Southwest. Here’s what you don’t want to hear when flying into San Francisco: we’re in a 30 minute holding pattern, but we have only 15 minutes of fuel left.
Okay, they did mention that we might have to fly into San Jose as an alternative, but then 15 minutes of fuel doesn’t give you much wiggle room.
Twenty minutes later we were still circling SFO. Maybe they meant we had 45 minutes of fuel left. Thirty minutes plus 15 minutes of wiggle room.
This announcement got the attention of the Southwest passengers. The young woman sitting in the window seat of my row turned to the center passenger and asked: did he just say we have 15 minutes of fuel left? She was very excited when it was announced that we would get to fly into SFO as she didn’t want to land in San Jose. Two passengers behind me kept tabs on the time – just as I was. I heard them talking around the 20 minute mark: it’s been 20 minutes . . .
Brick and Mortar. Tuesday at Brick and Mortar was a circled night for me. One of my friends was coming into town with his band, Kan Wakan. Over-all, this was going to be a special week of music. Not only was Kan Wakan coming into town, but so was Queen Kwong on a Thursday night (an out of cycle dispatch that was posted earlier). In order to celebrate this special week, I brought up my Canon 5D to San Francisco along with a handful of lenses.
First up on this night was Magic Fight. Where are you from? California. Seriously, where are you from? California. What part of California? Central. Okay, research indicates they’re from Oakland. Ukulele was the instrument of choice by the lead singer. The ukulele plays perfectly into their somewhat mournful tunes. The lead singer started the set wearing a raincoat. In the middle of the set, he took it off: it’s not raining, don’t be an idiot.
Kan Wakan was the middle band. It took a while for this 7 member band to set up, but once they started you didn’t want them to stop. The beautiful sounds of Sade-inspired vocals with the backing of intricately written music inspired the audience for an extremely short 30 minutes. There wasn’t a single unneeded note in the set. They sound like a poem that grows deeper and richer upon each reading.
Ending the night was Vanaprasta, a last minute addition to the night. A band that also hails from Los Angeles. As soul inspired as Kan Wakan is, Vanaprasta is infused with energetic sounds. And with a raise of his arms, the lead singer was able to draw the crowd to the front of the stage.
Here’s my impression of the Brick and Mortar crowd on a Tuesday night: they sure do like to keep their distance from the stage.
This is my third post on a Brick and Mortar night. And if you have followed these dispatches, you know I’ve had a debate about what is placed on stage right: is it a piano (first opinion) or a table (second opinion). There is nothing like a third opinion. The third opinion is that it is a small organ. So it is a musical instrument on stage, which makes Brick and Mortar remind me all the more like the Bootleg Theater.
September in San Francisco. At least this year, summer finally started in September for San Francisco. And by summer, I mean temperatures in the 70s. I have to say that as temperatures in Los Angeles hit the 90s during the late August/early September weekends, it was nice escaping up to the cooler temperatures of San Francisco.
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