i had been waiting since last april to see mute math again. i was stoked to buy tickets for a group that was to be 8 people strong. some of us met up for dinner in mandeville at a pretty good restaurant called the loop. i had the california pizza. we took off in the rain for the south shore and reached the quarter/warehouse district which was dry. amazing that south louisiana weather. i had not been to new orleans anywhere near downtown since katrina, so it was a bit eery to go past the convention center, the scene of so much drama 6 months ago.
after much deliberation, we parked the cars and met up at the jeep (we took two cars). come to find out one of the girls had gotten sick, which forced the whole car to go home. talk about not taking one for the team. my mom once broke her ankle at clemson walking to a basketball game, but she knew going to the game was important, so she toughed it out and saw a doctor the next day. weakened by half the group leaving, and bumming because my sister had been in the car too, we soldiered on.
i had been to the howlin wolf one time before, but it was not for a show. they had moved after the hurricane to a more expansive, show friendly space. the show started rather late, and with two opening bands, i guess i underestimated how important a good night sleep the night before would have helped. the two opening bands just were not exciting. i was tired, and they weren’t keeping me from yawning during their respective sets. after the second opener, we walked outside and sat on the steps before mute math. we were sitting on the side where the tour buses were, and we’re looking pretty beat down. just as we’re at our most sleepy eyed, paul, the lead singer, walks by with atari in hand. he looked at us, and i’m sure in our drowsy state, we didn’t exactly inspire a freak out crazy show.
the crowd was not that loud because mm didn’t actually hit the stage till midnight. ouch. it was a great show, no question, but i kept thinking “i wish i was not so tired.” after the show, we made our way back to the car for the ride home. i got home about 2:30 am and stayed up to finish prepping my floor in anticipation of the floor installers coming the next day. i worked on and off between dozing to have all the carpet strips and carpet pulled up by the time the crew got there about 9 am. incidentally, i made it, and the floor was installed. beautiful.