[Portland,
OR] TheBirds&TheBeesANDTheFlowers and I live in the same complex. She
brought me flowers in a vase when I had just moved here and was real lonely (and
then she brought them again, and then again). Both our dads died within the
last year. We both have a strong affinity for order. She’s my gardening mentor.
For instance, now I know that bleeding hearts need to be planted “perpendicular
to the fence.” I also know that one shouldn’t partner with people who hog the
TV-remote—although I think her real message was that all men will hog the TV
remote so best to avoid them in general. She also has excellent taste in
jewelry (outside of the fact that my taste, somehow, is the same, even though we’re at least one generation apart). TheBirds&TheBeesANDTheFlowers was a trauma
nurse/respiratory therapist (I’m getting this wrong) and these house concerts
are hosted by her former coworker Cheryl and her husband. She picked me up at
6:50p (exactly 6:50) for the concert and launched into a description of the
people we were about to encounter—and I nodded to myself that, yes, we are
meant to be friends because, yes, this is exactly my favorite thing to do
before a social gathering: dish on who we’re going to see! Sooo, Cheryl was
never going to get married because no one could hold her interest. TheBirds&TheBeesANDTheFlowers
described her as an ‘out-of-the-box thinker,’ ‘smart.’ But then she met this ‘renaissance
man’ named Dan Dover, some 15 years older than her. They got married. Now he’s
in his 70s and they’re going to move to Mexico to capitalize on his social
security. This all was plenty juicy enough for me … but they were even better
in person. Dan sports this awesome cross between a rattail and mullet –
basically a sheet of hair that starts midway down his scalp (where the balding
ends) and runs from ear to ear. We got special seats right behind the lovers
and I was transfixed by Dan’s sturdy clear-gloss fake-fingernails, thinking
well he really is something special… I think it was to support his folk guitar
habit though. Cheryl’s less showy visually but a spitfire—she interrupted his introduction
of the bands probably ten times to correct or add—they completed each other’s
thoughts madlib-style—and then rubbed shoulders throughout the show. So when I
told people I was going to a “house concert,” some were sort of befuddled … I guess
it is a strange thing. I first heard of it in Houston. People just up and
decide to charge their friends etc. for real musicians to play in their house. Seems
sort of prevalent in the Pacific Northwest. Dan & Cheryl’s space had some
of the trappings of a Pacific Northwest house of music (‘ethnic’ tapestries
gracing the walls) but it wasn’t as old-white-men (quoting Dan) as I’d feared.
He had a slew of beautiful guitars strewn around the basement. And it was lit
by strings of the tinfoil-backed lights I pursued passionately when I lived in
Colorado. The sound was outstanding, even though it was some 30 of us packed in
tight right up on the stage. In addition to two house concerts a month, Dan
hosts a regular singer/songwriter thing—both artists were participators. I
pretty much passionately dislike singer/songwriters and Michael Henchman
encapsulated everything I dislike: trite lyrics, sappy sentimentality,
crippling sensitivity. His first song was about a walkabout. His second was
about the possibility John Wayne is soft inside. The third was about how most
songs focus on love, and then it’s either the beginning, middle, or end of love
(this sort of intrigued me). He ended with a real ‘departure,’ a sing-along
about an ‘alien hunter,’ inspired by McMinnville’s UFO Fest (which I have
attended). There was a costume. In good news, he is the first guitarist I’ve ever
seen, or been close enough to notice to, use a double capo—one shorter than
other. He was tapping behind the capo for some hammer effect? I was impressed.
He also did a cute little flourish after he finished each song.
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