Not So Famous…

This post is WAY late. I meant to have something typed up the day after the concert, and I had every intention of doing so.  However, the concert was the 12th of September, and here it is, 9/23/08, and I’m still thinking about what I’m going to write. So here it is.  I’m sure some of the details will be fuzzy…it happened over a week ago.

The Food, Buffalo Bill’s Brewing Company:

Buffalo Bill’s is well-known for their fruit/beer infusions. I know many of my readers are not fans of fruit beers, and in some cases, I agree.  At one time I was quite fond of Pyramid’s Apricot Ale, but the last few times I have had that beer, I’ve noticed that the Apricot is huge in the nose, but not so much in the taste.  In addition, the actual beer flavor is weak in this ale, probably to avoid trampling the fruit flavor.  (For what it’s worth, I recently noticed that Pyramid has changed the name from Apricot Ale to Apricot Weizen.  It’s probably a wise move given that Weizen (wheat) most accurately describes the beer.  While wheat beers are technically ales, the flavor profiles of these beers are so different from ales, they really ought to be separately classified.)

The reason fruit and beer are so hard to mix is understandable, to be honest. Fruit extract or pulp, when boiled, loses a great deal of its flavor and aroma.  The delicate flavors that we associate with fruit do not make it through the brewing process unscathed.  In addition, fruit pulp added post-boil introduces a HUGE potential for bacterial infection.  It’s a scary thought to add something after the boil that has not been properly sanitized.  So, successful fruit beers are all the more impressive when they’ve managed to make a good BEER flavor meld with a good FRUIT flavor.  There are some beers that have done it.  Sam Adams Cherry Wheat is one.  However, most of the others come from the Buffalo Bill’s Brewery.

Buffalo Bill’s Orange Blossom Ale is really a stellar combination of fruit aroma, flavor, and beer.  I would never choose it above a regular decent ale, but it’s a good mashup.  Their Pumpkin Ale I was not all that impressed with, but I bet I give it a whirl again this Thanksgiving.  However, their Blueberry Stout is one of the most wonderful beers I’ve ever had the immense pleasure of tasting! It occurs to me that I’ve rambled about beers enough, but you ought to know that Buffalo Bill’s is one of the best brewerys I’ve ever visited, and that’s saying a great deal.

Gabe and I always get the Bill’s Burger with Bleu Cheese and Avocado when we’re at Bill’s. Seriously great burger.  The Ciabatta roll on which it’s served only adds to the beefy, rich goodness that is this burger. And with the Blue Cheese??  Man, if you’ve not had bleu cheese on a burger, you’re really missing out.  I don’t like plain bleu cheese.  The flavor profile is way too strong for me.  But the velvety and tangy mouthfeel it adds when on a burger is really something, and Bill’s does it to perfection.  Get one….now.

This trip, however, we had something interesting.  I’m a fan of the poppers.  I get them almost everywhere that has them.  They’re not USUALLY too terribly spicy, and I love that cheese.  So when I saw that Bill’s had some good poppers, I decided to order us a platter.  Man…………….I almost died from the awesomeness.  I don’t know what Bill’s breads their poppers with, but it’s some sort of dough.  Bill’s menu says “flakey, golden-brown crust”.  It’s definitely flakey, resembling Phyllo dough, pie crust or puff pastry. They’ve had an egg-wash brushed on it, and they’ve been baked, and my gosh….It was a taste sensation that could sweep the nation!

Finally, because I can’t NOT say anything about this, I had a couple different beers. I almost always open the evening with their Johnny MIdnite’s Oatmeal Stout.  An excellent example of the stout style, having one of these babies is like seeing an old friend for the first time in a long time.

I had a Tazmanian Devil, which is considered a Strong Ale, and it sure seemed that way! Malty goodness abounds here.

I had a Ricochet Red, which was your traditional copper ale.  Nicely malted and hopped, this one has the best of both worlds.  Less alcohol, to be sure, than the Tazmanian Devil above.

Finally, I closed the evening with an Alimony Ale, which is known as “Irreconcilably different.”  Also known as the bitterest beer in America.  I’ll leave the final comments here to Gabe.

It was a great meal, and we had a lot of fun.

The Drive, a.k.a. WHY I HATE THE BAY AREA!!!!:

Yeah, so we got lost.  Who cares?  John betrayed us again, and took FOREVER to find the satellites.  (John is John Cleese, and he’s the celebrity voice of my GPS Navigator.)  So we had a hard time finding the freeway, and even once John FOUND the dang freeway, the exits were so close together that we ended up missing a turn while in S.F. and had to double back.  I hate driving in the Bay Area.

The Music, Sonata Arctica and Nightwish:

Sonata Arctica is a pretty darn good epic metal band.  Their keyboardist plays a pretty cool guitar-style keyboard, and they sounded good.  I don’t know their songs, though, so I couldn’t tell you what they played.  If you get a chance to listen to them, I think they’re worth it, even though they’re not fronted by a female.  :)

Nightwish rocked the hizzouse, as usual. One thing I remember about this show is the individual personalities that come out in their shows.  Each member of Nightwish is practically a show in and unto themselves! I could watch a single member for an entire show, and then go back and watch the show again to see another member the whole time. They somehow manage to fuse their sounds and individualities together to form one of the raddest bands of all time. My favorite to watch is Emppu.  Whether he’s flashing the horns to Anette DURING one of his solos, (  \m/  ), nodding to an audience member indicating the radness of his sound, or tugging on Marco’s rockin’ goatee to the rhythm of the chunky guitar riffs, Emppu is a lot of fun to watch.  Imagine if Lucius Malfoy were to form a rockin’ band….minus the evil inclinations, of course.

Another thing I noticed was Anette’s calming influence on the guys.  Sometimes, when she wasn’t going to be singing for a little while, she’d go offstage.  Normally, it’s not my favorite thing, as I think the frontman/lady is an important part of the visual appeal of the show.  However, when Anette walks offstage, it’s like she’s giving the guys free reign to just thrash their heads off. When she walks onstage and starts singing, though, it’s like a balm of tranquility (to a certain extent) has washed over the guys.  Like they tend toward absolute chaos, and she keeps them from toppling into the gaping maw of anarchy. It’s a great aspect to the show.  She’s so cute and feminine, and she seems to really love the other guys, who seem more raw and untamed.  At one point, Tuomas came out from behind his keyboards and gave her a big hug, she hugged Marco, and I think she might have even hugged Emppu.  From what I heard of the guys’ lack of interactions with Tarja, I think this is a welcome aspect to their shows, and really helps us to see how much they love making music together!

They played a bunch of songs, and I’m sure I’d have missed a bunch of them, so I got them off of the journal of someone else who was there.  :)

Bye Bye Beautiful
Dark Chest of Wonders
The Siren
Dead to the World
Amaranth
Come Cover Me
The Islander
The Poet and the Pendulum
Whoever Brings the Night
Wishmaster
Sahara

Then they went offstage, like they were done.  Of course, we all chanted our lungs out, and they came back.  :)

Higher Than Hope
7 Days to the Wolves
I Wish I Had an Angel

It really was a ROCKIN’ concert.  They are one of my top 5 bands, easily, and if you EVER get the chance to see them, it’s worth whatever drive or hardship you need to overcome to make it.  :)

edit: For an excellent play-by-play of the show, check out this blog entry.  She also took pics and video!  :)  http://www.lastfm.pl/user/jukkakhan/journal/2008/09/14/25xbct_concert_journal:_nightwish_-_san_francisco_-_september_12th,_2008

“How could he know
This new dawn’s light
Would change his life forever?

Set sail to sea,
But pulled off course
By the light of golden treasure

Was he the one causing pain
With his careless dreaming?
Been afraid
Always afraid
Of the things he’s feeling

He could just be gone
He would just sail on
He’ll just sail on

How can I be lost,
If I’ve got nowhere to go?
Search for seas of gold.
How come it’s got so cold?

How can I be lost?
In remembrance I relive.
And how can I blame you,
When it’s me I can’t forgive?

These days drift on
Inside a fog
It’s thick and suffocating.

His sinking life
Outside it’s hell
Inside, intoxication

He’s run aground
Like his life.
Water much too shallow.

Slipping fast.
Down with his ship.
Fading in the shadows.

Now a castaway.
They’ve all gone away.
They’ve gone away.

How can I be lost
If I’ve got nowhere to go?
Search for seas of gold.
How come it’s got so cold?

How can I be lost?
In remembrance I relive.
And how can I blame you
When it’s me I can’t forgive?

Forgive me
Forgive me not
Forgive me
Forgive me not
Forgive me
Forgive me not
Forgive me
Forgive me
Why can’t I forgive me?

Set sail to sea,
But pulled off course
By the light of golden treasure.

How could he know
This new dawn’s light
Would change his life forever?

How can I be lost,
If I’ve got nowhere to go?
Search for seas of gold
How come it’s got so cold?

How can I be lost?
In remembrance I relive.
So how can I blame you
When it’s me I can’t forgive?”- Unforgiven III, Metallica

Many of you know that I’ve recently become a huge fan of what has been variously termed as Neo-Classical metal, Epic Metal, Symphonic Metal.  Symphony X is a huge frontrunner in this category, and probably one of my favorites.  However one of the sub-categories of this genre, as I mentioned in the title, is FFM or Female-Fronted Metal.

In this genre, we find seriously wonderful groups like Epica, Sirenia (mostly), Nightwish (mostly), Within Temptation, Echoes of Eternity, Sonata Arctica, and many others.  I’ve recently discovered a new band who will be touring with Epica, and they are called….

Amberian Dawn

Man, these guys are awesome.  Her voice reminds me of Tarja’s (formerly of Nighwish) voice without that quality I found annoying.  Their music is definitely symphonic and epic.  I quite enjoy them.  Go to their official site (linked on their name above) and their Official MySpace Page, where you can listen to some of their music.  Even better is that their music is on Amazon, available for download (River of Tuoni is their album) for like $9.00.  (Amazon has DRM-free mp3’s, for those who care about that.)

Anyway, feel free to check them out, buy their music, and become a fan on their Facebook page!

So last night, we went to the Boardwalk in Orangevale to see Nightwish, and it was well worth the $30+ price of admission, in my opinion.

First off, Tuomas Holopainen writes some stellar music, and he does it well.  I’ll explain the why’s and wherefore’s later, but let me say that he writes far more than metal tunes.  He composes symphonically metal epics.

The band has some great stage chemistry.  I can’t speak to this because I never saw Nightwish with Tarja, their previous singer, but I’ve heard they’re a lot happier with Anette Olzon. They certainly seemed so onstage.  After one of the tunes, Anette actually hugged Marco, the other lead singer and bassist…just happy to be onstage and singing with him.  When Anette came back from a little instrumental break, she brought a cloth and mopped Tuomas’ face for him.  She seems to love the band, and you can tell by their grins when she’s singing and talking, they love her.  They’re out to rock, but you can tell that they love doing it.

Tuomas enjoyed the attention his music got, and did a great job, but for me the star of the evening was Emppu.

Emppu is the guitarist for Nightwish, and he has a sort of dialogue with the crowd that is truly a joy to behold.  He laughs with them, makes faces at them, throws his picks at them…he really enjoys being a part of Nightwish. At one point, he made his way across the stage to Tuomas to get a drink of something, which Tuomas poured into his mouth.  The crowd loved it.  The crowd loved it all.

I don’t know if the guys are happier with Anette than with Tarja, but they couldn’t be any less happy.  They had a blast.

As for Anette’s voice, as always, it sounded better on the album.  But she did a good job, hitting notes that I think are in her upper range.  I’m a much bigger fan of Anette than Tarja, but after hearing Anette sing some of Tarja’s songs, I can say a couple things for certain, and I’ll leave you with these:

1. Tarja’s voice is powerful, and has an undeniable attraction.  Her accent is part of it, but Anette on the old Tarja songs just doesn’t sound the same.  It’s good, sure.  But those older songs just aren’t as good as when Tarja sang them.  However….I love Anette’s voice!  A LOT more than Tarja’s.  So how do I explain this?

2. I think Tarja sounding better on the old songs are due to Tuomas’ writing. Tuomas is a skilled composer.  He knows who will be singing his songs, and he writes them accordingly.  I don’t think Tarja would sound half as good as Anette does on Amaranth, for example.  That is Anette’s song.  Tuomas wrote it with her in mind, I believe.  I think this is the true skill of Tuomas.  He doesn’t just write generic Nightwish songs.  He composes songs for a very specific orchestration.  I think we can continue to expect great things from this Finnish power quintet, indeed.

It was seriously a great show.

My uncle has a country place
that no one knows about.
He says it used to be a farm
before the Motor Law.

And on Sundays I elude the Eyes,
and hop the turbine freight
to far outside the Wire
where my white-haired uncle waits.

Jump to the ground
as the turbo slows across the Borderline.
Run like the wind
as excitement shivers up and down my spine.

Down in his barn
my uncle preserved for me an old machine
for fifty-odd years.
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream.

I strip away the old debris
that hides the shining car.
A brilliant red Barchetta
from a better, vanished time.

I fire up the willing engine
responding with a roar.
Tires spitting gravel
I commit my weekly crime.

Wind;
In my hair;
Shifting and drifting;
Mechanical music;
Adrenaline surge!

Well-weathered leather;
Hot metal and oil;
The scented country air.
Sunlight on chrome;
The blur of the landscape;
Every nerve aware.

Suddenly ahead of me,
Across the mountainside.
A gleaming alloy air car
Shoots towards me, two lanes wide

I spin around with shrieking tires
To run the deadly race.
Go screaming through the valley
As another joins the chase.

Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud with fear and hope
I’ve got a desperate plan.

At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded at the riverside.
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle at the fireside.
– Rush, Red Barchetta from the album, Moving Pictures. (1981)
Based on the short story A Nice Morning Drive, by Richard S. Foster. (1973)

Let’s see if I can cram it all in.

To begin with, on Wednesday, I was involved in an accident that is probably going to total my car. I have pictures, but I’ll refrain from posting them on this public location, but the wreck was ugly. Based on my understanding of the law, it’s not my fault, but we’ll see what the insurance companies say.  When I started to pull into the roadway, I looked both ways a couple times, and no one was coming.  After I had already started moving, dude came around the corner and hit me going like 35-40 mph.  I couldn’t avoid it, because he wasn’t there to avoid when I started moving.  I was already in the roadway when he came around the corner.  He should have been traveling at a safe rate of speed so he could avoid me.  Well, like I said…we’ll see.  The insurance company thinks my car will be totaled, and I don’t doubt it.  It’s 11 years old, and the whole front end is a mess.  (We got spun around 180 degrees and shoved up under an F150.  It’s a wonder we’re not hurt more than a couple bumps and bruises.  When you see the pictures, you’ll understand…you’ll also understand why I say he was going more than the 25 he said he was going.)

The accident means that we’re going to be looking for another car soon.  Thanks to Gabe, we’re not without wheels, but I don’t want to borrow his car for longer than I have to…it means he has to put more miles on his nice car, and I don’t like that.  Plus I don’t want us to wreck his car. lol

However, yesterday was a nicer day. I got to wear my kilt to a concert in downtown Modesto.  Leahy was the band, and they were WELL WORTH IT!!!  These guys are just stellar musicians and stellar performers.  From what I could see, they all play pretty much every instrument.  In the entire performance, I saw the Guitar player (Maria Leahy) play guitar, banjo, fiddle, and stepdance.  The piano player (Erin Leahy) played piano, some sort of mandolin or ukelele, fiddle (both regular and flipped the fiddle upside down!!!!), and step danced….at one point she even step danced while playing the fiddle!!!! The other Leahy’s all played their instruments and step danced! Man, they made it look effortless, and it was a great show!

If you get a chance to see them, do it…seriously…I don’t care how much the tickets are. It was well worth it, and it helped a lot to offset the crappy accident on Wednesday.

As I said, I got to wear my kilt, which was also a lot of fun.  You wouldn’t believe how many people will just come up and talk to you when you have a kilt on. :)  Maria Leahy even saw me from the stage when she was stepdancing during the finale and smiled.  (We were in the front row, and she could totally see my kilt.)  :)  Frank Leahy (the drummer) saw me after the show and gave me a thumbs up.  :)  Lots of fun.

Hope your weeks all went well!

I asked Kim for tickets to this show for Valentine’s Day, and she wasn’t in the best “concert-friendly” mood, so she initially said she didn’t want to go.  After having time to muse on it, she decided it would be ok, and told me to go ahead and get tickets.

I tried to get tickets on Sunday morning, when I remembered that she said that, but the Gallo Center was reporting that they were sold out, which was kind of a bummer.

Today, I went to the Gallo center website to see what else was going to be happening there, and there was a “Buy” link on the Leahy event date, so I clicked it.  Much to my surprise, it popped up 2 $25 tickets in the Orchestra pit! I quickly purchased them, and am happy to say we’ll be at that show this Thursday!  :)

Not only will we be at the show, but check this out: (click the pic for a bigger version)

See that little yellow square down there in the front row?  That’s our seats!  WOOOOOOO!!!!

Now, I don’t need to be lectured on the theories of acoustics.  I know that these seats are not the most acoustically perfect seats in the house.  However, check out this video and tell me you wouldn’t want to be in the front-center area to see that footwork:

Needless to say…..I am excited.  :)

I’m always on the lookout for ways I can improve my brewing process, while spending the least amount of money possible.  One of the things that I have been severely annoyed at of late is the fact that I can only boil 7 gallons or so at a time…because I have an 8 gallon kettle.  Well, I’m about to remedy that.

Off-the-shelf brew kettles are anywhere from $280 to $700.  This is a little cost-prohibitive, and really is only good for brewing large batches of beer.  We’ve never found ourselves in need of a 15 gallon pot for anything else, really.  So I’d be spending a lot of money on something that only has 1 practical use.  Well, the guy whose video card I recently worked on told me that if I ever found a 15.5 gallon keg, he’d help me turn it into a big 15 gallon brewing kettle.

This last week, I found a place online that would let me buy used kegs for whatever purpose.  http://www.chicompany.net.  I bought a keg from them, and it’s supposed to show up tomorrow or Wednesday!  WOOO! And the keg was only $65.  That beats the cost for a major kettle, any day.  Even if the parts cost $30, which they won’t, I’m still up!

Then I need to get with Mark and work with him to get this bad boy converted into an infinitely usable brew kettle!  YAY ME!!!  I’ll have pictures as soon as the keg gets to the house!

In other news: Today, we purchased our tickets for the Nightwish concert May 22nd in Orangevale, which ought to be a total blast! We’re stopping by the Squeeze Inn in Sacramento for some killer CHEESEburgers. Check this out:
http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/oAgWlgoFCCvSKT4bERplSQ?select=guucg8YXAKbQMnMG-Fru1w

Yeah, that is a BUNCH of cheese on that thing.  Saw this diner on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives, and we’re really looking forward to this food and the show.  If you’re interested, you can get your tickets here:
http://www.enterthevault.com/moreInfo.php?id=1463

Finally, we also have our tickets to the Symphony X show in San Francisco on April 18th!  For that show, we’re going to eat dinner at Gordon Biersch before the show….gonna be AWESOME!

You can get tickets for the Symphony X show here:
http://www.slimstickets.com/evinfo.php?eventid=20601&sid=

Dark Passion Play arrived today.  Nightwish has catapulted into my top 5 bands with a vengeance.  I will say more later, but right now, I am in musically stunned silence.