Just Act Friendly

 It's been a couple days here in Ashland, now. I've seen 2 1/2 plays (more on that later), met some neat people, ate some tasty food, and shopped. Wait a minute, you're saying to yourself, this guy said he'd start with the Lake Tahoe trip! Right, right. How could I forget?

The trip to Tahoe was put into motion almost a year ago, when tickets for Weird Al went on sale in September 2024 for a show at Harrah's. I've seen Al play many, many times, but if there's a concert within driving distance odds are I'll go. Along the way, the venue was changed to the amphitheater behind Caesar's, which at the time seemed JUST FINE. I decided to extend the weekend by going to the last weekend of Tahoe's Shakespeare Festival, with the closing show the night before the concert. I went to the Tahoe festival a couple years ago and saw Much Ado About Nothing (which I loved); this year they were staging Twelfth Night, which I don't know anything about. 

At the crux of this blog, I suppose, are my reflections on traveling alone, so let's get to how that dovetailed with my Tahoe plans. Up until recently, I was seeing a woman, and things were going well. I had thought about maybe inviting her to the play (hadn't bought tickets yet) and then turning her loose in the casino while I went to the concert. Unfortunately, the week before I was to leave - and of course, after I bought two tickets based on her assent to going with me - she ended things. So now I had an extra ticket. Luckily for me, my best friend doesn't mind being my backup date and drove up to Tahoe just for the day. We got to hang out and see a play and that was just super. 

Now, the forecast for my weekend in Tahoe at no point included rain. Saturday, I was eating lunch up the road from the main strip of hotels and it started to rain. Then it rained hard. Then it hailed. A lot. Eventually it let up, but it unfortunately meant that Amanda couldn't head down to the lake like she wanted, after she arrived. Then it rained Sunday morning, again without warning. Fine, at least it was the morning. As it got closer to show time, the wind picked up and the clouds came in. As we sat in our seats, waiting for the opening act...here comes the rain. I tried to wait it out - no umbrella, no poncho, no hood - but eventually the PA said there would be a delay. We tried to head under the bleachers, but so did everyone else. So I stood there, getting wet, hoping they wouldn't cancel the show. 

They didn't. The clouds rolled by, the show started late, but the rain let up. Puddles Pity Party, a singing clown, opened the show. I didn't "get" most of his set, but there was one bit I'll try to link that was pretty funny. Crazy Train

Weird Al was, quite unsurprisingly, fantastic. I sat next to someone who had never seen him, and I sure hope my constant singing along didn't detract from his experience. Did he play everything I wanted to hear? No, but the man has like 16 albums. It was a great mix. The next day I left for Ashland, and had a beautiful drive through the forests in Northeast California. I'd post a picture, but...I was driving.

Next post: Ashland! New friends! Fun used music finds! The utter brilliance of Quixote Nuevo!