Sarah leaves johnnyk out in the cold.....

Since I was working in Chicopee today, I said to myself, "Self, why not take in the Sarah Borges/Sonny Landreth gig at the Iron Horse tonight." Brilliant! So I cruised on up to Northampton late Friday afternoon, found the Iron Horse on Center Street after driving around for a half-hour (I finally cheated - I asked directions), snagged a GREAT parking spot nearby and, to use up the time before the show, went off to a record store I spotted. Cool. Hmmm, Kay's prospective furniture store location should be around here somewhere. Wow, I never realized what a busy place this is!

Turn It Up! is a below-street level store just off Main on Pleasant and is, as it turns out, the 'flagship of our magnificent fleet' of stores (others in Keene, Brattleboro, Easthampton). Once you negotiate the steep set of steps, you enter a cozy, friendly den of high quality used CDs. High Fidelity quality but without the attitude, which makes for a stress-free browsing experience. An hour of browsing produced (for $30!!!!!):

How long Has This Been Going On? - Van Morrison with Georgie Fame
Super Ball - The Iguanas
Daydreaming at Midnight - Sir Douglas Quintet
The Golden Hits of the Everly Brothers - Who the hell do you think!

No, thank you!

A short walk back to my GREAT parking place, a change into sneakers/sweatshirt and I get into line to see Sarah 'n Sonny. Nice day! It's cold during the half-hour wait, but not unbearable. Mostly couples with a smattering of old hippie looking guys. And me. The line moves slowly, but steadily along the couple of storefronts that constitute The Horse until we're in the warmth of the ticket area.

An unsettling feeling seeps into my feelingquitegood being as I offer my $20 to the ticket guy. Uh oh, I grossly underestimated the appeal of Sonny Landreth (Johnny Gumbo saw him at 2004 JazzFest and said he was great). Sold out! Can't ya jus sneak in one more, especially since I drove ALL the way from southern CT? Nope. I can wait an hour to see if any standing room will be sold, but, crestfallen, I trudge back to my GREAT parking space....and cruise back to CT.

(Sarah Borges Band, Danielia Cotton Band - Co-bill is a new booking at the Iron Horse for Thursday, March 30.)