Blues Traveler & Animal Years @ The FIllmore

I was excited when I bought these tickets.  I had seen Blues Traveler in 2012, when we still lived in Vegas, when they opened for Barenaked Ladies.  It was a fantastic show from both bands.  I was hoping this would be the case tonight.

Not so much!

No mention of an opener was made anywhere so we arrived not long after doors opened and Animal Years were already on stage.  They were fine, but not what A & I are into.  Their highlight was a great cover of Dexy's Midnight Runner "Come On Eileen".

Maybe it was the long day we had, or the long, unnecessary  break between bands (you're set up - just play, I don't need to stare at an empty stage for 40 minutes), but we were almost over it by the time Blues Traveler came on.  There songs seemed a bit jam-bandy (as to compared to Vegas' short opening slot) and after a while it was a bit samey.  Having said that I am by no means a "fan", and plenty of 90's college kids were having a great night.  I only know 1 song (and not even the name of it).  But they did play the song from the end credits of Kingpin, so that was a plus.  

When Blues Traveler finished we were out of there, and in the car before the encore started.  It's been 3 months since I saw my last concert - am I ready to give it away, or did it take 2 shows for me to realise Blues Traveler is not for me.

The Crap Facts:
This is my 445th concert.
This is my 25th concert at the Fillmore.

This is my 75th concert in Charlotte.

This is my 85th concert in North Carolina.

This is my 248th concert in the USA.
Animal Years are the 514th band I've seen.
This is my 2nd Blues Traveler concert.

Aziz Ansari @ Ovens Auditorium

Master of None is one of the best shows around at the moment, so there was no question we were going to this when the show was announced.  I'd also seen a couple of his Netflix specials, which I enjoyed.

A full house at Ovens were treated to a couple of openers, but the crowd went nuts when Ansari came out to introduce the last opener.  Making his comedy debut was the now Charlotte resident - Aziz' dad  - Dr Shoukath Anzari.  His short set had the crowd in stitches as we watched Aziz in the wings having a good time.

Ansari is a story teller comedian.  Completely the opposite Steven Wright last week.  But just as funny in their own ways.  

Ansari had taken the unusual step of providing locked pouches for everyone's cell phone, not popular amongst a majority of the crowd, but welcomed by me - and wishfully used at many concerts I hope to see in the future.  But it bought a funny discussion behind the pros and cons.  The hour and a bit he was onstage was non stop laughs (but as usual I can't recall them - especially not as well as he told them).  I thought he might broach the subject of recent sexual assault allegations, but in the end he opted not to, maybe for the best.

This show seemed to come out of nowhere, but I'm glad it happened.  After 2 comedians in a week, I hope to see more comedy shows (like I always say, but never do).  Always a good night out.

Steven Wright @ McGlohon Theater

Why doesn't anybody really remember Steven Wright.  When I was telling people I was going to this I had to remind them of Mad About You, his stand up, the narrator of Reservoir Dogs, etc.  People looked at me like "Yeah I remember" but you could tell they were just being polite.  

I remember him being hilarious.  And tonight was no exception.  

While my ability to re-tell the jokes of the night is lacking, the hour of mono-tonal, nonsensical, one liners was exceptional.  So fast and frequent were they, that the only joke I really remember was "I was addicted to placebos.  I was going to give up, but I thought....what's the point?"  I did however miss half the jokes from laughing at the previous one.  Pretty much the point of seeing a stand up comedian.

To think this guys has been doing this for over 30 years, it makes you wonder how many actual jokes he has written.  I wonder how many he remembers, or how he picks what he'll use in a show.  Just brilliant.

A great night out.  I always say we should see more comedy shows.  Inevitably we might be lucky to catch a couple of shows a year.  Tonight though was a reason to seek out more shows.  My body aches from laughing.