Jimbo!

Another fun time with Corky and Runs With Spatula! We traveled to Grand Rapids to take in a little San Chez and a lot of The Reverend Horton Heat. Dinner was great - it always makes me wish we had a decent tapas restaurant in Lansing. One of the highlights from dinner was the scallops and bacon skewer with mango chutney. The scallops were perfectly cooked - tender as could be. The bacon is made on site at San Chez (yes, we asked - the pork bellies still have the nipples on them when they receive them!), and with the skewer, is cut into roughly 1.5 inch cubes. There's just nothing better than fat-back bacon! The other highlight for me was dessert. I ordered the chocolate empanadas with dulce de leche ice cream. It was the perfect type of chocolate, as it was rich and almost dark but not bitter. The ice cream was amazing. And I'm sure the pitcher of sangria that Runs With Spatula and I shared didn't hurt, either.
After that, we were off to the Intersection. It's a great venue for the type of show we saw. We were able to snag a few tables as we had some other friends meeting up with us. The first band, Hoots and Hellmouth hailing from Philly, was fantastic. Three guitars, two of which were acoustic, and an upright bass completed the ensemble. What was amazing is that the three guitarists were standing on drum pads. Or rather, they were stomping on the drum pads to provide percussion, all the while playing guitar and singing. They had an incredible sound that's hard to describe. It was almost a mix of bluegrass, rockabilly, and blues with am Americana roots feel to it. We chatted with two of the band members after the show, and Corky bonded with them being that he's from PA as well. We talked about Tasty Cakes and PA lingo (yous guys). I ordered their cds online, and can't wait for them to arrive. I'm even more exicted that they will be playing The Ark in Ann Arbor in September. I'm hoping to drag along some more friends to that show.
After Runs With Spatula got her picture taken with the really cool merch guy after the show, she asked me if I wanted to sit at the bar for another beer. Given that Corky was our DD that night (as with many nights...), we plunked ourselves down at the bar near the lobby and soaked in the local band playing on the mini stage there. Soon we heard the singer say, "Oh my god...it's Jimbo!" Our heads snapped around to see Jimbo Wallace, upright bass player for The Rev, working the crowd a bit. Runs With Spatula and I looked at each other, decided we had to get a picture with Jimbo, and patiently waited until the rest of the riff-raff moved along so that we could claim some time with him. If you've never seen Jimbo play, it's amazing. How often do you get to see a cute greaser throw a bass into the air and catch it? Crazy. He shook our hands, gave us hugs (I got two!), let Corky take a few pictures, and he even kissed me on my cheek. For some reason, I decided to wash my cheek even though I really didn't want to. I'm still riding the Jimbo high - just the mention of his name snaps me out of a bad mood, which has been convenient for my co-workers. It was a crazy fun night, and I can't wait for the next concert extravaganza!