Dawes

Last night Erik and I went downtown to see Dawes at First Avenue.  I think you'd have to measure the time since I was last at First Ave in decades.  And I do mean to include the trailing s.  It was a great show.  I had heard some of their music before on 89.3, but it wasn't until I did a group event with my team at work where we tried to guess what each team member listened to, that I was reminded exactly how much I enjoyed them.  Karma was on my side, because the tickets at First Avenue went on sale right after I finished the work event.

The most exciting part of the evening, other than Dawes and the Moondoggies and Peter Wolf Crier (all excellent), was when this guy and his boyfriend sort of edged their way in front of Erik and I.  One of them left to get a beer or go to the bathroom, and the other one did this sort of dance with his hand extended at a little over a 45 degree angle from his body trying to reserve the spot they'd pilfered.  Erik messed with him a little and then got in his face and told him maybe he shouldn't shove his way in front of others.  The guy was too drunk to respond coherently (or so it seemed), but that wasn't the amusing part.  After the guy's boyfriend came back, and the music was going, he sidled up next to the guy in front of him and put his hand on his shoulder.  The other guy - who had a girlfriend next to him - looked confused, and calmly removed the hand.  So the drunk guy put it back.  And it was again politely removed.  Then he sort of tried to dance with the other guy.  Tried to put a hand around his waist (at least that's what it looked like).  And then some more dancing.  All the while the guy with the girlfriend was getting more and more irritated. Finally, the girlfriend, sensing a fight was brewing, left toward the bar.  A minute or so later, the drunk frottaginest was rapidly yanked backward by a bouncer.  Almost end of story.

The boyfriend, who didn't seem at all phased that his boyfriend was too drunk to put his arm around the right person, didn't leave to support him but, according to Erik, texted him that the show "Just isn't the same without you here."

Check out Dawes.  They packed First Avenue, and for good reason. Some actual video from last night from Eric Bass at Catching Sounds. Photos from last night at Reviler.