Happy Birthday to Me

I'm old.
My present was good.
A trip to one of my favorite cities to see one of my favorite bands (well, part of it- the others can't be bothered to join up. The drummer is crazy, the guitarist is lazy and the original singer is hanging around the kitchen somewhere.)
So it's "Peter Hook does Joy Division" night.
A couple things: Hooky sings the songs better than Bernard Sumner does, they suit his voice better. JD never played in the US. It's the best you're going to get.
And it was good.
Solid renditions of songs that have been such a force in my life. Truly transcendent.
A review.



The venue is a combo gig venue/hotel/diner/salon/tattoo parlor/sex toy shop. All the things a person could need for a night on the town.
We bumped into the band in the diner prior to the show, they even moved us from our table to take it for their larger group.
I nearly shat myself as I sat myself in the next booth.
I'm no psycho stalker, so I steered clear as they were chowing down and carrying on like only rockers and roadies can do.
Then the show. I figured that we could have met the band afterward, but it was really late and we were both exhausted. Bedtime.
In the morning of my celebration of the anniversary of my birth, we stumbled down to the diner to get some grub. Holy schniekes!!!! There they were again. Hooky was absent, but his band and crew were hanging out, eating some American style brekky and prepping for the ride out to the airport.
I look and see Mr. Hook acting as his own road manager, sorting out hotel rooms and calling taxis. I gain a large amount of testicular fortitude and wade right through the bunch of them, thanking them for visiting (not my town, but whatever) and complimenting the show. They thank me back. Hook wanders by and thanks me for coming, I wish him safe travels and a good show in San Francisco. He growls "It will be a short show, I seem to have lost me voice in Portland" Pats me on the shoulder, picks up his bass guitar and suitcase. Jumps in a taxi and rolls away.
I'm not usually star-struck, but this was just cool. Really really cool.