Where do I start? Oh yeah…I had a coupon for a free appetizer
at TGI Fridays, so that’s where Mister O and I decided to go for an after work
happy hour last Friday!
This is pretty normal
and ordinary stuff for us on a Friday night and we weren’t expecting much more than
a quick appetizer, a couple of beers and then head back home.
That is, until a
guy sitting next to us at the bar started chatting with Mister O about sports
stuff and golfing.
The guy mentioned
that he lived in California and, I have to say, with his long tousled blonde
hair and t-shirt surfer/rocker looks,
he did seem to stand out amongst us Minnesotans. After some idle chit-chat, we put 2 and 2
together and figured this guy was a musician.
Since, we’re not
far from a popular concert venue called Myth Event Center, which is where a lot
of upcoming bands perform concerts in the Twin Cities. Even some pretty
well-known musicians have concerts here.
Therefore, the obvious question Mister O asked this guy was if he was
playing the Myth?
The “Rocker Dude”
confirmed our suspicions that he was, indeed, in a band called “Puddle Of Mudd.”
Now, if you’re
not a heavy metal or alternative music follower, which we ARE NOT, then you may
have the same response we did…a puddle of whaaat?
Don’t get me
wrong, I’m definitely a music lover and like all kinds of music from show tunes, country music to AC/DC. Not gonna lie,
AC/DC is probably as “hard rock” as I get and Jon Bon Jovi is my guy!
Needless to say,
we weren’t familiar with his rock band.
After further meddling, while he was getting carb-loaded over a huge
plate of pasta, we found out his name was Wes
Scantlin. He’s the lead singer of the band, which tours all over the country.
I guess they
have to eat somewhere. Why not TGI
Fridays, right?!?
So, between the pasta
and nachos, we had some interesting small talk with Wes, which lead to offering
us to see his band in concert that night. He would happily notify
his people and have Mister O and I put on “The
List” to see the concert for free!!
It was
surprising to me that Mister O declined his offer…at first. Why reluctant? To be quite honest, we’re 50
something and this really isn’t our scene.
However, I reminded him that we’ve never been to The Myth and, “what the
hell, what else do we have to do?” “I mean c’mon, we’re on the list!”
I’ve NEVER been on
any kind of LIST! That I know of anyways!!!
So, let’s check out the place, have a
drink, listen to a few songs and call it an interesting night!
We arrived around 9:00 and “Puddle Of Mudd” wasn’t playing until 10:30! We had joked earlier, that I’d hoped I could
stay awake until then. The older I get, the earlier our evening outings seem to
be and I’m usually in bed by 10:30-11.
Could we hold
up? Could our old ears stand the loud
music? Could we mix in with the young crowd? Truly, I was afraid we’d stick out
like two OLD goats in a field of young bucks.
Maybe we got ourselves into the wrong gig here.
Does it
matter? We’re on the DAMN list!!!!
Since “Puddle Of
Mudd” was the headliner, there was a band playing a set before them called “Saliva.”
Yup, don’t you just love these names? We arrived just in time to rock out with “Saliva!”
Yup, don’t you just love these names? We arrived just in time to rock out with “Saliva!”
To my surprise,
we were not the oldest there. In fact,
it was a wide variety of ages and just about any outfit was acceptable. We DIDN’T stick out like two old goats and to
be honest, “Saliva” was pretty good and entertaining too!!
I admit I
probably won’t be jammin’ to these tunes while baking Christmas cookies, but both
bands delivered some decent entertainment and made for a worthy night out.
We didn’t stay
for the whole concert. After all, it was
going on 11:30…pretty much past my bedtime!
However, life lesson learned – it’s good to widen your horizons, check
out different scenes and be open-minded. You just might have a good time!
We weren’t able
to thank Wes back stage or plan our next TGI Fridays meet-up (Ha!), but I will
say, our chance meeting made for an out of the ordinary evening.
After doing a
little research the next day about our “on the list” Wes, it’s probably best
that we didn’t exchange phone numbers.
According to this RollingStone article – Wes, in all is rocker glory, has a pretty colorful rap
sheet. One of them being, a lifetime ban
from Graceland!
Apparently, it’s
frowned upon to do a cannonball into Elvis Presley’s Graceland pool! Wowzers, that does take balls or some good drugs!!
After finding this
out, it’s funny to think…we actually made it on this guy’s “List” and, it should go without saying,
I now know who “Puddle Of Mudd” is.
What’s our next ambition? Well, since I relate more to the 80’s night life, we want to try and make it on “The List” of our own Minneapolis native, Prince, at the next Paisley Park concert!
Hey, by any chance,
do you think Prince hangs at TGI Fridays?
Put your smile on,
Laurie O
Hi Laurie, it sounds like you had a fun night. I've never heard of this band, but I prefer my music to match the speed of my heartbeat. I did go see Heart last month in Mankato. They are amazing.
ReplyDeleteI bet Heart was a great concert! Love them! Very fun!!
ReplyDelete