There are some things in life that are just perfect together - Reese's combination of chocolate and peanut butter, grilling and football, peanut butter and jelly, and of course, Jeremy and Asha. It's time for me to add another combo to the perfection list - BBQ and good live music.
Really, this combo could be any good food and some good live music, but in the south, it doesn't get much better than BBQ. For me, BBQ is a southern delicacy that's only done right when made in states where the fine people say "y'all" and know the difference between barbeque and having a barbecue. When paired with good music, it becomes a joyous occasion filled with dancing and smiles all around. This past weekend we were blessed to have the Time Warner Cable BBQ and Blues festival in uptown Charlotte. It kicked off Friday evening with BBQ (of course) and a full line up of bands to last throughout the evening. Saturday featured a 5K race (the Hog Jog - I love that title) followed by numerous events and showcases throughout the day. Asha and I went Friday night to check it out and to hear Big Bad Voodoo Daddy perform. For those who don't know, BBVD is a band that plays a mixture of blues, swing, and jazz music. The best part about their music is you just can't help but dance to it. I'll elaborate on that in a bit.
The festival was packed Friday night. Vendors lined the street on each side and it was probably the best smelling event I've ever attended. Jim and Nick's and Mac's were there along with some other restaurants that I need to try. Everywhere you looked there was BBQ. It was truly awesome, haha. I remember one of the vendors were selling alligator meat too. I never worked my way around to trying it.
So BBVD was supposed to come on stage around 9. Well, the band before them didn't get off stage until 9 so we had to wait. This waiting period allowed us to make our way closer to the stage which was nice. The mix of people was rather interesting. It ranged from seeing your average looking white male and female... to seeing a black guy in a cowboy hat and cowboy boots (not average). The audience was also split down the middle so there was an aisle workers and photographers could walk through. Our side was much livlier. 9:35 hits and finally, the band comes out on stage. It was a great show. They played songs from their upcoming album and, not gonna lie, I might be purchasing that. Asha and I are a big fan of music, and what I mean by that is I love songs that feature lots of real instruments. Fact: Jeremy was in band from 6th grade to freshman year at Appalachian State University. Asha was in band from 5th-12th grade. Anytime a song can throw in some brass sounds (trumpet, trombone, even some saxaphone) consider me hooked. BBVD features 2 trumpet players, trombone, tenor sax, baritone sax, guitarist, drums, bass, and keys. If you even remotely like blues, jazz, or swing music, you'll like this band. They know how to throw a party because like I said earlier, you just can't help yourself when their music is going. You've got to dance.
I'm interrupting Jeremy's blog like he did mine. Hope he doesn't mind. Anyways...I went along to this festival not knowing what exactly I was getting myself into. I knew Jeremy wanted to check out this band so I was just going along for the ride. BBVD sounded really familiar to me but I had never heard them before. After the first 3 songs were played, I was hooked. Their music is so lively and upbeat. It's also nice to hear actual instruments for a change. You also can't help but dance. It's a must. I was really upset that I didn't bring my camera. I usually bring it everywhere but I honestly didn't think I'd have such a good time. Lesson learned. A couple days later I finally realized why this band sounded so familiar to me. Turns out, I designed a page for them in The Appalachian newspaper (I really miss working for the paper) my senior year. I just happened to use that page for my portfolio. Here's proof:
Now back to Jeremy. I REEEEEEEEEEEEEALLY wish I had my camera to record the people dancing though. I'm afraid that I just don't have the brilliant vocabular needed to describe what was happening around us. Somewhat of a mosh-pit formed directly behind us which featured some old folks... just... again, I don't know how to describe it. If you were here with me, I would imitate their movements. There was a lot of jumping around and arms flailing and people tossing bottles and just... some happy folks. For anyone who watches TrueBlood, remember in season 2 when MaryAnn had everybody in Bon Temps under a spell and they would have their "parties" and everyone would be super happy and care-free? This "mosh-pit" wasn't as extreme (there wasn't any public sex going on) but it had a similar feeling to that. (haha... I bet anyone who does not watch TrueBlood probably thought that was really weird and may have formed some funny thoughts once I mentioned the public sex... oh well). It wasn't just all crazy dancing though. There were some couples up front actually swing dancing and looked like they knew what they were doing. What's crazy though is that no one on the other half of the audience was dancing. Their facial expressions looked like they were enjoying themselves, but they were statues. I guess technically, you don't HAVE to dance to BBVD's music like I stated before... but still. Those people were lame.
Overall it was a great night. Relaxing with the lady while inhaling BBQ and enjoying a great concert equals happiness for me. I wish I went and got a picture with the giant inflatable pig. Missed opportunity.
P.S. - Beer can also be added in with the BBQ and music combo. I didn't add it because I don't drink beer. However, if I did drink beer, I guarantee that I would drink it while eating BBQ and listening to music. The end.
I've got to learn how to write shorter blogs...
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