my birthday gift

For my birthday, the wife got me tickets to see the White Stripes at Madison Square Garden. I haven't been to an arena concert since Aerosmith when I was 16. The sound was beyond loud at that show and I couldn't hear for a day... that left me worried about those kinds of shows, but MSG and the white stripes know how to not be stupid with the volume.

Porter Wagoner opened the show with Marty Stuart accompanying him. Poter is old (he had to be helped on and off the stage) but he still rocks the rhine stone suits. Porter will be on Letterman tonight just so you know... He was really awesome. He kept thanking the crowd and thanked Jack White and talked about how great it was to play Madison Square... he sang Dooley, and that was awesome.

Then Grinderman, Nick Cave's new band, came out and really crapped up the stage. The wife sang, in the tune of their song I Am Grinderman, "this is pretentious bullshit" and then she said in a cheery voice, "but they are creepy and I'm afraid they could rape me!"

Then the White Stripes played. It was awesome. I like them because the music is simple but dirty, and then not simple at all. It's really crazy how much sound they get out of a two person band. They played Jolene. That made the show worth it to my wife, and brought it all back to good 'ol Porter (via Dolly).