The Decemberists

On November 29, Sara and I went downtown to see Portland natives, the Decemberists, in concert. Fortunately, it was a warm night. We walked around the Pearl District for a while, visiting Powell's and each buying a sale copy of My Friend is Sad.

We walked down to Piazza Italia and was told they could seat us at 9:30. I guess reservations are a must on weekends. We ended up at Everett Street Bistro, which was tasty, but for some reason neither of us had much appetite. So I couldn't even finish my dish. :(

Orchiette Pasta - pan roasted cherry tomatoes, garlic and fresh arugala served with oreccheitte pasta and topped with parmesan cheese

At Sara's suggestion, we left our leftovers on top of a garbage can for a homeless person to discover -- is this common practice in San Francisco?

After dinner, we wandered around Whole Foods, Storables, and some other stores. Then we stopped by the car -- we had found street parking! -- and dropped off our jackets, and headed across the street to the Crystal Ballroom. We ended up having to walk around nearly the entire block to get to the end of the line.

The line, as we approach the entrance.

Some observations/opinions about the Crystal Ballroom:

• It's an interesting-looking interior
• There's a weird divider right down the middle of the room -- I asked about it, and was told that one side was 21 and older
• The divider reduces good viewing locations and the ability to shift around on the floor
• Why is the stage over in the corner?
• The sound quality wasn't great, although maybe that was because we were over on the side
• I'm curious to see what the experience is like up in the tiny balcony
• I was envious of the people standing on benches against the wall
• I'm not sure the venue deserves the "best place to see live music" plaque on the wall, but I'll reserve judgment until I've been there again

Some observations/opinions about the crowd:

• The 21 and older side was noisier
• There was quite an age mix, ranging from a few pre-teens to those who could be parents of pre-teens :)
• The band has some very tall fans
• For the most part, people were polite, if not always actively considerate

Some observations/opinions about the band:

• They were older than I'd expected -- more experienced musicians
• They were good performers, especially the front man, Colin Meloy

A couple of my better photos of Colin Meloy:

Sara, happy to find a shoulder gap so she can see:

Getting home was very easy. It's so fast to get out of Portland! :)