Monday, October 22, 2007

Ian Ball from Gomez

Jessica and I had a great Saturday night seeing Ian Ball from Gomez at the tiny club in San Francisco, Cafe du Nord. We thought the show started at 9pm, and were there promptly, only to learn Ian was coming on closer to 11pm.

We made a bee-line for the pool table and ordered a few drinks. It's not easy to feel macho when the girl you are with orders a darker beer than you, but I think I pulled it off. As we struggled through a game of pool, Jessica started hob-knobbing with Todd & Julie, a couple waiting to play us. Who knew that Todd was a bonafide pool shark and Julie could take care of business despite claiming she hadn't played in 20 years? More importantly, they were a total blast.

A few beers, an indulgence in a feel good shot, and we were ready for Ian. Todd staked out a good spot and we spent the show digging the music, making fun of a scary, stalker-ish dude right in front of Ian and having an awesome time. After making a few adjustments to the settings on her camera, very impressive to a point and click guy like me (that's what she said), Jess took some cool photos.

Ian Ball Night




Here's a YouTube clip of Ian playing a portion of one of Gomez's best songs, In Our Gun at Cafe du Nord.



It's not mind-blowing, but was pretty cool when we were there. Here's version with better production value.



We had a great time. Ian was great but I think it was our new friends, Todd & Julie, who really made the evening. Thanks guys. See you at a show coming soon. You're the Cat! (Todd's go to pump up phrase for the evening.)

Here's some bonus Gomez for reading through a long post.

Whippin' Picadilly



Gomez - Hamoa Beach (live)

Ping One Down



Bring It On - Funny Video from early Gomez days. Brings out the British humor.