Hirewire Days

October 1, 2009



The Psychedelic Furs



Highwire Days

Howard

Sometimes opportunities just drop into your lap. My colleague Howard & I were tasked with going up to Miami to pick up a car for our employer who was having his Mini-Cooper serviced. Key West doesn’t really have a great repair center for Minis and the car needed to be returned to Key West, so Howard & I went up to get it.

The Riverside Hotel



Howard is due to be married later this month and we thought the trip could be turned into a short getaway in the midst of his wedding planning. It just so happened that one of my favorite bands of the 80s, The Psychedelic Furs, was scheduled to play at Revolution Live in Ft. Lauderdale and we decided to spend the night and check out the show.





We headed up Tuesday morning and checked into the beautiful Riverside Hotel on Las Olas in downtown Ft. Lauderdale. We had time to check out the stores & bars along Las Olas & the Riverwalk before walking down to grab dinner at a place called Tarpon Bend before heading into the club for the show.

Islands

The Happy Mondays

When we got there, the opening band Islands was on stage. Looking like they were on their way to a casting call for a remake of a John Hughes film, the band harkened back to the height of the 80s. Many of the crowd shared the same look and it wasn’t just nostalgia because they were in their 20s as was a surprisingly large number of the audience. The band was pretty good as well.





Next up was another blast from the past as the Happy Mondays took the stage. They were not nearly as memorable. Mostly because they just didn’t seem to be all that into playing and it came across as a pretty poor performance. It made me a little nervous about the Furs, even though I have seen them numerous times over the years and have never been disappointed.

Pretty In Pink

Somehow, through crowd attrition, Howard & I were in the front row by the time the Furs came out, though we relinquished our spots to some nice people, Tommy & Heather, from Miami who were a bit shorter than us.

Howard, Tommy & Heather





I have always felt that Richard Butler & the Psychedelic Furs are one of the most underrated and underappreciated acts that emerged in the 80s. They play the most original and unique blend of synthesizers layered with saxophone and the rich musical instrument that is Butler’s voice. The songwriting is top notch as well and from the opening strains of “Love My Way”, any doubts were quickly erased.









The show was really fantastic. The band seems to have actually improved with age and in sharp contrast to most of the Happy Mondays, they seemed to be having the time of their lives performing. Being up close it was easy to see the relaxed and smiling band members as they interacted with the crowd with a genuine and unforced affection.

I Don’t Want To Be Your Shadow

Happy Hour

September 28, 2009

Happy Hour at the Bottlecap





Happy Hour



The wild rollercoaster that is Key West from October through Spring Break is getting ready to commence, but in the meantime there are a few relatively quiet weeks as we gear up for the craziness. I think we actually had a week where both our yard and house were clean at the same time, which is a fairly rare occurrence.



George & Kelly

The relative quiet doesn’t mean that we have just been spending our time cleaning. In fact there have been a few really fun evenings out in the past week. Whether it was the final candidate forum that Hometown Pac organized, a night out enjoying some reggae music, dinner with friends or a big fundraiser for the Key West Preschool Co-op, we actually have been rather busy for such a quiet time.





The final of five, Hometown Pac candidate forum was held at the Tropic Cinema. It featured the candidates for District 1, Jimmy Weekley & Tom Milone as well as the four men vying to be the next Mayor of Key West, incumbent Morgan McPherson, Mike Mongo, Craig Cates & Sloan Bashinsky. It was another fun night of Keys political theatre as the candidates are in the home stretch of the campaign with voting scheduled for October 6th.

Mayoral Candidates

Sheldon

After the forum, it was down to the Sunset Pier at the Ocean Key House for their concert series which featured this week, The Ark Band . The Ark Band is a Ohio based reggae band that was very, very good. Sadly there wasn’t much of a crowd for the show, which is a shame because the Ark Band deserved a better showing. The people that were there were treated to a great show.

The Ark Band



Regular followers of this blog will be well aware that we often head to the Bottlecap Lounge for happy hour on Friday evenings because they host fundraising happy hours for the many non-profit organizations in the Keys. Carolyn & Carmelo who own the place are incredibly generous to the community and happy hour at the Bottlecap has become the place to be Friday evenings.









This week, it was our turn to be the beneficiary of Happy Hour as the Key West Preschool where Kathy teaches was the selected charity. It was a packed house as parents, teachers, friends, politicians and more gathered to enjoy a beer and support the Co-op.





Palma & Clayton Lopez

Mike Mongo with Carolyn, Carol & Srea

In addition to collecting the tips, the Co-op had a spin to win game, a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction which together made their event one of the most successful of all the groups that have held events at the Bottlecap. It was a great event and a fun time which we celebrated by heading out to eat at Origami with our friends Howard, Todd & Lisa. A delicious sushi feast to top off a great week!

Joanie, Michael & Carol



Todd