IPA in Bottles and a Beer and Concert Review

Got my IPA bottled up this past weekend. Now I have to wait for a few weeks to let it carbonate. Looking forward to trying it out. I may go ahead and get the Bock Beer kit that I bought going so that it may be ready for football season. Also picked up a bunch of brewing equipment from a good friend from my car club (Thanks Laura!). So I now have all the right stuff to tackle a big batch. May be a few weeks, I'll keep everyone posted right here.

Went to a pretty great concert last night with a college buddy of mine. Stopped by his place for dinner before hand (His girlfriend cooked fried chicken, very excellent) and he had a stash of Highland Gaelic Ale. Been a while since I had tried this beer. I immediately reminded myself not to pass over a few of Highlands offerings next time I frequent the local beer store. A nice thick head, slightly brown in color. Beer color is a great dark brown, almost a deep ruby. Very malty flavor, sweet up front. A touch of hops to balance it out and keep it from being overly sweet. Very smooth and extremely drinkable. A great beer that I am glad I rediscovered.

The Concert: Old 97's
Where: Variety Playhouse

This was the first show I had ever seen at the Variety Playhouse. The venue reviews I read before hand showed people either loved or hated the place. I fall in the former, this is a great place to see a show! Parking is cheap ($5) beer is a good price and the size is just right. Plenty of room to stand in the front and tons of seating on the sides, back and in the balcony. Went to the show only expecting two bands, Sleepercar and the Old 97's. Got a very pleasant surprise when there was a second opening band, The Spring Standards. Wow, best opening band I've ever seen. A trio consisting of Two guys on guitar or bass and a girl on percussion. The guys also played either a hi-hat or bass drum while strumming (and sometimes a harmonica) and the girl also happened to play keyboards, some sort of wind recorder thingy and sang lead on several songs. Try to name me one other female lead vocalist that plays percussion! Vocal harmonies where amazing, energy was great and the songs where perfect. They played a strange combination of bluesy, folky, little dash of gospel, countrified new rock with hints of some emo working its way in there. Just wow. Picked up their brand new EP, No One Will Know after the show. Check these guys out at their myspace, www.myspace.com/thespringstandards

Sleepercar played a great set. Very high energy. Hit all the songs off of their new CD, West Texas. They even threw in a cover of a Flying Burrito Brothers cover near the end of the set. They are a neat combination of Snow Patrol with a little Wilco thrown in and a big influence from the Old 97's. Check them out on their myspace, http://www.myspace.com/sleepercarwesttexas

Headliner the Old 97's did not disappoint. Huge energy throughout a big set. Band sounded great, songs where awesome and the crowd really seemed to get into it. I am pretty sure they played for almost 2 solid hours. You can check them out here: http://www.old97s.com/

This show has vaulted into my top 3 concerts of all time (For review, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Live in Savannah, GA on 2/13/96 is #1 and Radiohead Live in Atlanta this year is #2). Two amazing opening acts that put on incredible sets that should have been hard to follow but Old 97's stepped up their game and delivered. Keep and eye on all these bands, The Spring Standards, Sleepercar and the Old 97's. I am sure you will hear of them again.