We're On "The List"

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!”

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!!

If you’re wondering...we DID hold out until “Puddle Of Mudd” hit the stage and, for me, it was more of the same hard rock grind. Mister O said he was impressed with their version of a “Black Sabbath” song. I didn’t hate it and I was pleasantly surprised by the whole evening. 

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? 

It could happen!

Put your smile on,

Laurie O