Jason and the Scorchers Cure the Common Cold

Well, at least they made me feel wonderful for an evening.  I wasn't feeling great yesterday when I got home from work so I took a nap because I wanted to force myself to go out and see Jason in the evening.  I got into bed, curled up on my side and when I woke up a couple of hours later I hadn't moved an inch. It was worth losing the afternoon though as I felt a bit better.

Owen and I took off a little before six to head towards Bloomington.  The evening was gorgeous.....one of those nights when the golden light from the sun just hangs onto the horizon forever.  Driving through the fields, seeing farms and trees silhouetted against that light----well it couldn't have been a better way to start the night.  Owen was in high spirits.  We listened to Phil Lee, bobbing our heads as we drove through the sunset.  Periodically Owen would just explode, saying, "I just feel SO good....I don't know why but I feel GOOD."  I told him I did too and let him convince me to eat a piece of his Laffy Taffy.

We got to Bloomington and found the place---the Castle Theatre---no problem.  In fact the place was great!  Free parking across the street, beautiful theatre, great marquee and some good shows coming up (wish I could see Alejandro Escovedo next week)---everybody was friendly, easy to find a seat in the balcony....loved it!  I hope to see lots more shows there.

We walked around looking for someplace to eat dinner.  A couple places looked too bar-y.  I take the guys to Fries and Peanuts because it's a known quantity....but with it being just me and Owen I hesitated.  Owen deemed another place too fancy, another place too expensive and then we came across a hotdog place.  Not exactly what I'd had in mind but Owen got excited and I myself love a good hot dog so in we went.  We got our food and sat at a table on the sidewalk.  I gotta say----it was a GREAT hot dog---served up the right (Chicago) way.  Owen was quite pleased with his choice....Boo Boo's Dawghouse---highly recommended!

We walked around the square and then headed over to the Castle Theatre.  As we walked in people called out to Owen,  telling him that he was going to love it.  We looked around and then Owen bought himself a lemonade and a glass of wine for me.  We decided to head up to the balcony and found a couple of stools along the side---wonderful seats.  Chatted a bit with the couple sitting next to us---the man had seen A Hard Day's Night there when it came out which impressed Owen. We both were getting antsy waiting for the opening act.  Owen asked for a piece of paper and a pen and started drawing. 

 

All of sudden there was Warner Hodges on stage along with the bass player, Al Collins, and the drummer, Pontus Snibb.  I thought maybe they were the backing band for the first act but no....all of a sudden Jason bounded on stage looking just like...well, like Jason.  How come he doesn't seem to age?  Owen sat up straight and smiled at me and began bobbing his head....just like I was.  The Scorchers remain an absolutely incredible band.  The new songs sounded great (the album is fantastic by the way) and the old songs sounded as good as ever.  Warner still slings the guitar around the way nobody else can and Jason is still explosive and charming (and of course I'm a sucker for the sparkle and the fringe).  They command a stage in a way wholly their own.

We were up in the balcony so my pictures aren't great but I think they capture the spirit  pretty well anyway!

A few minutes in Owen leaned over and asked me if we were going to meet Jason.  I told him maybe after the show but that might be really late and besides, he'd be coming to our house next month.  He nodded and continued to work on his drawing, bobbing his head to the music.  He finished the drawing which of course was of the Scorchers and asked me again is we could meet Jason.  I hedged a bit. but I could tell his heart was set on it.  Then he asked me if Jason reads my blog so I had to break it to him that no, Jason Ringenberg does not read my blog.  He nodded and just asked again if he could meet him.  I crossed my fingers.

Before taking a break Jason brought his mother up to the stage and had the crowd sing Happy Birthday to her for her 81st birthday.  Seeing Jason's mother in the crowd has always been highlight for those going to Scorchers shows.  Always.  And I think my favorite part of the night was when halfway through the song she looked over at him and gave him a little punch on the arm.  The woman sitting next to me and I both laughed and then she leaned over and told Owen, "that'll be you someday, bringing your mom up on stage."  He just grinned.  Then Jason announced they'd be serving cupcakes in the lobby and that they'd be out to say hello to people.  So Owen perked up and down we trotted.  He turned down a cupcake (my boys don't really like cake) and stood there clutching his drawing waiting for Jason.  Warner came out and started chatting to people.  Owen just got more and more tense and of course I got anxious just watching him.  He kept asking me when Jason would get there.  I tried asking him if he wanted to meet Warner.  No go.  He wanted Jason.  Finally Jason appeared.  WHEW.  I think Owen was a TAD disappointed that he'd changed from his sparkly shirt but he was still awestruck.  As we got closer in line he got shyer and shyer---handing the drawing over to me and getting behind me.  So I showed the drawing to Jason and Owen peered out from behind me.  Jason was suitably impressed and understood the shyness of course.  He was utterly charming and signed the drawing for Owen.  I mentioned the house concert and he asked me to write down a note about it so he could mention it on stage.  I did that and as I was waiting for him to finish talking to someone else I looked at Owen.  His eyes were glued on Jason.....barely blinking.  That boy just breaks my heart I love him so.

We left after that even though they were going to play another set.  Just about killed me but Owen was getting tired and he was so happy in his Jason glow that it was a good time to slip out.  We walked to the car chatting.  He said to me, "I don't know why I get so shy, I mean I've talked to Peter Case."  I told him I understood.  Then he talked about how lucky we were that he was going to come to our house.  I agreed wholeheartedly.  I asked him how his first real concert had been and he looked at me in disgust and said, "you're acting like Dad's band isn't real."  OOPS.....SORRY!  But he agreed it had been wonderful.  He chatted nonstop until I put some music on and he was sound asleep by the chorus of the song.  It was a lovely drive back to Champaign, listening to music and glancing over at Owen's sleeping face.

This morning I told Owen that it had been one of the best dates of my life....