The Pre-Anniversary

September 18th, 2009 came and went the Friday before last. Yep - the pre-anniversary. Surprising isn't it that it never has gotten much hype. Here is a wonderful opportunity for the Hallmark machine to overexpose and exploit a perhaps tender day, and yet they idly rest on their laurels, relying on yet another Valentine's Day to make their annual numbers. No wonder America is struggling.

As for us, well we are ahead of the curve. Perhaps a bit foolishly, Kevin refused to relax on his last pressure-free September 18th and bought concert tickets for Frightened Rabbit and company (aka Scottish Fest 2009 - all 3 alt rock bands on the docket were of Scottish descent) in San Francisco.

Frightened Rabbit has been one of those bands for us, as this was our 3rd experience with them live. Kevin discovered them on one of his common internet musical hunts, and he fell in love with them while writing in a hostel in Italy - suddenly dropping his pen and asking his ipod, "who is this?".

Our 1st concert with the Rabbit was about a year and a half ago at the Independent in San Francisco (imaginative name for a concert venue, eh?). Before the show, we saw the lead singer dining at the same inexpensive restaurant as us. He's one of us! Later on, he told the 1/2 full, 500 capacity venue that he couldn't believe he was playing in front of so many people.

The 2nd time a few months later was at the Bottom of the Hill as the opening act for the legendary Spinto Band. The Spinto who? Exactly. We actually a felt bad for the Spinto as our Scottish boys played for a solid hour over their allotted time to an impressed crow.

And finally came last Friday. It was again at the Independent and this time they were welcomed by an adoring, sold-out, mostly hipster-free crowd. We hung near the back along with the other elder generation concert-going souls, ear plugs firmly installed. We bobbed our heads to the familiar set, feeling a sense of pride in watching our little band grow up.

Not a bad pre-anniversary we must say.

So where's the wedding news? Well there has been nothing significant until today as we just returned from a bridal show near Pismo Beach. Yep - the time has come for Kevin to finally realize his dream of blogging about his own bridal show. Expect the unexpected.