make me more overjoyed or give me a rush of excitement like Ben Folds. A new album. A well-written magazine article. News of a concert date. ANYthing about the piano-pounding prodigy from Chapel Hill, N.C.

All of that has made this week doubly fun …

… I learned several months ago of BF’s appearance on ‘Austin City Limits.’ I marked it on my calendar and when the date drew close enough, began checking the TV listings. I discovered I had four chances to catch it, set my VCR tape and got it right on the first try -- 1 a.m. Monday.

I, of course, reviewed the tape the first chance I got during my lunch break on Monday afternoon …

Yes. Overjoyed.

It’s a short 15-20 minute set, but it’s worth every minute -- if you can get past some bad acoustics and off-key harmonies in a couple of the songs (Ben’s music in general, some great camera shots of his plucky fingers and the antics of drummer Lindsay Jamieson all make up for it). As he has with a lot of his recent shows, Ben and his boys start out with their thumping ‘In Between Days.’ From there, the band plows through ‘Jesusland,’ ‘Still Fighting It,’ ‘Gracie,’ ‘Zak and Sara’ and eventually ending with the always crowd-pleasing ‘Not the Same,’ which features Ben standing on his piano and directing the crowd like a choir. … the second half of the show features Ray LaMontagne, a songwriting guitarist who Rolling Stone apparently called ‘the backwoods Van Morrison.’ I haven’t watched his entire set yet, but the first couple songs sure show a lot of promise …

But back to Ben.

Crushed when I couldn’t see Ben last week at the historic Chicago Theatre, I got word last night that I have a shot at redemption -- The Mix has scheduled him to appear on Dec. 16 with Alanis Morissette and The Fray at the annual Miracle on State Street bash at (... cue angel chorus) the Chicago Theatre …

Yes. Overjoyed again.

So when tickets go on sale Saturday morning, I will sever all -- ok, most -- ties with the rest of the world. There will be no phone calls answered. No e-mails to write. No TV to watch. No yard work or chores to do. Just me and my cell phone and the Ticketmaster rep on the other side, doing anything to get a pair of tickets to see that show …

Wish me luck.