the grand scheme of things

in the grand scheme of things, and according to "popular" convention, "headliners" are supposed to come on stage last, after their "opening act", and, if all goes according to plan, a wonderful time can still be had by all. to my mind, this order of things has as much to do with performer ego as it does anything related to art or entertainment, and i've always been most impressed by those performers for which such distinctions are meaningless because, to them, it's never about anything more than the music. maybe it's because i cut my rock and roll teeth while linda ronstadt, jacksone browne and little feat were touring together and rotating their set orders and "headlines" and having a ball while doing it. maybe it's because my life has come full circle in that way now that jen kearney, melvern taylor (and 2/3's of his fabulous meltones) and thunderpants johnson's hillbilly orchestra can re-set their set order for the "love songs for losers" benefit about half a dozen times before (i think) flipping a coin and working around each others' personal schedules to arrive at an order that was simply all about enjoying the chance to play together. (the audience, naturally, loved every single savory minute of it).

but, sometimes, there's a zen to such things that puts the emphasis where the emphasis is due, and the upcoming (december 4th--plan your holiday season now!) jen kearney and the lost onion show at gemstones is a beautiful case in point. mtv's recent video music awards show featured quasi-local (boston is somewhere around here, right?) rising stars (mtv's 2009 best breakout band) gentlemen hall, and it was, as they say in the proverbs, good. so good, in fact, that promoters are already angling to get them exposed in all the best musical circles, and anyone who has ever seen or heard jen kearney and the lost onion knows that JKLO defines the epitome of the best musical circle. (and if you don't yet have the year of the ox, your record collection, unfortunately and sad to say, sucks, and i'm here to tell you all about it, but you can hear it for yourself by pusing the little "play" buttons on the cd baby page and checking it out for yourself).

yes, i know, every single one of my blog posts these days seems to turn into a love letter to jen and carl and claire and pete, but, seriously, LISTEN TO THE MUSIC!!!

which brings us back to those that know these things, and what is rapidly becoming the ticket of the season. gentlemen hall, with ashlands attic, and...

wait for it...

jen kearney and the lost onion

live at gemstones in beautiful and historic downtown shangri-lowell. yeah, i know, i dissed the 'stones in previous posts, but, seriously now, just the same way that it's all about the music, IT'S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC. bud in the long necked bottle will get you through just about any other indignity, (can you believe you'll need to go downtairs for your drafts? that the waitresses won't get 'em for you upstairs at the show? no? ME NEITHER!!!), and you KNOW you won't be thinking about beer when you hear the sounds coming from that monster PA they have up there.

jen kearney and the lost onion
gentlemen hall
ashlands attic
december 4th
gemstones
$10, or $5 with a student ID
the show of the season (so far, cuz they haven't announced tex-mas eve yet, and, well, NOTHING tops tex-mas eve...)

but this one is going to come as close as it comes.

be there!