On the Road Again

I have a fantastic set of friends. I’m blessed. And not in the “Hashtag! Look at me, Insta and TikTok!” kinda way. Like truly blessed.

I’ve been socialized with other children (and eventually, adults) my age for decades thanks to my parents, church and theater. A lot of those same people talk to me still today. While I have a broad berth of acquaintances, my true friendship circle, while bigger than most, is small. My inner circle consists of very few. One of our favorite pastimes is traveling together. So, when my birthday rolled around, I was surprised with a rental car, an itinerary and a dream.

The theme of this birthday-extended-weekend-excursion was music. Something that was a bonding tie for all of us. Something that was at the forefront of what made us who we are. Three concerts. Three cities. Four days.

Roads? Where we’re going… we don’t need roads. I’m kidding. Of course, we needed roads. I just mentioned the rental car. Pay attention.

Friday. The first stop: Atlanta.

House of Blues has been a favorite place of mine since I first encountered it in Orlando, FL. They used to have a chicken sandwich called the Elwood. (It’s not on the menu anymore, FYI. But they might let you order it if you smile and ask for a blackened chicken sandwich with chilis/pickled jalapenos and crème fraiche/sour cream and tip well at the end of the meal.) My love of blues music and good food would make me and the HOB lifelong partners.

Unfortunately, the House of Blues had left Atlanta long before I was able to ever visit. It left a beautiful structure behind which would evolve into an amazing concert venue named The Tabernacle. On this trip, blues music wasn’t in the cards. We headed there for fun. Literally, the band: Fun.

The band with such hits as “We Are Young” and “Some Nights,” the latter doubling as the name of the spectacular, nearly symphonic album. Nate Russ and the rest of the band hit the stage and… A cacophonous belch of the most ear-bursting screams came from the coterie of women stuffed into the building. I love the group. But not in the same way they did. I quickly realized this from the blood slowly trickling out of my ears.

You see… the reason The Tabernacle is called The Tabernacle is because long before it housed the blues, it was a church. Built to amplify voices to the heavens. Tonight, it was doing just that. It was a phenomenal concert. Even if my hearing was a little worse for wear after.

With a little Fun under our belts, we were ready to head to the next destination. Right as we did, it started to snow. So, for the next hours spent driving through the night, we were met with a milky black infinity…

Saturday. Next up: Charlotte.

We got to Charlotte later that night. Safe and sound. What did you think was going to happen?

My friends and I had been to Charlotte, NC a few times for concerts and traveling Broadway shows it’s only a couple of hours up the road from good ole Charleston. This time would be no different.

If you haven’t been to the theater for a concert or for a full theatrical Broadway-style musical or play, you might not want to start with the series of buildings in Charlotte built and repurposed into the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. And not for the reasons that you think. They’ll spoil you. You’ll never like any other theater outside of New York. Start at a local movie theater turned playhouse… then try Blumenthal.

I don't know if much of the audience here knows what acapella music is but it's music performed with only vocalists. There're no instrumentalists. Which can be terrible, to be honest. But at the professional level, it is quite stunning. My friends and I had been watching a show for the last few years prior called The Sing-Off with hosts Ben Folds, Sara Bareilles and the dude from Boyz II Men whose name escapes me right now.

The group that we were seeing on this particular night had been popular on PBS due to their Christmas special but they were most well-known as a college group when I actually had an acapella group in college. They were called Straight No Chaser. While there were only five guys in my collegiate group called The Parallel Fifths, Straight No Chaser came on with an army of what had to be a hundred and fifteen guys. Alright, that's hyperbole. But they could sing anything and everything with four to six parts. And the concert was amazing...

The audience was into it like you've never seen and this is without all the rock and roll hoopla and hullabaloo of the concert from the night before. While everyone was screaming... there was still a measure of composure considering that it's only nine guys with mics and nothing else. The highlight of the evening? Something that has been left to the annals of history (thankfully) called “The Harlem Shake.” The entire audience got up and danced and the next day we were part of some Instagram fad that would last a week, not unlike those of people being dunked in ice water or scared from a trash can.

After the concert, we were back on the highways and byways and we would arrive the following day, with the snow piling up on the side of the road slightly slipping up North along the way. We arrived on a…

Sunday. Finally: Washington, D.C. and Alexandria, VA.

I know it seems pretty counterintuitive. I said three cities. But how can you get so close and not visit our capital? There really is nothing like the Jefferson Memorial in the snow. Except for maybe the Lincoln memorial in the snow. How ‘bout the White House… in the snow!

I digress…

That evening we would arrive at the Birchmere, a hole-in-the-wall concert venue that has shepherded some of the biggest music acts of all time. Tonight would be no different as they would host… Eddie From Ohio.

What? You haven’t heard of them?!

That’s okay. For a long time, I hadn’t either. But they’ve become one of my favorite bands of all time. They’d be like the Beatles to me if the Beatles weren’t the Beatles to me. And I’ve gone cross-eyed…

In short, Eddie From Ohio is a folk-rock band from the Virginia area. I know, it goes against the name of the band. But it works. And so do they. With Robbie’s velvety, James Taylor-esque vocals, Mike’s jubilant and joyful attitude, Julie’s soulful and powerful belt-backed by what feels like Eddie’s eight-armed percussion. I promise, no matter how well or poorly I try to sell them to you, it’s nothing like listening to their music or experiencing them in concert.

We were mere feet away. Literally, in spitting distance. It’s not a huge room which makes the fact that it’s filled by a crowd of their number 1 fans even more immersive. I’d love to walk you through how much of a personal experience and how special each song was and which was my favorite. But my emotions were running high from the entire weekend and the whole thing is a little watercolor-y.

After the concert, we got to MEET the band. Just as I had every single time I had seen them before, actually. I tried to figure out what to say, how to make them remember me. When I got up to them, I simply stammered, “I’ve seen you ten times.” They said simply, “Thank you.” And signed my cd.

I’m sure they’ll remember me as they’re signing the restraining order. (That’s a joke… I think…)

From there, it was back home to Chucktown. Smiling from ear to ear and singing just a little louder to the radio.

What’s the moral of the story? I dunno. Let me see if I can scrape something together. When you sing, sing a song… Sing it loud, the whole day long? Nope. That’s a little too Karen Carpenter. Take 2! Keep your friends close - ‘cause they might take you to hear some life-changing music. Don’t keep your favorite bands quite so close as they might not let you in the building to hear them play.

Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday, dear Brandon. Happy birthday to me (And Eddie… from Ohio.)