If you haven’t read part 1, please do so, because this really won’t make much sense unless you do.
Sunday was a day much like any other when traveling. I had a restless night, woke earlier than I had initially wanted, got some stuff done, had breakfast (thank you hotel room refrigerator) and went downstairs for the morning sessions. The night before I had checked with the front desk to see if I could check out of the hotel later than the posted time of noon. My flight out was at 2:30 in the afternoon, and the program here ended at noon. I was hoping to have some time after the program to avoid the rush of people checking out immediately afterwards as well as spend some time relaxing before heading to the airport.
The business meeting on Sunday went well enough and we adjourned a little early. It wasn’t early enough, however, for me to get to the airport on time to catch an earlier flight home. I took the opportunity to relax in the hotel room, pack as a leisurely pace, have lunch, and call home.
The flight home was rather uneventful. I wasn’t able to get a picture of Mount Rainier as my son August had hoped for because of the cloud coverage. I did get a couple of other cool pictures from the plane. These were from my crappy cell phone camera too!
I got back home Sunday afternoon, in time for the kids to have snack, then prepare dinner. After dinner, there was the usual bath and bedtime routine. While I had been looking forward to relaxing at home Sunday night, I had forgotten that I had tickets to go see the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. My friend Stephen and I had seen them the last time they toured, which was about 5 years ago. I have always liked the band quite a lot and was looking forward to the show. Stephen was originally from Boston, so there was a musical as well as hometown aspect to the show for him.
Stephen had to get up early Monday morning for work, so he wouldn’t be doing a lot of drinking. As for myself, I was already a little tired so I wasn’t up for a “night out” in that regard either. At first we felt like two old guys at the back of the venue (it was at a relatively large club, but still somewhat small) standing there. The opening band wasn’t great, and we couldn’t wait for them to be done. Then Voodoo Glow Skulls came out. I had first seen them ages ago on a bill with Rancid and Goldfinger, and liked them enough to pick up a few CDs. I saw them once again over time, and wasn’t disappointed this night either.
Now I was feeling a bit energized, as was Stephen. We moved towards the front and eagerly awaited the main event. They hadn’t toured or produced new music in quite a while, so it would be interesting to see what they would perform. I was thrilled to see the band take the stage all decked in plaid. This meant the Mighty Mighty Bosstones were going to rock the house “old school” style.
I wish I had a better camera on my phone, but this was the best I could do
For those that are only casually aware of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, there are generally considered two phases in the band’s career. The first is the independent days when there was a bit more heavy metal leanings towards the music, but still plenty of ska, reggae, punk and other types of music mixed in. These first few years saw the band constantly decked in plaid, representing the style of music they performed. The idea was that their dress matched the music they played, a blending of all these different styles. Later, as the band became more successful, they switched to wearing natty suits. While greater radio success followed during this phase, it also saw the decline of the band.
For the band to come out in plaid was almost like a war cry. The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were back, reclaiming their throne as the hardcore punk/ska outfit, and reclaiming its roots and origins. To that end there was an absolute massive amount of songs played from the early era of the band with a wealth of catalog titles that many of the old fans, such as myself, went nuts over. Playing for over 90 minutes the music flew fast and furious with a few new songs placed in to punctuate the fact that this wasn’t simply an “oldies” review, but a band reclaiming its past and moving ahead.
It was a great show, and when I finally got home around midnight, I had no trouble getting to sleep. As a matter of fact, I wound up oversleeping and starting the day off today a bit later than I should have.